J&P were my original suppliers. I grow more OGRs now and mostly ownroot, so don't purchase from them as much, but I admit to having purchased some wonderful roses from them. Several things about the catalogue made me happy. They are offering Purple Tiger again. I know, I know, much groaning and complaining about that rose, but it did very well for me and there is nothing like those blooms. My x bulldozed it (actually he used a bobcat) during the divorce or I'd have it still. So now I can replace it, even though I'd rather not do grafted. For all I know, it is one of those roses that needs to be grafted. Referencing the divorce, I was able to get some of my roses, but left all of my perennials. So a couple of happy notes in the perennial area. J&P is offering the Aster "Wonder of Staffa". Its the best blue/lavendar aster ever and I hadn't been able to replace it because everyone has been offering whatever their latest is. They are also offering the siberian iris "Steve" another great bloomer I had not been able to replace for the same reason as the paragraph above. And the Malva "Blue Fountain". There is a big bare spot in my front border just waiting for this plant. About April in Paris. I grew both Pristine and New Zealand. Both I lost in the divorce. Both I plan to replace at some point because I loved them (even though I don't much like pink roses). This could be a very good rose. I'm probably going to run down the road to the local grower and buy one just to see. Its ownroot!!!!!!

This years J&P Test Panel has actually been pretty good in my opinion. I have already stated that I love Summer of Love and Malibu from it and they are definitely keepers for me. As for the other two, the jury is still debating but for the most part it is good news as well. JACdrama, the red/white stripe has bloomed once so far and they were pretty nice but could have a little tighter form to them. The color,size, and fragrance were nice. I hope the form tightens up and that the rebloom is good. If so, I will definitely find a spot for it in the garden somewhere. JACelvet, the dark velvety red, was super slow to break dormancy. I am telling you that it took a good 10 weeks and I thought at about 7 weeks it was about to dry up and die. In a side conversation with the J&P rep one day when they called to try and get an order out of me, I told her of my concerns with it. She offered to send me another so I let her and three weeks later a second one arrived. Lo and behold the very next day my original plant broke dormancy like gangbusters and has done a nice job of catching up with the rest of them. The second JACelvet bush they sent broke dormancy that very first same week so now I have two very good growing JACelvet plants. The bushes are growing vigorously and have started blooming. The blooms could use another few petals to fill them out but the form is decent with good petal shape and petal substance that makes them last a long time on the bush. the color is excellent. Many times first blooming cycles end up with fewer petals on the blooms than what I would like but most times that is one thing that will definitely improve with a little more age and maturity of the rose bush. I truly think this will be a keeper as well and this will be a good rose when it matures. All four bushes have had very good disease and insect resistance with my usual spray program that I use on all my 225+ roses. They've had no disease or insect problem at all even including the nasty little thrips I get each and every springtime. All of the potted bushes were growing well until I sprayed a new amendment item I bought on-line on all my potted roses including 18 mini's on my back deck and my pot ghetto where the test roses are currently growing. The stuff left a greasy,waxy, gray residue on them and stunted the growth of the big roses and almost killed my mini's by defoliating them almost completely. Thankfully they have all rebounded as the stuff has been wearing off of the leaves and the bushes are putting on new foliage growth. This little tragedy slowed the growth on all my roses but they are coming back and I cannot fault the roses for this as it was definitely my fault for spraying them with the stuff--Liquid Karma it's named. Maybe I got the quantity wrong, but I don't think so. I sure won't use it again, that's for sure, so I just wasted my good money for nothing. For the person who asked, all the test roses that J&P is sending out are own root. I was surprised at first by this as o/r hybrid tea roses for me have generally not been very good growers especially in the first year. However, these have been the exception both last year and this one. last years test roses grew and bloomed well and continue to do well this year too. I am condifent that these test roses will do the same. J&P has done a commendable job of carefully and correctly selecting o/r roses that will do well without being on an understock like Dr. Huey which is what they generally use on most of their roses. John

Bliss arrived from Roses Unlimited 5 weeks ago at 10" tall & wide. (Wanted a pair, but Pat only had one.) Repotted into a 3-gallon, it's grown well in that short time. Just went out to measure & it's now 16" x 16". Semi-glossy leaves healthy no spray through hot days of mid to high 90's, overnights cooling to 70, high humidity & frequent rain. After a week, a terminal bud began to develop & opened 10 days later (noted on my calendar, lol). Creamy pink infused with apricot, that first 2" flower held fresh for 9 days. Pretty amazing, considering how often I nose nuzzled the many baby petals to sample its perfume, catching new nuances of complexity each time. A mixture of ripe non-citrus fruits with a touch of vanilla cream, similar to fruit nougat, in a soft swirl of floral minibursts my memory associates with ylang ylang. More than a sensory delight - a spiritual uplift. This rose is well named. Back to earth - began pinching for structure after that bloom indulgence & the baby rose responded with new branching. Allowed only one of those side shoots a single bloom (so I could bliss out again). Snapped off at the peduncle base as the sepals descended, that bud went into a small blue bottle vase & accompanied me from desk to night table for several days, till it dried in perfect form in the air conditioning. Even dried, it retained the ghost of its perfume. That bloom opened to 3", more petal & fragrance packed than the first. Dutifully nipped several more buds to direct the rose's energy into root & branch growth. Measuring Bliss' current stature a few minutes ago, spied a new bud just beginning to form along a side branch. Compelled to let that one bloom, too. Having only spent 38 days with Bliss as of today, have to say I'm besotten. Sue

Thanks for the heads up. I better check it out