Looks real good for a two year old Ingrid. It is and will be very pretty on your wall. Great looking country you live in. I have tried for a few years to grow Reeve d'Or from cuttings I have got from my friend's garden. I have been so close to getting one etablished in my garden. The first one I moved from a spot I changed my mind about and lost it. Then I got a heap to grow and when I repotted them from sand into soil, they died. One I did get to survive I had planted in the right spot on a good strong arch, but it was a real dry Spring and I lost it too. This Winter I am ordering a grafted one ! I did get Lamarque to grow well though after I moved it with my fist ill fated Reeve d'Or. Actually it got moved yet again last winter when I started a Noisette hedge to grow around a new garden area.

I'm afraid Purple Splash didn't ring my chimes, although the reality may be different than the pictures on HMFR. I've had Crepuscule in the past but for me it was quite bushy and I'm not sure it would do well more or less flat against a wall. I've had Mermaid in the past and that rose seriously scares me. Rebloom also wasn't that great for me and the color again wouldn't stand out very well against the cream walls. Same goes for Lamarque, which is lovely, but I believe also really huge. Clementina Carbonieri is beautiful but fried her little heart out in my garden. I'm thinking of buying some plastic plants and draping them artistically against my wall. No falling leaves for at least five years! Seriously, thank you for your suggestions. It just occurred to me that perhaps one of the larger Bourbons might be something to try. I have some of the smaller Bourbons, including the SdlM clan, and they do quite well for me. I wonder if Mme. Isaac Pereire or Mme. Ernest Calvat might consent to live on my wall. The fragrance at least would be magnificent. Ingrid

Thanks so much for the compliments, everyone. Alas, these are not recent pictures and many of these roses are gone. I've recently replanted two Lavender Mist and two International Herald Tribune. Fortunately I still have Aunt Margy's Rose but quite a few of the teas are gone, but I've replanted every spot with new ones. It will take a few years for them to make an impact. Sheila, I wish I had your soil and whatever else you have that makes your roses grow so quickly. I also have teas in a few other places; there's no reason why they have to be grouped together. Six of them are scattered around in other spots and I only hope they don't outgrow their allotted areas. Madame Lambard has been an especially good grower. I look forward to seeing all your new teas.

If you're going to grow tender things that need to keep a good amount of cane -- in other words, as climbers -- put them against a south-facing wall, and don't try to grow them on something free-standing in the open. 'Gloire de Dijon' will probably be less tender with regards to frost damage, so if you're going to experiment with something on a pillar or post, use that one. If, instead, you plan to grow the others as loose shrubs, perhaps with support, that can be done in the open. Just be aware that you'll probably be cutting them back hard in Spring, and in that case, make sure they're in completely full-sun so that they'll grow back as much as possible every Spring/Summer. I've come to learn that growing tender things like Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, etc. here requires one of two situations -- either protection, such as against a south-facing wall, which minimizes Winter damage, or being planted where they get all-day full-sun in the open, where they'll likely have significant Winter damage but will get what they need to grow back every year. For example, 'Napoleon' is planted against the south-facing side of the house, and it got to over seven feet tall on one fat cane, leaning against the house. There, it gets little Winter damage except to thin stems that hadn't hardened off yet. Planted out in the open is "Bermuda Spice", which gets significant Winter damage most years, but will rebound to at least five feet tall and wide by the end of the season even if cut back as hard as a Hybrid Tea, to within inches of the mulch line. So take that as a guide -- if you want to keep surviving cane from year to year, plant where they'll be protected from damage. If you just want a loose mounding shrub, plant where there's all-day full-sun to promote regrowth after Winter takes much away. :-) ~Christopher