Jeri - it was a delightful day. It was an immense pleasure for me to see you, Clay, Anita, Jill and Jay again, and to meet David, Rosefolly and Mendocino_rose for the first time. I missed seeing Jackie and Luxrosa. My daughter enjoyed the day, too, but I think Beckett was the reason for that :-) Thanks for posting the pictures - I can relive the day! Cheers, Jo P.S. "Rose Rustling..." is a great little book!!

Cup_shaped roses is Niels in Denmark. He grows 400+ roses, zone 5b, acidic clay: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1719734/lifespan-of-a-grafted-rose cupshaped_roses(6) In my experience bareroot (grafted) modern roses .., have a few years where they look really great ...then they seem to decline - almost grow backwards - and I end up replacing them with new plants. It may however be a matter of rootstocks? Up until the 1980es - R. Canina species was most often used as rootstocks over here - (Rose Canina Pfanders in Germany - Rosa Canina Laxa in milder/warmer areas - like France and England - but most use R. Multiflora today.cupshaped_roses(6) **** In the above thread, Roseseek (Kim Rupert) reported Grafted-on-Dr.Huey can survive 30 years in dry California. Also Seil in sandy soil, zone 6a, reported grafted-on-Dr.Huey being 50 years old in her mother's garden. Nearby alkaline clay rose-park, zone 5a: they replace their Austins (grafted on Dr.Huey) every 2 to 4 years. Their longest grafted-rose is Double Delight, more than 5 years old. Dr.Huey rootstock, being drought-tolerant, can't handle soaking wet clay that turns into freezing ice in zone 5a winter. But grafted-on-Dr. Huey lives long in dry-climate like California, or in loamy/sandy soil like Seil's in Michigan. From Heirloom roses: "The place where the bud has been added, called the crown or bud-union, is a weak area on the plant. A hard, freezing winter can easily damage the crown, leaving only the rootstock to grow. " trospero(8) Paul Barden This is why I despise 'Dr. Huey' as a rootstock. You can be guaranteed that at some point in the life of the rose, 'Dr. Huey' will send up suckers that you will never, ever be able to stop. This is just what it does. The joke around here is that it is everybody's favorite rose because in May, there is no other rose you will see more blooming plants of than 'Dr. Huey' trospero(8) **** Agree with Paul Barden on Dr. Huey. In my Chicagoland, all the neighbors' roses which are grafted on Dr.Huey: either they die, or roostock take-over and become 10 feet tall rambling-eye-sores. For that reason, I post-pone getting some Austins until they are offered as own-root. bigtruckerdave(7 NC)April 7, 2013: Today I found enormous suckers growing about 3 feet from where I removed 2 Alba Maximas in the spring of 2012. And they were grafted on Dr Huey. jerijen(Zone 10) I haven't had Dr. Huey sucker in quite that manner -- but I have seen Dr. Huey suckers pop up about 6 ins. out from the bud union. What I HAVE had sucker that far away from the plant is Multiflora rootstock. Those ALL suckered rampantly here -- http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1621052/dr-huey-rootstock?n=7

Hi Janet, You've been here a long time! That is fantastic! It's true that the photos are not dated, so it can be tricky to determine when they were uploaded unless the professional has put a date on the project they belong to or noted it in the photo description. One way you can make sure you are looking at newer photos, however, is to choose the option for Newly Featured photos when you go to the Photos page on Houzz. See image below. Those photos will be sorted from most recent to oldest. Hope that helps!

Wonderful pictures Lynn! I've had my eye on Archduke Charles for a while now. Somehow the transition from pale pink to dark cherry on that rose seems so elegant compared to some other roses with more than one color. SdlM Rouge isn't a rose I've seen referred to often -- is it just like the pink one in fragrance and habit, or is it quite different? Stephanie, that is a brilliant idea for cake decorating! This opens up so many possibilities I had not previously considered. Gorgeous! Chris, I have never seen a better picture of Song of the Stars -- every time I try to photograph this rose I have a difficult time getting the color correct and the speckles contrasty enough. :)