It would have to be Souvenir de la Malmaison because it's the prettiest bush and best-blooming rose in my garden with of course gorgeous flowers. It's in a three-way tie though with the somewhat gangly early hybrid teas La France and Souvenir du President Carnot because I'm just so enchanted with their flowers and the wonderful fragrance of La France. I don't know what will happen though when some of my young roses such as Devoniensis, Lady Alice Stanley, No. 92 Nanjing and Hoag House Cream grow up and begin blooming. By that time I'm sure there will be a new thread of what's your favorite rose. I think we all love responding to those. Ingrid

"ERC is adaptable over all of the eastern US" I still say taxodium by a wide margin. Maybe j. virginiana is more cold hardy and therfore more 'adaptable' up north, but taxodium stretches down into the tropics. Plus you don't see ERC growing in standing water. As you go south into florida ERC is replaced by closely related southern red cedar, juniperus silicola so maybe it doesn't do well in very wet conditions and it's probably not fair to say ERC is adaptable all over the east coast, just because I doubt it would persist in extreme southern florida. I hadn't originally considered platycladus but maybe taxodium beats it out because of that same point. The thing grows in swamps AND dry spots. A relative has a few planted in Midland, Texas which is a frickin desert and where you won't get away with ERC. There are some very large specimens in New Mexico, and huge trees in european collections. And it's commonly cultivated in horticultural trade in the American northwest. So I might argue Taxodium is adaptable in most of the contiguous 48. Where would it not survive is probably the easier question. "What in the world is a platycladus? Sounds like a furry creature from "down under"." The platycladus is a common item, can probably find it at your local lowes or home depot. They are still often labeled as Thuja orientalis.

I went through what I grow and here is a list of some of my favorite intermediate-large growing conifers. If I had to pick one from the list which is a must-have for you I would go with 'Skylands'. Abies concolor 'Blue Cloak' Abies grandis x 'Luteneggeri' Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Glacier' Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Boyko's Sundown' Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Nietschke Cream' Picea abies 'Aurea Jakobsen' Picea abies 'Gold Drift' Picea glauca 'Yukon Blue' Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' Picea orientalis 'Nutans' Picea orientalis 'Skylands' Picea pungens 'Sharp Cheddar' Picea pungens 'Spring Blast' Picea pungens 'Straw' Pinus aristata 'Blue Bear' Pinus cembra 'Stricta' Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst' Pinus koraiensis 'Silveray' Pinus resinosa 'Aurea' Pinus strobus 'Stowe Pillar' Matt

Yep, Blue spruce are very susceptible to pests & diseases when they are outside their native range. It seems the number of issues with this species has only increased in the past few decades. For blue form, I would go with any of the cultivars of concolor or koreana. There are several cultivars to choose from, depending on the dimensions you are looking for. 'Blue Cloak', 'Archer's Dwarf', and 'Kings Gap' are 3 really nice cultivars of concolor. Koreana is most well known for it's "white curled" needled cultivars such as 'Silberlocke', 'Silver Show', and 'Ice Breaker' (maybe the most sought after dwarf conifer), but there are also some nice blue forms as well. Wittboldt-Muller nursery has been somewhat obsessed with creating the greatest blue form of koreana for sale as christmas trees. They have crossed it with lasiocarpa (Sub-alpine fir) and even applied radioactive cobalt treatment to form some of the best cultivars including 'Blauer pfiff', 'Blue Emperor', and 'Blue Magic' just to name a few. Beyond the firs, Picea engelmannii 'Blue Angel' and 'Bush's Lace' have both done well for me so far, but I have concerns about recommending them due to their very close relationship with the blue spruce. Any of the hardy cedrus do well here, such as Cedrus deodara `Feelin Blue' or Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'. In addition to those, The owner of Katsura gardens in plymouth, ma (best conifer nursery around), has a ~15yr old Abies numidica 'Glauca', that has become my new favorite conifer. I have no evidence of long term success of this species, but it seems to do quite well. Another one that has caught my attention lately is Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca'. It might be marginally hardy, but the really interesting thing about this one is that it is regenerative, which is quite rare, and as far as I known, unheard of for any other blue variety of conifer. So, like yew, this species can be cut right down to a stump, and it will regrow. Making this a nice blue alternative to green yew foundation plants seen in front of everyone's home, will still allowing for annual sheering to keep it's size in check, and is said to have very good shade tolerance.