Holly I think I got lucky with the 3 icebergs. I had driven down to the large rose supplier to pick up the main roses for my new bed (5 of them) and since I had to use the freeway interchange right by Lowe's, I decided to stop for a pair of Russian Sages since I could not find them locally and they were listed in their ad. There sitting with the roses were a few 1g pots with 3 small icebergs started in them. All were listed as Iceberg-Brilliant Pink-Burgundy. I left the elastic tags on the plants just so I could figure them out later. I think the darkest is a bit close to hot pink, but with so much white they really are Brilliant Pink. I prefer the paler pink but if you are doing a bright colored bed, I think either would be fine. Like many, I have a love hate relationship with Icebergs. I hate that they do so well and are so common-loving the unusual and uncommon. But I LOVE that they do so well, bloom so well, grow so fast, seem to not care where they are planted. The two 1g's I bought last season are just as happy as the rest of the bed, even though they started smaller and do not get the care that the rest of the bed gets (less water-more heat)

I drove down to the Farm Center today to buy this rose, but they had already closed (darned Daylight Savings time messes with my sense of time). Anyway, I got out and looked through all the roses. They got more in stock. There are three Night Owls left. And then I spotted another rose two pallets over. WOw! It was the most beautiful red I had ever seen! The rose is a large shrub rose called "Hot Cocoa". Oh boy! I am going back tomorrow. If the roses aren't too much, I hope to get two of them and one of the purple Night Owl. If they are too much, I will have to decide. Can a person be FICKLE with a rose??? :) ~Annie

Have you ever tried Super Thrive? I think Lowe's carries it and Home Depot and Walmart have it listed online. We call it GO JUICE!!! :) My son used it on Lilac bushes at transplant. He ran out and skipped a few. The missed ones were noticably smaller the next year. I soak all my bare roots in it and add it to water to water new potted roses. Works great! Seems to give them a boost. You can smell the vitamins in the bottle as soon as you open it. Rebecca

While new roses are adjusting to their new circumstances, they will shed leaves and twigs and new buds will stop developing (for example., a green basal bud on my new, grafted Sutter's Gold that arrived 7 or 8 weeks ago went dormant and turned brown shortly after arrival, but this week has started developing again, now that it's settled into its new pot). It's normal, just plants reallocating resources to where the need is.