Reine Victoria was one of my first antique roses and has remained a favorite. La Reine is one of my very best and the size of the plant is not intimidating for newcomers to antique roses. This rose is the easiest to sell at my yearly plant sale because of its shape, color and rich fragrance. I like your choices very much. Spring bulbs are always cheerful.

Hey Annie, Thank you for the compliments, just got done looking are your roses and I would have to say the same! I got the carnations at Lowes I think a few years ago. I love them! They are my birthday flower and I was so excited to find them as I didn't think they would do well down here but then again those places tend to buy things that don't do well for the area. Turns out they have done wonderfully. I do remember you telling me about your daughter living in Columbia and your someday visit down here which I am still looking forward to! :O) Yes, it is too bad she doesn't live closer as I would love to help her out. Mabe when you do end up coming to visit her we can all meet up at the zoo. Then you could come down to visit Charleston. I have a membership to Magnolia Garden and Plantation and I could show you around there and have a picnic there perhaps, I love it there. Maybe you could bring your daughter too and we could have a nice time. July and August are hot and humid though so be prepared. So far it really hasn't been too bad heat wise. We have actually had a nice long cool spring with a few hot days lately but not too bad. Looking forward to your visit! Congratulations grandma! ~Meghan

Thank you everyone. I have really been working on improving my soil the past three years and that has made a big difference, I believe. Good soil - good plants. Good rainfall, this year too. Belinda's Dream looks like a big, fat pink Snowflake. And she smells divine. Has a good strong fragrance. She likes full sun, no ifs, ands or buts about it. That 5-inch bloom is on a plant that is only two feet tall. I rooted it last spring. I just stuck a broken off branch in the ground, and no kidding, she rooted in about three weeks and began blooming within a month. Poor little plant was bent over double with those big blooms. She bloomed all summer last year. This year, her blooms are even bigger. I totally love Belinda's Dream. In front of her is a rose cutting I got from plantmaven. I think it is Rosa, Heritage, although I can't be certain. She is only 18 inches tall and has bloomed twice already this year. She bloomed last year too, but much smaller blooms on an 8 inch plant. She has a strong, lovely old rose fragrance and sweet baby pink color. I just cannot get enough roses! It is my new freak! If I keep on like this, I will have to change my home name from Iowa Hills Herb Farm to Rose Hill Cottage! Thanks again everyone. I'll be sure to tell my rose-girls how much you all love them. ~Annie

I have three EdBs. Two of them I know are own root, because I planted them. I did not have to root them - when the plants get to be mature they occasionally start making suckers near the base of the bush, and you can just dig them up. They only do this very infrequently, so they do not spread. The two ones I planted are in full sun, and bloom almost all year, and both stay about 3 ft tall, which I like because most of my other roses do NOT stay that short! The one in the pic above is the old original one, which is in a lot of shade, and only blooms in the Spring (I thought EdB was a once bloomer until I planted the other bushes). This year it has decided to get taller than usual, probably to get more light, and is about 4 1/2 feet tall. Here is a pic of one of the "children", which is at least 20 years old, and is growing in full sun right next to the sidewalk. EdB is the MOST fragrant rose in my entire garden (what people call "old rose" scent), period. So, having it next to the sidewalk makes it easy for people walking by to smell - I see that happening a lot. Jackie P.S. As you can see, it does NOT have bare legs - blooms right down to the ground. It does sometimes get a little blackspot, later in the Fall.