Masha, I just saw the heading of your post saying "long" and my heart started beating excitedly. I quickly grabbed a warm cup of coffee (its freezing cold and foggy here in Melbourne)and decided to settle down to enjoy the show. It was as breathtaking as ever. I absolutely love the combination of Sharifa and Ebb and am planning to do it myself. Your WS2K is so beautiful, I wish mine would grow like that. Do you prune it hard every winter? I have pruned mine the last two years, but I wonder if I should leave it as it is this year? Its hardly grown more than a foot and a half. Your Cecile Brunner is magnificent and I love Roseraie de L'Hay is beautiful and I was especially excited to see Christopher Marlowe since I have ordered it too this year. I am not fond of cream roses, but loved Gruss! All the others look wonderful too. You have a lovely garden and thanks for posting the pictures. Sanju

They say that the flu epidemic has reached its peak and so it's only going to decrease cases from here. I sure hope they're right Jodi. Sorry to hear that you all are so sick. I know you must be miserable. I am very thankful that I got my flu shot and that so far have avoided getting the flu. My dogs are extremely talented but have yet to learn how to prepare soup and serve tea!! Hugs, K PS, I had the flu one time just after I graduated from college and I remember being in bed in a dark room for 10 days. Aside from the two weeks that I spent in the hospital with mono I've never been so sick in my life. Ugh!!

Thanks everyone. Yes, Rose Masterpiece is that vibrant. The photo above was taken in the morning around 7:00 am. Because of the sun just rising the lighting gives a certain look to the DL photos. I find it hard to capture whites early. The camera seems to adjust to the lighting in a way that darkens the background. As the day goes by RM is not as 'hot' a rose red, but it holds its deep color. I will always have this DL in my garden. Debra - Yes, I do like vigrant colors but I like the soft ones as well, like Delicately Yours, Abiding Goddess, Seal Of Approval, and many more. In fact, three years ago when I started getting serious about adding DLs to the garden, and made new beds, I bought mostly in the pink family. Now I have every color in the rainbow. Jane

Thanks for the comments! :) I realize that a garden of love isn't nearly as exciting unless you can share it with fellow gardeners. I'm a single guy with a modest income but my budget is pretty much jammed into my gardening efforts which have basically caused my wallet to be real light for the first two years in the hobby. I subscribe to the 'The best time to plant a hosta(tree, etc) is twenty years ago, the next best time is today". Well, in my view this justifies 'extending oneself' a little bit to acquire the plants you want today so you can watch them grow tomorrow. I am also fanatical about hobbies: when I started 'collecting hostas', I went out and bought several hundred in a few weeks. Almost all of my plants are what I refer to as 'legacy plants' in that they are most likely to still be growing and becoming more beautiful even after I have passed on. All the more reason to invest as much time and energy as I can while I am still relatively young. Maybe some of you folks can visit in person some day! :) -Will