I can't say much about it, since it came as a band only this Spring, but another possible alternative in a similar mold could be 'Mme de Sevigne'. I got mine from Long Ago Roses after my 'Mme Isaac Pereire' bit the dust from freeze damage. I emailed Linda asking if she had an extra MIP available, and she recommended I try MdS. It might not be the original rose, but whatever it is, I like the looks of the (few) pics of it on HelpMeFind. Another long-caned fragrant Bourbon in a similar "look" would be 'Deuil de Dr. Reynaud' (which also might not be the original, and might be the same rose being sold as 'Philemon Cochet'). I've never seen it (nor PC), but I was looking into them when I was trying to pick out a long-caned fragrant Bourbon. I did buy 'Souvenir du President Lincoln' (or, at least, the rose being sold as such), but I gifted it to someone back in Buffalo. This was its second year in the ground. I'll have to find out how it did there. There's also 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' but I don't think it'll grow to be as big and "climber-ish" as the others mentioned. Vintage Gardens gives it a different growth habit, and the one I have here is doing more of a "sprawling, self-pegging" type of growth habit -- canes grow up, grow long, then bow down from their own weight, and bloom all along their length the following year. It's been very vigorous for me, coming as a band in April 2012. It finally went in the ground this Summer, and also bloomed for the first time this year. I have some pics of it below (taken with an iPhone, so pardon the less-than-stellar quality). August 2012 (four months after receiving it as a band from Vintage Gardens). Those upright canes in the pics below later bowed down on their own: April, 2013...just leafing out, one year after receiving it as a band. That one cane shooting straight up arched down like the others during Summer: Late May, 2013...first wave of blooms weren't fully double, but were fully fragrant: Mid-June, 2013...with more buds about to bloom (this wave was fully-double). Notice the cane that was straight-up is already leaning to the left: Just to the left of center, in front of the stones and behind the log edging, taken August 31, 2013, it's finally planted. It's hard to see against the leaf litter mulch, but SdVL has canes arching out to the sides and forward. In fact, the cane draping over the log-edging is actually the cane that was originally growing straight-up in the earlier pics: Another shot of SdVL, here just to the right of center (look for the white name tag with two blue patches from the cardboard under the mulch sticking up), and you can see the long canes arching out from it. The "white" flowers in the pic belong to 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' behind and to the left of it. There's one cane shooting up on SdVL now, but by next year, it will also (likely) arch down on its own: :-) ~Christopher

I've had a little more time to research this topic, but still may not have the final answer. As best I can tell, the rose as the queen of flowers dates back to Greek/Roman mythology--namely, the stories about Chloris who was called Flora by the Romans. Usually she is considered the goddess of springtime. Part of her story is famously told by Ovid (43 BC Â 17 AD) who notes she was raped by the West Wind (Zephyr) who then married her and pronounced her in charge of all the flowers. In some versions, that translates as "Queen of the Flowers"--but there's the hitch. "Translates." I can't read Ovid in the original, so I don't know if he actually called her that, or if the "queen of flowers" is an English phrasing of Ovid. There is also a second story about Chloris transforming a dead nymph into the first rose, but I can't determine where that story comes from--maybe Ovid also. At any rate, the summary version given repeatedly on the internet is as follows: Chloris is said to have created the first rose. Walking one day in her garden, she came upon a lifeless nymph in a clearing surrounded by forest. She decided to change the girl into a flower to preserve her beauty. Chloris beseeched Aphrodite for help, and the Goddess of Love was kind and gave the nymph a portion of her beauty; Dionysus, the God of Wine, then gave a drop of nectar to give her a pleasurable fragrance, and The Three Graces gave her allure, brilliance and elation. Zephyrus came and blew a clearing in the clouds so that Apollo, the Sun God, could shine upon the nymph and cause her to bloom. And so the Rose was born and was immediately crowned the Queen of Flowers. My main concern about that passage is that no one ever cites a source for it--it is just mindlessly repeated in pretty much the same words used above. So I don't know how authentic the story is or whose language is being used. It's kind of like the continual repetition of the words "queen of flowers" that supposedly Sappho uttered in a four-line verse. The only problem is that Sappho did not say that--that is not her verse. Moral of the story: Lies and errors will be endlessly repeated on the internet, but that doesn't make them any more true. If I had the time and interest, I could go to academic sources and find an excellent translation of Ovid, read it, and thus verify how much of this story is Ovidean--and check several academic commentators on that translation to find out how other experts view it, etc. In other words, this mystery could probably be tracked down--but I don't care to take that much time to confirm the answer, so . . . . Well, at least I tried. Hope that helps someone else pick up the trail. Kate Here is a link that might be useful: Chloris, Queen of Flowers

Give your clematis that is not flowering some time. Sometimes two identical plants will react totally differently from each other. If you hit one plant with too much high nitrogen fertilizer it MAY produce much more foliage than blooms but eventually the fertilizer will be depleted and it should just do fine. Another thing to consider is that perhaps you don't have two Presidents. I know I have purchased way too many clematis that didn't end up being what they were labeled. The fact that you purchased both at the same time and at the same nursery doesn't preclude that one was mislabeled. Time will tell!

Presidents Day, brings back fond memories of the days when we use to raise rabbits for show. We use to travel down to Roseburg in southern Oregon to a fairly large show they held around President's birthday. DH won BIS with a Belgian Hare and I won BOB with a Netherland Dwarf. It seem that's the only traveling I ever got to do. Oh well, it got me to Houston, Tucson, and we spent a lot of weekends in Seattle and surrounding areas. Anyone else ever raise rabbits for show? I'll never forget the scrumptious meals we had on these fondly remembered weekends, Prime Rib at the Fireside Inn and Jake O'Shaunessy's, Abalone can't remember where but it was to die for, King Crab Legs at Ray's Boathouse and the Tiger Prawns at Andy's dinner, oh-la-la. Annette