hello I would love some purple daylilys, any would be fine. I don't know what I have you want so please take a look at my trade list I will try to get it updated tonight thanks michelle

I am sorry for your loss of your dear pet cat, it is obvious how much you love her. As for roses, for a rich re-blooming purple rose, I think you could do no better than "Reine des Violettes" it is not like most H.P.s in that it's bloom size is smaller, c. 3 inches wide, and the bloom style shows a pertness that the larger blooming Hybrid Perpetual roses which produce large "cabbage" shaped roses, don't show. It is of a rich purple color with violet-red hues, the red shows more in weeks of warm weather. It is also fragrant and smooth stemmed. R. D.V. has smooth whippy canes that are easy to train on an arbor, or peg down to the ground so that the entire cane is wreathed with roses. Of all the Old Garden Rose classes H.P.s are among the easiest to train or peg, because many of them have pliable canes. In Northern California its' canes grow to be c. 6-7 feet long, and arch over near the top. I don't know your climate zone, but I'd expect it to grow to c. 5 feet tall in summer if you must hard prune in winter. It is also a graceful plant with pretty foliage. "Renae" is a pink rose with lilac shading and mostly thornless. The fragrance is alluring when it shows up in the right weather, it reminds me of a blend of floral scents with an end scent note of watermelon. It grows to be a short climber where I live, c. 6-7 feet tall. "Renae" has a growth habit and foliage which are similar to that of a Hybrid Musk. I grow 'Lavender Dream" and it is a big bushy branching plant that can be grown against a fence, but is not a true climber. In Northern California it grows to be c. 5' feet tall in summer, if hard pruned in winter. It is about 95 % pink and 5% lilac, here but in a cooler climate the lavender hue could be a bit stronger. Best wishes in choosing a memorial rose for your beloved kitty, Luxrosa.

Virtually all "purple" roses can vary greatly depending upon all the usual issues...soil/water pH, nutrients, heat, intensity of light, moisture, etc. The only "purple" rose I've yet grown which didn't have been Cardinal Hume and Purple Buttons. All the others have expressed anything from almost white to almost the right color expected from them. Those pigments demand the right range of conditions to express themselvs appropriately. It hasn't mattered whether the rose was an OGR or a modern "purple". Some have behaved better when provided protection from the light and heat intensities. Some have required acidifying the soil, a few times to the extreme. Some have only provided the desired colors in very early springs or late falls during unusually cooler and wetter conditions.

Take Paul's and Sheila's advice to heart -- they are in your area, so if something was lousy for them it'll probably be the same for you. Here, on the other hand, 'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' doesn't seem to get any fungal diseases, despite being grown without fungicides in central NJ. This may be because I have mine growing as a short climber against a raised deck railing, so the air circulation is great. The problem here is that his blooms crisp in a day or two if they get hit with midday sun. Where I planted him was shaded at that time of day, but then that half of the tree providing it died. So until 'Baltimore Belle' fills in a bit more, his flowers are very short-lived. But this year is turning out better than last, if only because it's been so overcast and wet and cool lately. I guess that's kinda what "normal" is for the PNW. I'm also waiting for mine to "get its feet" and start generating more canes, so I don't do any pruning for repeat-bloom. As a result, there's just a handful that appear in late Summer or early Autumn. When there's enough of him that I'd feel OK giving a Summer prune, then I'll find out how strong his repeat can really be. :-) ~Christopher