I grow both of these roses. Since this is the first flowering on new band-sized plants, I wouldn't be too concerned that the flowers aren't what you have heard that they will be. As the plants settle in and get to their mature size, the flowers will do the same. Flowers on Louis Philippe, here in my garden and at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA, are about 2 1/2 - 3 inches across ... dark raspberry color. Cramoisi's flowers are darker, think dark red velvet, and they are a bit larger than Louis's. Neither has flowers that I would consider huge.

The thing is though that my trees don't look stressed, well, other than the color change. lol They are COVERED in buds for next year. Almost to the point of looking like they're suffering a bud disease, like a child would covered in chicken pox. Plus, depending on their size when planted, they've grown anywhere from 1 foot to 3 1/2 feet their first 5 months in the ground this year so I believe they all have decent root growth growing on. Unless that isn't a reliable indicator of root growth. However, I concede to you Whaas, because one, you know a lot more than I do, and two,because trees were not made to be supplemental watered by people, but by Mother Nature herself, and just as breastfeeding is best for a baby, so is rain for trees. I totally get that. Oh and all the trees I received are from zone 7 if I remember correctly. (Forest Farm) Which is 1 zone warmer than I am. I guess I was just hoping this wasn't drought related, but evidently it is. :( Uuugh.

Good morning thegardenat902, Do they need winter protection? I am in zone 5: No your ROS will do quite well on their own in zone 5- if the plants have not had most the summer to establish roots though you can choose to protect them this year with some mulch- either lawn clippings or crushed leaves- then after that they should be established enough to take care of themselves. If you are in a similar zone, when do yours usually leaf out: ROS are late to the spring bud game- mine will leaf out in April-May- and will slowly grow until about June when they go nuts and start to bloom profusely! Does anyone grow any kind of vines up hibiscus: I would not recommend growing vines on the tree as this could choke your plants if the vines take them over. How fast can I expect these to grow: ROS are slow growing usually the first year they are planted while establishing their feeding roots. In their second year they should be established and will grow quite profusely to about 4 ft- Chiffon is similar to Diana in its growth habits and tend to be more vertical in growth. And last does anyone have any full shrub pictures of Rose of Sharon Blue Chiffon or Lavender Chiffon: Attached is a trained lady blue bird tree. Love the Lady blue bird and Chiffon, I have quite a few Diana too. Great bushes/ Trees when trained correctly. During our hot summers the blues burn out to an almost steel grey making the trees look magnificent.

Blue Pearl has been around a long time, and will be around a lot longer... When I first started in the "slab side" of this Trade, some 23 years ago, Blue Pearl was one of the first kinds of Granite that I had ever worked with - still love it today, except there's a whole lot more choices now - then there was 23 years ago... I think the "regional" thingy has some validity, but in the end, it's strictly a personal choice issue - I saw alot more of Blue Pearl in the Mid-West than out here in Phoenix... But I'm just a Fabrimicator - not an Inferior Desicrator!!! HA!!!! my .02 cents worth kevin Kevin M. Padden MIA SFA Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry www.azschoolofrock.com