HarmonyP,I hope you haven't thrown out that poor Paradise rose with the signs of RMV. After all, it isn't contagious except through the propagation process, so it won't spread to your other roses. It is very common among big box store roses and still appears sometimes in reputable nurseries. The serious vendors seem to be taking it seriously and trying to glean it from their rootstock sources and budwood source plants, but its hard to eliminate completely because it often doesn't "show" itself at times. But anyway, RMV tends to, over time, weaken the plant and reduce productivity and resistance to diseases and winter frost, but different roses seem to show varying degrees of resistance. So once you know you have it, you might as well keep the plant as long as it seems to be growing and producing ok. I've had some infected specimens that still produced beautifully for several years. As for vendors, I think it makes perfectly fine sense to do what you've done. I did the same. Early on, I could not afford a lot of expensive plants but wanted to expand my varieties.I've had some great Lowe's roses and even from (gasp) Walmart. But once I got to a point where I no longer had room for many more roses, I naturally felt comfortable being much more selective, and the specialty vendors were there ready and waiting. I just got rid of roses that didn't please me. That was many cheap roses, but also some expensive ones. I don't consider the expense entirely wasted, because I satisfied some curiosity about the variety. I've had a few that were first purchased cheap and then replaced from a serious nursery, such as Chrysler Imperial and Elina. But I've also kept some of those cheapies for many years. One of my best workhorse roses has been Paradise, purchased from Home Depot, which I agree is generally one of the worst sources to buy from. Go figure. The big box stores definitely mislabel much more often, but you know what, I've had that happen from some of my favorite nurseries, too. It happens. One of my favorite roses ever was an obviously mislabeled red rose from Kmart (back in the early 1990s). Even friends with the Mobile Rose Society never were able to identify it, but it was a gorgeous,voluptuous velvety red rose of impressive size --and thorniness. Sometimes those unplanned mistake events turn out to be pleasant surprises. Last year I made one cheap purchase, just for no reason. I bought Chicago Peace for 3 bucks, because I saw it and had already spent what I had budgeted on "serious" roses. It even had waxed canes. It produced beautiful blooms even though the plant didn't seem very robust. I thought I'd replace it with a better Ch. Peace this year, but lo and behold, by November it was starting to bulk up and become a proper bush. So I've given it a repreave for another year. Who knows, I may never have to replace it.

