I love it!

Our Souv. de Gilbert Nabonnand and Clementina Carbonieri are the same rose. The first curator, Ed Wilkinson, thought SdeGN was the correct name, but most nurseries sell it as CC. Vintage, Rogue Valley and Greenmantle sell it.

I've always wanted to visit the Descanso Gardens myself, and will some day. If you come up to the Bay Area as you said you might, you can visit Filoli in Woodside (English style garden), which is just opening back up on February 7th, the Hakone Garden (Japanese garden)in Saratoga, and maybe you could meet me for coffee! We missed meeting on your last trip. I'd suggest that you could come see my garden but all you'd see would be bare pruned roses bushes. To go on listing the delights that await you, in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park there is the Strybling Arboretum. and in Palo Alto, the (much smaller but quite nice) Gamble Garden. There would be a lot going on at Strybling. I don't know what there would be in February at the Gamble Garden and I don't see a bloom calendar on their site. http://www.filoli.org/explore-filoli/the-garden/blooming-calendar.html http://www.hakonegardens.org/gardens/seasons.html http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/Gardens/index.html http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/Gardens/index.html Rosefolly

On a smaller scale, and close to where I live, is the rose garden at the library in Woodland in northern Cali. From the Yolo Co. Visitors Bureau (and so true!) - "Woodland Rose Garden - Located outside of the Woodland Public Library, this rose garden is an enchanting place. The garden is maintained by the Woodland Library Rose Club; a self-funded organization that is a pioneer in rose preservation with 700 rose bushes, 500 varieties and 4 rare/historical rose bushes. This garden has become Yolo County's 'rose gene bank' and the Rose Club is devoted to sharing the gene bank with the UC Davis Arboretum and Yolo County. In an effort to preserve the rich history of roses in their community, the Rose Club goes a long way to bring a smile to the hearts of the public." Brenda