well, I will speak up as a fan of Lasting Love (which was sold as Commandant Cousteau until about 2009), but with the caveat that I'm in zone 10, so cold zoners should take that with a big grain of salt. It's my go-to recommendation for the folk who always ask me for a "fragrant, classically formed, did I say fragrant?, red hybrid tea" and, unlike Velvet Fragrance, it is usually available (even now) in well-stocked nurseries. And yes, it is very fragrant, and I use it to win fragrance classes in shows quite often. I love the foliage, which seems to be disease free here in mildew heaven, and you can easily see why -- the leaves are very shiny and thick. I have grown Velvet Fragrance, but only as an own root plant, and it committed suicide in that configuration before it really got established. If I saw Velvet Fragrance somewhere as a grafted plant, I would try it again, but not own root. As for the OP's original question about whether these newer red hybrid teas are really better than Mirandy, Papa Meilland, etc., I would say yes, even though I still grow most of these older ones. On the older plant varieties, the bloom and especially its fragrance, is often superior, but all of them seem to grow poorly, and lankily for me. But I keep them around because I like the blooms when they deign to produce one or two. Papa Meilland is an especially poor grower, with an especially fantastic one or two occasional blooms. Sitting here sniffing a Papa M. right now. Here, have a whiff:

"Regarding limiting peat/compost/coir to less than 15% of the total mix, can I basically substitute these for each other at will? For example, if I skip peat and coir and use only compost (in addition to the pine bark fines and perlite, of course), is that likely to prove satisfactory?" I usually use peat in my soils because compost offers nothing I can't get from fertilizers and micronutrient supplements, either soluble or organic. That way, I can save the compost for the gardens. I go through a LOT of container soil in a year, so it's not unusual for me to use 8-10 cu ft of peat. Compost would do about the same job as peat, but I would try to be sure the compost is finished, or you might notice a considerable amount of N immobilization. FWIW, I've tested coir and CHCs in soils, growing a number of plants side by side with pine bark and peat, and in every case I was wholly unsatisfied with the results of the former. I was careful to keep at least loose controls in place. I fertilized at the same time and watered on an 'as needed' basis. The plants were the same genetic material as well. "What is the "ht of the PWT?" (I have no idea what that means.)" Water retention is linearly related to soil particle size. As particle size deceases, water retention increases. Heavy soils, those soils of fine particulates can have capillary attraction that is greater than gravitational flow potential. That is to say the soil is able to hold on to the soil more tightly than the force of gravity. Water 'perches' above the bottom of the container. Many out-of-the-bag soils have PWTs in excess of 4". This means that if you use one of these soils in a 4" deep container and fully saturate the soil, it will not drain; rather, it will remain 100% saturated until the plant uses the water or it evaporates. If you only water in small sips to avoid the root rot that often accompanies these saturated soils, you are forced to deal with the accumulation of soluble salts that occurs when you can't regularly flush the soil. "On a related subject, does the mix have any wicking properties or anything like that? For example, suppose I have a container filled with the 5:1:1 mix (or some variant thereof) and the bottom third of the container sits in a shallow hole in the ground. If the ground is wet, will the moisture have any significant tendency to rise through the mix and cause part or all of the upper two-thirds of the mix to become moist? If so, can you give me some idea of to what extent this is likely to occur?" Water does diffuse through the soil in vapor form to some degree, but whether it will be enough depends on several variables. If you partially sink a pot with several drain holes into the ground in spring, the plant will grow roots through the holes and not require any more water than their counter parts planted out. On the other hand, you can't take a plant and set it in the ground in the middle of a summer drought and expect it to take care of itself. I have friends that have taken long leaves from this country and sunk their bonsai and nursery plants they were training as potential bonsai into the ground and left them unattended for sometimes several years with no problems other than having to sort out the root mess when they picked up where they took off. The short answer is 'it depends', but use your reasoning to make good decisions. It's unlikely you would have any problems with over-0watering, unless the soil you sunk the pots into was heavy clay. In that case, the bathtub effect that would be created could be a considerable pain in your ..... side. "I realize the last question is fairly detailed and you may not have a good answer for me." Oh ye of little faith. ;o) Al

Thanks for all the input - I have both Louise Odier and Bonica - but neither is very big yet - so perhaps they will make better hips as they get more estabished? I don't recall the Bonica hips being all that noticeable last year. I will definitely check out the Vintage website and look into some of the others mentioned. Ann, I mostly use a fungicide drench on my HTs (no fertilizer or insecticide included). I also spray some mancozeb in the spring when it's very rainy and damp out. However, with the shrub roses, so far I've done one drench in the spring before they leaf out, lime-sulfur in the winter, and let it go after that. The BS doesn't seem to bother them much. I'm in Maryville, just south of Knoxville. I actually have been lusting after Tuscany Superb and think I have a place to put it, if eastern exposure with afternoon shade is good for it, and if it isn't too disease prone. I have my shrub/polyantha/floribunda roses (all unidentified except Bonica) on a south-facing slope in a ring around a flowering cherry. Trying to keep them out far enough that shade won't become an issue. I have space for a couple more shrubs that don't get too big there. Plus I have 4 of one type that doesn't excite me me, so I could replace some or all of them. I would love to have some fall color and winter itnerest in that area. Most of my roses were inherited with the house, and I've been learning over the past three years. Aside from the fungicide, I put on slow-release rose food in the spring and a couple applications of epsom salts during the growing season. Plus I'll water them with compost tea or seaweed when I'm doing other plants and the mood strikes. I don't have enough of them to be much of a burden right now, as far as the spraying and fertilizing goes, but I don't want to add too many more that aren't low maintenance.

HT Bewitched is a good cutting rose with form and fragrance, and a good rose overall. There is also a floribunda of the same name and color. You can look at the pictures on HMF and see which you have. A recently transplanted rose may have flowers that are temporarily subpar-- smaller, fewer petals, etc. Here is a link that might be useful: Various Bewitcheds