I used to live in Olympia (Washington) and I grew roses there in that Pacific Northwest climate. I haven't grown many of the roses on your list, and almost none of them when I was in Washington. Let's see what I can tell you. Alberic Barbier is a great beauty, lovely foliage and blooms; gets pretty large and has one big flowering with scattered blooms following. I don't remember seeing AB growing in Washington but suspect it does well there. Easy to grow and superbly healthy. Chianti: I've seen this rose a couple of times in Italy and it's spectacular in bloom. It's once-blooming and large and I don't know now it does in the PNW. Konigin von Danemark: this is a beautiful rose, more deeply colored and thornier than most of the Albas, and harder to propagate from cuttings, at least in my experience; but a splendid variety. I had a lot of Albas in Olympia and they were every one of them beautiful fragrant roses, healthy and easy to grow: I recommend them all highly. Nur Mahal: I've had this rose for years and it has never reached its potential, but I've heard (often) that it can be great. I didn't discover the Hybrid Musks until after I moved to Italy, but I bet that they're the PNW shrub roses par excellence. I love this class, especially the Pemberton musks, for their fine foliage and habit, beautiful and sweetly scented blooms, and overall air of grace and luxuriance. They're easy to grow. Queen Elizabeth: this is a fine stout upstanding rose that was common in Washington when I lived there and grows all over here in Italy as well. I had it one time and got rid of it because I couldn't detect any scent. It's easy to turn up one's nose at QE because she grows everywhere and has no fragrance, but I bet she's still going to be around in a hundred years (the rose, not the monarch), and looking quite handsome in old age. Rose de Rescht. I had it in Olympia and didn't love it, but it grew well and I don't remember any disease. I have it here too but my cutting-grown plants are still growing. Fragrant and a good dark color. Sharifa Asma. A pretty rose, pale pink but I always think of it as white, with a superb scent, one of the best. I have SA for its fragrance; note also that it's easy to grow. I had a lot of DA roses in Olympia and adored them, but they were never vigorous for me. I suspect they needed fatter living--more water and nutrients--than I generally supplied my roses, and possibly a sunny warm spot in the garden. Stanwell Perpetual. Had it there, have it here, suspect I've never brought the best out of it. Beautiful little shapely fragrant blooms, pale pink with a button eye, on a wiry thorny open very tough bush that has nifty Pimpinellia foliage and likes to sucker. One of the first and last to flower. For me in Olympia many of my best roses were the once-blooming old roses: I had Albas, Gallicas, and Mosses, and loved them all. I didn't get around to Centifolias (except for Crested Moss, which was superb) and Damasks, but would certainly want to try them if I lived there. Bourbons didn't do much for me in Olympia. I suspect many of them needed more heat than they got: 'Louise Odier' is a far stronger plant here than in Olympia; and I'm finally allowing 'Mme. Pierre Oger' back in my garden here after suffering with her black-spotted wimpy predecessor in my Washington garden. As I mentioned above, I hadn't yet discovered Hybrid Musks when I was in Olympia, but think they would be wonderful. Another small group to look into would be 'Mlle. Cécile Bruenner' and related roses: they're a reasonable size, have enchanting little flowers and foliage, are healthy as can be and aren't like anything else in the rose world. And then there are Kordes's Fruehlings- roses, big fragrant once-blooming species hybrids of great character and beauty, and some of the early-flowering species yellows like 'Canary Bird' and R. hugonis, that bloom, I think, with the lilacs. Most of the roses I've listed are shrubs, some quite large, and many are once-blooming; they're also informal in style and for garden design purposes best thought of as landscape shrubs. These are the kind of roses I love, but they may not be your taste in roses. More upright and contained varieties with large flowers and repeat bloom are more formal: they include most Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, many Hybrid Perpetuals, and the Portlands/Hybrid Damasks. I don't know much about these, but there will be some varieties that will be adapted to the mild wet winters, dry summers, and lack of summer heat of western Washington. I never had much trouble with disease in my garden, and would take with a grain of salt what eastern growers say about disease resistance of their roses. Olga knows exactly what she's talking about, but she has high blackspot pressure in her garden, and in my experience this isn't much of a problem in Washington; a rose that defoliates for her might do quite well for you. I never sprayed my roses. One hybrid Tea that does well in Washington I believe is the old variety 'Radiance', which also has numerous sports. Melissa

Sorry, I forgot to thank Sandyponder and loribee for the rug photos. Also, the chairs are a dark graphite not granite. so, basically charcoal. Luckygal, I don't have the furniture yet. However, my DH is convinced the walls need to be lighter. I'm o.k. with that. I've had dark walls for 5 1/2 years and I like change. Maybe we're getting classier. Sorry, I know I shouldn't throw that in there. I hate when people fight. Anyway, we have horrible light carpet that we are going to change so, I'm afraid with dark walls, dark floors and dark furniture it might be too dark. Oceana, The room is so ugly right now; I'd be embarassed to show you even if I can fix it. Maybe, once it's fixed, I'll be able to share how horrible it was.

Even Mr. Moore agreed Linda Campbell was likely his "masterpiece". No one rose (or any other plant) succeeds everywhere, but where conditions please her, she is spectacular. Quite an amazing result from a miniature and Rugosa! There is enough mini to allow her to endure heavy pruning and still flower like a weed, root well and not sucker all over the place. That mini blood also allows her to be sprayed much better than Rugosas will tolerate. But, it also enables her to experience fungal issues many Rugosas don't generally experience where disease pressures are heavier. In longer, hotter climates, she doesn't hold on to the foliage too long and then rust and black spot dreadfully as MOST hybrid rugosas do. No plant is perfect, but this one comes closer than any other hybird rugosa I've ever grown. You should also look at Topaz Jewel in harsher climates. I'm glad you have Linda. She deserves to be widely grown!

Right now, sticking to fuss free roses actually in bloom or about to (re)bloom, *Anna Olivier - perhaps the most reliable ebullient rebloom in the yard - tied for reliable rebloom with *Purpurea (winecup) - flowers are very frequent if also very fleeting; but oh the lovely glaucus foliage! *Savannah and *Plum perfect - both get better every year; I like it that they are foliated all the way to the ground. Savannah's strong grapefruit scent is a bonus; blooms last a long time on the bush before dropping cleanly. *Perle d'Or - used to just tolerate her because of the tendency to chlorotic leaves but dumped lots of gypsum and milorganite on her last year; she's been bettter since - spring flush had bigger flowers and smelled very good this year -- still fairly fuss free There are others I might have mentioned a month ago or a month from now. (maggie for best spring flush; softee for all round performance; star of the republic for most beautiful flower and most haunting scent; yellow mutabilis for that je ne sais quoi -- but this is good for now )