Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo, I'm doing my Lalalala! dance. Boxofrox, did you see my last reply a few days ago to your "My mind keeps going through them changes" thread? It explains my lalalala story! And how your Darby's inspired my "Chicken Little" animation movie dance.

Just as I take the same thrill with your Abraham Darby roses, I am likewise livin' it up with your Easy's! and the 2nd shot of Hot Cocoa and that Sunset Celebration. Time to do Foxy's Lalalalala!

I am enjoying Mandevilla too! Lalalalalalalalalalala!

Girl, I got so many buds waiting for these next 80 degree days that you won't hear me crying the "Help me I've Fall-en and I can't get up" blues anytime soon ;-)

To which I can reply with the Generation X song from Depeche Mode, "Can't Get Enough" and Eluane is rejoining with her puppy barks too---

"When I'm with your roses, I go out of my head
And I just cant get enough, I just cant get enough
All the things you post up for us to see
And I just cant get enough, I just cant get enough

We slip and slide as we tumble through the petals
And I just cant seem to get enough

We walk together and walk thru Rosy Street
And I just cant get enough, I just cant get enough
With Boxofrox's roses, I know we have to meet
And I just cant get enough, I just cant get enough

With you it's raining roses, yours are shining down for us
And we just cant get enough, We just cant get enough
Just like a rainbow you know you set us free
And We just cant get enough, We just cant get enough"

hee-hee! Whoo-hoo! whoo-hoo!

You have some nice, high quality pictures there. What kind of camera are you using, out of curiosity? Is it a point and shoot, or is it a digital SLR?

Thanks bustopher, it's just a little Cannon SD200 point and shoot. I've been thinking of upgrading to a digital SLR for Christmas, most likely something on the order of a Rebel Xsi. I've also got a Pentax 35mm but it's not digital and it's a bit inconvenient to have it processed to disk so I seldom use it.

Here are some shots from the Memory Garden and elsewhere...

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Honest Abe (Darby not Lincoln :-)

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AD and The Dark Lady

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Falstaff

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Lady Emma Hamilton

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Midnight Blue and Flutterbye

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Golden Showers

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Royal Gold

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Stairway to Heaven

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Sunset Celebration

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Dream Come True

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Livin Easy

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Energizer Stalker is doing her happy dance agaaaaain! That is so glorious that my head is twirling from all this riot of beauty! And the first in line to dance her happy dance! I believe this is my first time seeing your Dream Come True. Is it one of your newer roses? It's one of my favorites. Or again do you have to chuckle at my poor name-memory-lapses. Midnight Blue and Flutterbye match perfectly. I am beginning to realize from both this photo and Ingrid's that Yellow and Purple look stunning together. For this round I am really enjoying Sunset Celebration and Stairway to Heaven. Of course Abe Darby is the tops, (ha! I think only Lincoln deserves to be called Honest Abe because of it historic proportions, LOL! and that rose should be called President Lincoln, not Mr. Lincoln, LOL, LOL!) Whoever heard of Abraham Darby, he's an iron-smelting industrialist, so time to switch around your names, Boxofrox, LOL! LOL this piece of advice comes from a girl who has trouble with names. hee-hee!

Abraham Darby Rose:

Steel-eyed Glittering Pink

SEGP!

Very nice pictures.

Is Falstaff or The Dark Lady deeper in color? Is one more red/less deepest pink? Do you have a preference between the two? TIA

iris, thank you so much.

My little camera has a tough time capturing red, especially darker reds. I had Falstaff on my list for a long time but just recently I finally got one and as I said, these are the first blooms. Having said that, I will tell you already that I absolutely love it. I think the best way to describe it is to compare it to my 4 other red Austins, each of which I like for different reasons.

The Dark Lady is considerably lighter in color with more deep pink magenta like undertones although it is still definitely red. It opens much quicker into that blousy look and then blows within a couple of days, maybe four days tops. About 4' away is my LD Braithwaite which is bright red, also very blousy but lasts for days and days. Far and away one of my absolute favorites and if not for her lack of fragrance, she'd be my #1. Falstaff is more on the order of The Prince and WS2000 when it comes to the fragrance and the tightness of the bloom. Colorwise, I would place it right between those two. The actual color is much deeper than my pics. Premature as it may seem to make a judgment so fast, I am impressed with it enough thus far not to be surprised if I end up favoring it over LDB. It's planted right in front of her and both are loaded with buds so I'm thinking I'll have a chance to compare real soon :-)

You have told me just what I wanted to know. Thank you so much.

The spring I saw The Dark Lady. She was the deep pink magenta (down here) and my camera could not catch the color very well. Liked her a lot but didn't want another fast-blowing Austin. Needed some critical input.

So Falstaff is sounding like a good deeper red choice for me. Darker than Braithwaite (tho I love lasting blooms more than perfume). I've yet to see The Prince or WS2000. Rouge Royale is the other one I've been considering.

I think you're saying from darkest to lighter it goes:
The Prince
Falstaff
WS2000
Braithwaite - brightest + longest blm life

You are welcome :-)

Yes, that order of darkness seems about right. I can't speak to the RR comparison but I will say that I definitely prefer Falstaff over TP and WS2000 already. Falstaff is what I thought the other two would be both in bloom and shrub. In defense of them it may be where they are sited as far as sunlight but for whatever reason Falstaff thus far seems to have better bloom quality and the growth habit of the shrub seems sturdier (less nod, more perk ;-)