Just keeping everyone updated - Vintage sent out the roses that are still left after the first rush and that's posted below. Among these, I see an additional recommendation for The Prince's Trust that I got from Vintage a few years ago, and it's a red climber that very enthusiastically wants to grow. It was probably the biggest band plant I've ever seen at nearly 4 feet long, and it put on another 5-6 feet in its first year. It's a very healthy happy climber in my zone 5. Cynthia Remaining list as of March 6: Ch "Ferndale Red China" 1 ChCl Setina 1 E Jeannie Deans 1 Fl Centenaire de Lourdes 1 Fl Europeana 1 Fl Fire and Ice 14 Fl Fred Loads 1 Fl Holstein 1 Fl Impatient VID 1 Fl Jazz Fest VID 1 0 Fl Kirsten Poulsen 3 Fl Lili Marlène 1 Fl Lipstick 1 Fl Orange Garnet VID 2 Fl Playboy 1 Fl Showbiz VID 2 FlCl Heidelberg 9 1 HB "California Malton" 1 HM Heinrich Conrad Soth 1 HM Verdi 2 HP Dr. Masaryk 4* HP François Arago 5* HP Marguerite Guillard (Loubert) 8* HP Mme. de Staël 15* HP Paul's Single White Perpetual 3* HP Rose de Bouffarik 2* HP Silver Queen 1* HP "Souvenir de Mme. Berthier" 5* HT Blithe Spirit 1 HT Broadway 1 HT Chivalry 3 HT Die Welt 2 HT Ellen Willmott 1 HT Frances Ashton 1 HT Harry Wheatcroft 1 HT Kalahari 3 HT Love VID 1 HT Macho Man 1 HT Maria Callas VID 1 HT Movie Star 1 HT Peach Beauty VID 1 HT Slava 2 HT Tropicana VID 1 HTCl Amy Johnson 1 HTCl General MacArthur, Climbing 1 HTCl Queen Elizabeth, Climbing VID 8 HTCl Reine Olga de Wurtemburg 9 LCl Casa Blanca 2 LCl Coral Dawn 1 LCl Crimson Cascade 1 LCl Doubloons VID 1 LCl Dr. Covell's Carrotrooted Understock 2 LCl Eden 6 LCl Étendard 1 0 LCl Gold Rush VID 2 LCl Golden Threshold 3 LCl High Noon 1 LCl JACclam (aka America™) 1 LCl Joseph's Coat VI 1 1 LCl Lawrence Johnston 4 LCl Leverkusen 3 LCl Olive 5 LCl Pelé 4 LCl Rosendorf Schmitshausen 1 LCl Salita 8 LCl Sympathie 2 LCl Tempo VID 1 LCl The Prince's Trust 1 LCl White Cocade 2 LCl William Baffin 1 2 M "Joséphine de Beauharnais" 15* Min Magic Carrousel VID 1 Min Oakington Ruby 1 N "Lingo Musk" 1 N Narrow Water 1 Pol Ave Maria 5* Pol Mme. Taft 2 4* Pol Petite Marcelle 24* Pol Rösel Dach 16* PolCl Rose de Montplaisir 4* R America 3 R Baby Shower 4 R Chevy Chase 5 R Cooper's Burmese 4 R Dr. Huey VID 4 R Harry Maasz 1 R "Mystery Muse" 3 R Not Cherub 4 R Purity 7 1 R Ramona 3 R Roserie 2 R Wartburg 1 R Windermere 3 S Ferdy 10 S Hamburger Phoenix 7 S Illusion 1 S Romanze 1 S Rosy Cushion 4 3 S Salmon Wings 7* S Sandrine David 2* S Yellow Butterfly 3 S/AUS John Clare 6 S/Aus Red Coat 1 *Starred items are French Imports priced at $30 each

OMG, Christopher! Look at all those red HT roses!! Wonderful pics. Thank you. I love your red roses with purple clematis. (My two favorite colors.) I have yet to acquire Chateau de Clos Vougeot but REALLY want to get one from RVR after I make room in my driveway pot garden, and I would love to grow another Guinee and Don Juan someday. Obviously, I completely grok your dark red rose mania. I currently have Mr. Lincoln, Black Magic, Black Bacarra, Deep Secret, Velvet Fragrance, Nigrette, Barcelona, Black Gold, Dusky Maiden, and Red Pinocchio. A couple of these are total pains, but I pamper them anyway. Lucky little buggers! Carol

Munstead Wood has been amazing for me (Piedmont of NC, 7b, acid clay). The blooms are variable in color. Some times of the year they are hot, cerise pink. Other times I get close to that smokey red. This spring they have often reminded me of Gallica blooms: dark purple to imperial crimson, but a week later some were smokey red. The plant is healthy as heck, covered in leaves, and a generous bloomer. It has the best scent of anything I've planted so far. But definitely keep in mind that the color on this one, like many reds, seems to move through a range. I tend to separate out reds that have the possibility of drifting to an orangish red (many of the modern roses with the red that "pops" most are on this side, like Crimson Bouqet), and reds that drift "blue" a bit (Chrysler Imperial, Mr. Lincoln, even when they haven't blued they just live on the hot pink / blue side of the spectrum as opposed to orange side). I never mix the bright scarlets with pink / purple / cooler reds. Keep in mind that reds are by far the hardest to photograph. They are extremely sensitive to white balance, sensor differences and monitor calibrations. Munstead Wood, with accurate hues, photographed a week apart: