Hey Adrian: I picked up Heart of Gold at the end of last summer. Way too late to determine how good it was. I can tell you that it grows more tall than wide and the blooms were breathtaking. It had been in a nursery pot for a long while it seemed when I bought it so upon planting I gave it a pretty good trimming and it didn't bloom again. Healthy and pretty though, I like it so far. Hope this helps. Kate Here is a link that might be useful: This is a picture of mine if this works..,

I grow DP and DCT both and love them both. DP's colors are a bit more vivid and get your attention very quick. IT is a heavy bloomer for me and repeats quickly and grows very vigorously and healthy and winter hardy. The blooms have decent form but it could be better as they can be kind of blousy and raggedy looking sometimes. It has no fragrance I can detect at all. Garden visitors zoom in on this rose very quickly because of the vibrant color combination of the flowers. DCT was new for me two years ago and I have been completely satisified with it. The bush is beautfully green and grows with vigor and good disease resistance. It has been very winter hardy as well. The bush grows to a nice rounded shape at 5'-6' tall without having to prune it that way. The blooms are a delightful color combo of red/yellow/cream and the petals are many, substantial, and heavily packed in the bloom which makes it last a long time. Flowers keep their form from opening to death of the bloom. There is no real fragrance I can detect. You can't go wrong with either I don't think, but if I could only grow one of them it would definitely be the DCT for it's superior bush and bloom form. Just my two cents worth... John

'Midwest Dreams' is a seed strain and its colour can vary from yellow to nearly orange, not on the same plant, of course. It may not be as vigorous as 'Summer Sun'. The flowers on 'Midwest Dreams' seem to also vary, from single to semi-double. Overall, I would recommend 'Summer Sun'. It has been around longer, and in my opinion, is a more reliable plant. I have another heliopsis named 'Ballerina' that is similar to the other two, and one I like very much.

Don-Les is unvailable at this time but I can answer for him: He has had no success with Great Expectations in two states and four gardens. Three ago he bought Dream Queen because he does like the Great Expectatios appearance when prime, but last year he lost that too. Last year he bought Dream Weaver for me to start me with my hosta container garden, hoping I will have more success. I m excitedly waiting for dormancy to break to see how she is doing. If she does well I am very tempted to try GE in pots. I'd helped pot up the two teeny remnants of DQ last spring, which is what has gotten me started in container hostas. They were eaten by vermin. When dug up the plant showed evidence of crown rot. He told me when he bought it the roots looked ike octopus arms. He has records showing all of the GE he'd lost looked the same way, regarding their crowns. Each had been planted at different depths and it didn't seem to matter. For what he spent on his GE's and DQ, I wouldn't balk at the cost of Beach Boy from what I have just read in your thread, if it is sturdier. My girlfriend has Thunderbolt and I love it. She also has GE's that are growing like weeks. Which brings me to ask if unusually heavy fertilization helps with growing the GE family. I feel she uses a lot of liquid fertilizer during the summer-like once a week. Her DH mixes Miracle-Gro literally by the buckets and pours it over her hostas. (He does this in the evening, of all times!) It could have to do with the volume of water too. I don't know if this helps or hurts, Don. All I can do is pass on the message. Theresa