Pink H.P.s that I love dearly include: 1. I've never seen an H.P. as delicate as: "Comtesse Cecile de Chabrillant", Darling pink roses have a delicate shape and style, and foliage is abundant and attractive making this a good plant for near the front of a border. Fragrance is moderate. Near San Francisco this rosebush blooms as often as an average H.T.. I love this rose more and more each year. 2. "Arrilaga" produces amazing roses, large pink rose blossoms that have a spiral center, of an elegant hue, which can appear a bit bland in too much sun. A rose I could never mistake for any other. Lots of foliage makes this a pretty plant. "Mrs. John Laing" for for its' lovely though elusive lilac hues which however only show here in the cool spring and autumn. I planted alyssium around her to help cover her bare calves. 4. "Pauls' Early Blush" I've long preferred this pink rose over the Bourbon S.D.L.M. for a shorter border plant. "Early" is a true statement, it blooms weeks before the other H.P.s and also blooms as often as an average H.T.. 5. "Miriam Wilkins" if you can find it in Europe,blossoms of a medium pink, very fragrant and one of the healthiest H.P.s I've ever seen.. 6. "La Reine" and "Grandmothers Hat" I love equally. I find "La Reine" to be more fragrant. All the roses listed above are grown without any spray near San Francisco, where conditions favor p.m. greatly and blackspot less often. "Ulrich Brunner fils" a bit of a gawky plant, but fragrant, substantial blooms, gets more p.m. than those listed above where I live, but not enough to defoliate at all, or decrease bloom. "La France" was originally sold as a Hybrid Perpetual though I would consider it borderline for its long buds. I would grow it for it has a lovely fragrance. Red I was recently seduced by "Hugh Dickson" which wowed me in a neighbors garden, for I usually greatly prefer pale roses to those of a red color. Very large crimson roses sometimes open wide enough to show yellow stamens. Truly deeply richly fragrant of Damask rose. In our part of the world, it is very healthy for a red H.P... "Yolande d'Aragorn" was suggested to me for its beauty and fragrance. Best wishes for beautiful roses, Luxrosa

Thanks, Krista, for the advice! I will definitely be very careful about where I put the roses. The blue spruces are to the northwest of the roses/my front yard. Trimming them might be a little tricky as they are very slow growers, and I was told not to touch them unless they become diseased. I did trim the dog wood tree near my rose beds quite a bit. I am more concerned with competition from the trees' root systems than the amount of the sunshine the roses will be getting. Luckily, the roots of the spruces don't seem to be as agressive as, say, maples. I figure 6 or 7 feet from the spruces ought to be enough (or I hope, or else the new roses would have nowhere to go.) I am intrigued by all of the roses you suggested. Wishing for more space...

I have to name several! Each, in its moment of perfection, is a rose to make one gasp and let the eye linger upon in pleasure. 'Better Times' is probably my favorite; the coloration and form of the flower, and the way the color of the foliage complements the flower's color, makes the opening of each blossom an event. Its sport-sibling 'Briarcliff' is splendid as well. The HMF photos don't really capture the purplish-blue tone of the magenta red of 'Better Times'; the wonderful moire effect of 'Briarcliff' can be detected in some of the HMF photos, though. 'Snowbird' is wonderful in every way. 'Peach Beauty' is impressively beautiful when opening and for a day or two after (it then gets forgivably blowsy). 'Marceline' has a perfection of form and elegance of coloration which is striking. The HMF pix don't quite capture it. 'Maman Lyly' is breathtaking in form, changing coloration, and fragrance. 'Chrysler Imperial' will always be my favorite red rose. The various Radiances, eh (shrugs), I used to be enthusiastic about them; now, not so much. I like them because they're tough, and because the various colors of the varieties complement each other beautifully (I have them all next to each other). The much-praised fragrance is rather too citrusy for me (same, to my nose, with 'La France'). For me, the best of them is the original, 'Radiance', with its attractive contrast of colors; and the color of 'Mrs. Charles J. Bell' is particularly beautiful when beside magenta and purplish-red roses (mine is near a 'Pergolese'). But, I ramble...

Jeri, Thanks for the feedback; I was hoping you'd write in. You must have posted your first message right when I began to write mine, and so I missed it. As to growing conditions, we have more winter chill and perhaps more summer heat than you, fog not too often during the growing season, heavy soil and perhaps not as alkaline as what you describe. It's significant that rust is practically unknown here, and blackspot isn't a major problem (though I don't like it when it shows up). Actually, when I'm not worrying about drought, landslides, (earthquakes,) and the economic policies of the Italian government, I'm inclined to think that we have a perfect environment for growing roses. (I'm beginning to think this country needs a revolution, AND all its politicians struck down by lightning from heaven: it seems the only way to get rid of them.) 'Gloire des Rosomanes' is probably available in Europe, but I don't believe is common in Italy: I don't remember ever seeing it offered for sale in this country, and no one I know has it. You bet I would like to have it. I seem to recall reading that it's confused in commerce with 'Nur Mahal', in Europe I believe. Taoseeker, Aha! Several years ago I too ordered 'Comte de Chambord', 'Mme. Boll', and 'Mme. Knorr' (from Schultheis in Germany) and ended up with what looked like three identical roses...a wonderful one, to be sure. Like you I'm wondering if there's a unique 'Mme. Knorr' in commerce. I have a fourth plant arrived from who knows where, that looks like these three, but I need to re-compare them all carefully to see whether there are differences. Thanks for reminding me of the dark Hybrid Perpetuals, a group I have no personal experience with, but consider worth looking into. I don't think 'Fantin-Latour' has much Centifolia about it either; I think it falls into the category of what Vintage calls Hybrid Bourbons. It's a wonderful rose, fragrant, vigorous, and healthy, and a pleasure just to handle. The Centifolias and Mosses generally do well for me, but I have easy conditions. With leggy plants sometimes I do have to prune harder: 'La Noblesse' is a good example, and I think I'll have to cut back 'Shailer's White Moss' more than I have in the past. This last rose, so beautiful, is showing bits of pink on a lot of its flowers this year. Suzy, after losing two purchased grafted plants of 'Hebe's Lip' (herbicide and mowing), I got cuttings in a swap and now have three plants of it growing around the property. They're young but growing fine and I'm looking forward to seeing them in their maturity. 'Coupe d'Hebe' is duly noted. Jaxondel, Okay, 'Marquis de Balbiano'; I'll keep it in mind. This is a great discussion. Melissa