Rosa pendulina, always the first, opened a week ago, a close second was its relative and lookalike, a Finnish species cross called Kempeleen kaunotar, the third was Fredrik Hellstrand, a hybrid rugosa bred by a friend, the fourth was Double White. But I am loosing count these days, all the early roses are about to flower. Here is a link that might be useful: Fredrik Hellstrand

ahhhhhhhhh.. Ladies you rock.. thank you all so much, funny how after reading your replies I looked both up you suggested. My roses look like both. Yet, the one I have is already 8 feet tall. So it must then be the Queen Elizabeth. Now with 15 more buds and blooms, today is 75 degrees and I bed those buds pop open.. whoot whoot Connie- took your advise to0 btw from the other post I put up about what roses should I get for my arbor. Ordered 2 parades to my groups. Thank you This spring- will be quite the digging adventure for mui!!! xoxoox

I knew there was a reason I love this forum! I am reminded of it often when reading these posts from all of you. What sweet gardening friends you are! Thank-you for your anniv. wishes. I agree it was a most perfect gift on our special day. I can relate SO well to those of you that are growing roses for the first time. I was in EXACTLY those shoes last year. I bought four bare-root David Austins from Wayside and only ONE of them took! sniff! You wouldn't believe what my dh and I went through to create the bed for them if I told you so suffice it to say that I had four roses, three of them dead and he declared we MUST have something to fill those empty holes so we went to the local garden center and splurged on two KO blush bushes. Already established and blooming. That was one of the best purchases ever in my opinion. They are double the size and covered with buds this year. I got another one for Mom's day! hehe The rose in question in the picture is a New Dawn climber. I bought two of those last year in POTS. They were tiny but they were already alive and growing. They have gone bonkers this year and are already nearly up to the roof of my patio. They are also covered with buds. I am SO impatient to see them all in full bloom!! Of all the plants in my garden, nothing ever thrills me as much as my roses when they are blooming.

Ahh I’m so pleased you think, both Marlorena and Kristine, being long time rosegrowers. Just to hear you think they’ll bloom this year has made my day! Ahh! Cannot waaaait! You’re right, I’m loving seeing all the different coloured foliage on all the roses. Every single rose is different in leaf colour. Beautiful. I spotted my first rose buds last week on Rosa rugosa and a climber that I’m not sure of it’s name. Here’s hoping it’s a great summer of blooms for us all. D xx