getting R.soulieana (sp?) too.

R. soulieana (sp?), really? Isn't that a vicious thorny beast that gets huge? Well, it does have beautiful flowers....

R. soulieana is a massive plant. In my garden it easily outgrows R. multiflora, exceeding it in both size and vigor. It is also very much inclined to root tip anywhere canes contact the ground. You've been warned!

That said, I hope you can find a way to accommodate it; it is a beautiful species that I would gladly give a home to, any day.

Ya know, class in a garden (or anywhere) is not achieved in a day or in one fell swoop (unless you're a millionaire). For the rest of us it comes in fits and starts and deliberation and strokes of genius. The two roses you purchased may be the first step toward a classy garden or a class-i-er garden. Adding beauty to a garden can not be a bad thing. Remember when you tidied up your home garden and what a good thing that was? You may have stumbled into another stroke of genius, Suzy. Isn't that how we all get there???

Sherry

hehe campanula, don't we all wish sometimes for the garden to be an empty field, with hardscape materials at hand and preferably also somebody to put it in place? x) On a bright note, you can salvage almost any impulse buy by giving the plants to the customers.

As a matter of fact though, Nahema looks rather nice in a company of R. cinnamomea plena in my friends garden . ;)

huge R.soulieana - massive thorny beast. - i know - thrilling or what. I have an enormous compost area at the back of my plot, rather near the chainlink fence and road - I get a lot of rubbish thrown over into my lovely hot heaps. I vaguely thought a himalayan rubus!! - instead, Soulieana is gonna be between the compost and the rest of the (untidy, noisy and slightly unwelcome world. Bring it on.
If my home garden was in any shape, I would hang on to Nahema as it smells gorgeous....but it is now an unspeakable mess of plastic pots and broken concrete while waiting to order a skip. Avoiding any sensible examination of cashflow, too (roses are cheap, though) My poor little brain just cannot begin to comprehend exactly what might emerge from the rubble until I have whipped some order imto it. This time, I would actually like a garden instead of a collection.

hehe Japanese garden of sand and stones? They are so pretty in public gardens, but I can imagine what would happen if I happened to own one - all local cats would feel it is a lovely dump box. x)

I am really curious though what will emerge out of yours, as generally there are not a lot of small garden examples. It is nice to look at pics of acres of space, but it is useless ideas wise, as mine is also small and no space for grand vistas.

Also, are you still going for minis? I somehow find it difficult to like them, as they are a bit... uhm, weird. I got Dresden Doll myself, but only because it is moss, I have no space and it was the only one I thought I might get to like. Ok, I like Suntan, but just because it is not a rose like, but rather something florescent (also I suck in SP).

Ummm, one other thought, Suzy, if I understand correctly you're trying to inhibit folks from tossing trash into your area? What if the trash bits fall into the thorny beast? You'll need armor to get them out!!!

And don't feel bad about the adrenalin of the moment. I'm afraid I lost track of my orders this year (often induced by the stress of irritation with the DH ;-) Imagine my horror when I discovered I had ordered J. E. Murphy's Pink tea FOUR TIMES!!! I did discover the fourth before shipment and was able to cancel it. Now I dunno if I want a small hedge, spread them around or gift one or two... At least the only catalogs we look at with 'rubies' have roses and not gems!!!

FOUR times!! Blimey, I guess that's a rose you really like. True, regarding rubbish...but they will have to toss it high. I am allowing 2m between chainlink and compost piles as I recall this rose as being vigourous but not anything like some of the famously huge tree climbers such as Bobbie James, Rambling Rector et al.The compost is frequently turned, emptied and generally messed with so I will be able to get at the rose for pruning. The heaps are about 4feet high, enough to keep the rose reasonably contained and upright until it has gained some size. Tip rooter, hmmm, can also be handy, but warning heeded. My recollection of seeing this as a full grown rose was almost like looking at a white wisteria, although much later in the year (I seem to remember this was a very late bloomer) - great hanging corymbs? panicles? clusters, anyway, of tiny white flowers and, later in the season, orangey hips.
Minis: well a lot depends on how and where they are being grown. I love tiny plants (my first gardening loves were alpines) as well as great sweeping perennials so I would like to display little treasures the same as auriculas - in a 'theatre'. Have you ever displayed plants like that? Essentially, an auricula theatre is a series of shelves or staging, arranged in tiers, each individual plant in its own little pot - I have used various things over the years, from matte black painted terracotta to scrubbed tin cans. Total artifice, of course, with no attempt to place these perfect little plants in a landscape - they are to be admired at close quarters. So, minis. yes, I think so. To my joy, I have found a nursery which sells Little Buckaroo and I want, want, want Si.

campanula, if you want some barrier and hips are important, maybe go for rugosas? They can be that big not to have crap landing on your side and you get hips crop to make jam. Bit of work but tastey and they claim healthy also. I love it with curd pies. :D

I had something alike alpinarium, not a theatre though. We had some old cement left in the bags, which got soaked over the winter and hardened, so I had some sort of "stones" to construct the rocky garden. It was nice having it, but it work in small spaces really. I would definitely go for it if I had balcony garden.

with minis, I think it is a bit supermarket minis fault, that in my head they are imprinted as something bit fake-looking, more or less min-zapped version of HT. I saw quite a few in local Rosariums also, but none really left lasting impression. I still probably will get one of the Koster roses (all sorts of versions of Morsdag, including the climbing one.), it is small enough to still find a space for it, globular, blooms whole summer and does not suffer from any blights. Also good thing is that I do not have to order it, just have to buy one at any local garden center next spring. :D

Campanula, I have a friend who had a huge problem with Soulieana. The tip rooting was serious and it started taking over her garden. I've been afraid of it ever since.
Duplex, which I like to call Wolley Dod's Rose is one of my favorites. It is very very big. I'm wondering where it will leave off.

Oh dear - I will sharpen my spade! Perhaps Duplex will eat my neighbours falling down shed.