Andreajp, these are lovely photos and a beautiful look to aspire to. It's a good idea to choose from the roses at the cemetery - pretty much an opportunity to find guaranteed winners for your garden. The photos really excited me because my front garden is finally getting mature enough that Souv de la Malmaison and Mme Lombard are looking like one bush because ML is reaching out wide. I don't mind (yet), because I've long been an admirer of the thicket look. I tried to plant 6' on center (but sometimes not) which pretty much guarantees that teas will be overlapping some, so plan accordingly and be patient with the blank spaces for a few years. Like Jeri said, fill in with annuals. One word of advise if you use Purple Coneflowers (which I recommend). They are thugs root-wise so don't plant them under or even near the canopy of the rose. Since my roses are fairly disease resistant, I don't worry about air circulation, but being able to get to the roses for maintenance is important. Give yourself room to get to each rose from the front and the back. Make an alley behind the roses if you're planting against a fence. Then squeezing in to reach the sides, if they touch at maturity, isn't too bad unless you have a bad back and can't reach awkwardly. There are definite consequences to planting too close. And remember in Zone 9 they will get big and probably even huge. If those photos were taken in the spring flush, those bushes will be a mess by the end of the season. Can't wait to hear which ones you choose. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

23 feet six inches tall is the height of the rosebush mentioned in the Indiana article, I wish it had mentioned its name. I've seen a 'Susan Louise' (R. gigantea hybrid ) growing near my neighborhood, that is 20+ feet tall. It is growing from one trunk-like basal cane. I've also seen a R. gigantea rosebush a mile or so away, growing in the same manner, from one trunk-like basal cane to grow to 20 + feet tall. Both are grown own-root. I mentioned the size of these rosebushes to one of my medical practitionors and he asked me "what, is there just one big rose at the top of it?" I was startled by this unusual comment and then grew enchanted at the vision his comment inspired, quite magical in an "Alice in Wonderland" sort of way. I finally managed to mutter "No, er, um... these huge rosebushes produce bloom all over the bush." Martin and Rix state in one of their books, that one of the Asian rose species grows to be "30 m." tall. I can't remember the species name. What is the largest rosebush you've seen? Lux.

It could be Elle. Elle is very changeable and can show many different color variations. Bellaroma is also a possibility from the pics at HMF. I don't think it's Peace at all. Way too much pink and not enough yellow in it. Is this your rose or did you get it somewhere else? If it's yours you need to let it bloom again and post more pictures.

I'm late to the party, but yes, it's a double yellow Lady Banks' rose -- R. banksiae lutea. They are known for blooming right around "tax day", which is ten days from today. The various Lady Banks' roses should do well for you in Florida, but be aware that they can get huge. This isn't something to climb a trellis or arbor -- they eat trees. :-) ~Christopher