I had to come back and ogle some more. Your picture of Clementina Carbonieri makes we want to cry. I had this rose and loved it but in my dry heat the flowers dried up almost as soon as they opened so I had to let it go. You obviously have the ideal climate for these roses. I hope you don't mind that I added your photos to my file of memorable roses. That way I'll still have CC in my life in some small way. I share Christina's admiration for GN. Unless these are the only roses you have in your garden we hope to see LOTS more pictures. Ingrid P.S. I feel a little better that I'm not the only one who planted her roses too close together. But how else can you fit in all the ones you crave?

Pruning that cuts back into the oldest woody stems is always an iffy proposition. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Even when it stimulates new growth closer to the ground, it takes many, many years for the plants to regain their present size and commence blooming again. Perhaps the best things you can do are: Increase the amount of light they receive if at all possible. Remove any competing growth within the drip lines and mulch well. Deadhead them after they bloom and prune out any awkwardly placed branches. If you really want to hide the naked stems, lower growing rhododendrons, ferns or other non-competitive growers can be used, but keep them off the existing rhododendrons' roots. Rhodoendrons of just about any size can be moved if you're careful to keep them well watered after moving and you have some way of dealing with at least a couple hundred pounds of root mass and top growth.

OK, responses to everyone follow. Here goes: @Seil I think it will bloom again, but not as profusely as it does in the spring. Actually it HAS to bloom again, as I moved in in July last year and it bloomed after that. But not as much as it bloomed this spring. Though that may have been due to the lack of care for the year or so before we moved in while the property was empty. @Joe Moose - was that Trumpet vine you did that to, or Virginia creeper? As I failed to notice that I have BOTH of them coming up in these roses. The pulled out stuff was trumpet vine, and some Virginia creeper. The stuff that is left is ALL Virginia creeper. @ fig_insanity - yes, I failed to notice, I have both. I'm not allergic to Virginia creeper - I AM slightly allergic to the trumpet vine. 2-4,D is what I was told to use to kill the Trumpet vine (except I'm not "allowed" to use it because it will allegedly kill the mother plant, which is not on my property), but that won't work for the Virginia creeper? What is a "real brush killer" then? @mad Gallica, fig_insanity, nanadoilZ7, Cecily - It is Virginia creeper in the pictures, but most of what I pulled out WAS trumpet vine. The mother plant is 30 or 50' away. It sprouts up everywhere between the back fence and the rose bushes. Its' a constant hassle. I hate the stuff. Yes, indeed, the suckers are (not almost) IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of. PLEASE tell me Virginia creeper is easier to destroy! @countrygirl - I don't know that I'll be here next spring, but if I am, I will cut the old canes out. @vasue - they're overgrown. You can't do anything around them and they rub up against the siding and damage it just from rubbing back and forth in the wind, which there is a lot of. I think 8' tall was conservative; they are grown up to the eaves, which has to be a good 10', what with the crawlspace. They were definitely planted too close together, given their mature size. Actually, they are probably even taller than 10" at their greatest extent, given we have 10' ceilings inside, plus the crawlspace. So the eaves are at least 11' or 12' above the patio. I guarantee, no mildew. It is extremely arid here - High Sierras Desert. We get 7" of rain per year. That is dust from the winds blowing the desert sands around. I do have a long reach pruner, but only one working arm. Hopefully my son can wiggle far enough in there (while I hold the thorny canes up) to cut what's left off at ground level, when he gets back from being out of town. The landlady has never lived here. She bought the place out of foreclosure. It had been totally neglected for at least a year, probably longer, before she bought it, and other than propping the rear fence back up (because the trumpet vine is pulling it down), she knows NOTHING about what is and is not growing here. Honestly, if the roses die - I'll just plant more roses. It would be worth it, not to have to deal with both trumpet vine AND the Virginia creeper in that part of the border. SO I DON"T CARE - if the roses die, they die. They can be replaced. The trumpet vine and Virginia creeper have to go, if at all possible. @toolbelt - can't really get in past the thorny overgrown rose canes to do that to most of what's down at ground level. We will try, though. @stillannt - Moving is the ONLY solution to trumpet vine, IMO. I am just really glad that we rent this, and didn't buy it. I know now to check for trumpet vine before buying anything, LOL! I love trumpet vine flowers and the way it attracts hummingbirds; but there are lots of other plants that attract hummingbirds that aren't nearly as troublesome. I'm just glad I never bought and planted it before I discovered its insidious evil. I would feel so guilty! I love mango - lived in Puerto Rico for several years. But I can only eat ONE raw mango, and that only if I very carefully peel it, cut it into cubes, and use a fork to pass it over my lips WITHOUT TOUCHING anywhere. If I eat TWO, I get sores INSIDE the mouth. So yeah - I'm allergic to that stuff. Thanks for everyone's input.

Straw, you are spot on in identifying the veges. We generally do add potatoes also to the mix as they bake very well. Yogurt goes well with beef. It ensures better marination of the spices and almost dries up during baking but in the process, keeps the beef tender and gives it a nice flavour. However, few people may not like it with the veges though. Olive oil also assists in saving the meat and veges from drying / burning and give a very nice flavour to veges. Shirmp marination in our recipes usually doesn't contain yogurt though there is no harm in using. However, mostly lemon juice or vinegar go well with shrimps. We usually prefer a perforated baking dish which allows excess water to drain down. But then one has to keep another tray at the lower level inside the oven as water will keep dripping down from the perforated tray and make the oven dirty.