'Mme. Jules Bouche' comes immediately to mind. This is a very common found rose here in Italy, a tough, sweet-scented, Tea-like old HT, introduced around 1909-10 and spread throughout the country as a passalong rose, which is how I got it. I hear that 'Snowbird' is similar, but have never seen it. Good luck in your researches: it looks like a good rose. Melissa

Thanks for chiming in! I will add that Felicia could easily be grown up against an old, but sturdy play house in the backyard built by my Grandpa if it isn't picked for this particular spot. There is afternoon shade on the playhouse which may also make it a good fit. Judith- It's good to hear from someone who grows both. I'm glad the shrub itself of Mme. Berkeley is worth mentioning. Felicia seems so elegant, but Teas are close to the perfect rose for this area if space isn't an issue. Ingrid - I've heard DdB can be mildew prone here though a good plant is beautiful. I'm unsure of Mme. Antoine Mari's rep here, but it is a rose both of us like. Along the lines of what Jeri said, I wonder if the teas that do well for you -particularly your lovely Miss Atwood and Le Vesuves- just want more heat than is regularly offered here. We did think about a medium pink. Grandmother's Hat and Baronne Prevost were tossed around, but we're leaning towards a larger Tea because of future size limitations. She can probably manage one more very large rose (Tea or otherwise) after this, so we're picking carefully. There would be more room for large shrubs if she didn't pick up two Mutabilis recently. Susan- I'm pretty sure that if we don't put Felicia in this particular space, it will find a spot along a wall dedicated only to Hybrid Musks or against a structure in the long run. That's great that it blooms reliably in the summer for you. Unless some other Tea comes to our attention that we didn't consider, Mme. Berkeley will probably be the pick. Rosette Delizy, Rubens, General Gallieni, Gilbert Nabonnand (We're trying this from a different source after receiving GG instead of GN), Lady Hillingdon, and Adam are already here. Adam is looking like it may not be here for the long run. It's quite the mildew-prone runt. Adam's departure would free up a spot for a Climbing Tea, but I am rooting for it to make a turn around. Jay

I enjoyed seeing the various photos of the Euphorbs from the Huntington, impressive collection there. I am still experimenting with which ones are hardy enough to use for landscaping here in the SF Bay Area, and mostly stick to those that I see around town that have survived past freezes. E. grandicornis is one I'm also using, and E. lambii is one I also like to use quite often, it makes a very fast filler plant while you wait for other slower growing things to fill in. No doubt about it, though, it does reseed readily, but I don't mind working around that for the beauty of the plant. I wish I could figure out how to nurse E. tirucallii 'Sticks on Fire' through our winters up here, so far I ahve only been marginally successful with one plant on my back deck under rain shelter in winter; left out to get rained on they always simply rot away one stem at a time for me. I suspect that the reason the big Euphorbia's get so top heavy is that we just get too much rain for them, and can't grow them hard enough. When I use E. ammak variegata, I plant them right up against a house wall or in a very large pot, where they won't get quite so big, and are easier to keep "pruned" of too heavy branches.

I enjoy getting up to the Bot Garden at least once every month, but it is only a 5 minute drive for me! The blue South African bulbs are not Ixia, but Babiana, so you know what to ask for if this is really what you want. I know that Suncrest Wholesale Nursery has several color selections of these, your local retail nursery can order them in. Also Annie's Annuals grows a couple of Babiana species as well. I haven't met that many people willing to let loose a large puya into their garden, I hope you have the room. I also like them, but I would advise to lay down weed fabric all around it and up close now while it is small, because weeding around one of them is murder.