I just love checking in and seeing how hard at work everyone has been to help!! A great big thanks, from one big fusspot, to all of you other fusspots (you'd have to be know all this!) OK, some questions from Barbarag--Blackspot resistance is super important. I have to spray even resistant varieties in my humid, hot area. I've got a two story house, and the rose could reach the roof, or just over the first story. I would not like it to cover the entire house though. And absolutely yes I want good repeat even if I am lazy about deadheading. With a climber, I envision that I will be lazy about deadheading. Ingrid, funny you mention cl.Pinkie. I've just got her--plan to train her as a weeping bush in the back though. Cupshaped--you are making some superstar suggestions!! Leave it to you. Laguna looks stupendous. Anyone want to differentiate in terms of smell, color, repeat on Parade, Laguna, and Coral Dawn?

Thanks Nancy! By the way, a number of the seeds you sent me in our trade have now germinated. :) (I winter sowed them.) Achillea 'Cloth of Gold', Baptisia 'Screamin Yellow', Verbena bonariensis and Eryngium are all up. In fact I transplanted the Achillea 'Cloth of Gold' out into the ground yesterday and now we're getting a nice soft cool rain to soak the seedlings in. I think I'll plant some of the Baptisisia 'Screamin Yellow' into the pictured front bed where there is a nice clump of purple Baptisia australis already established.

Hi Whaas, I've looked up some native plants that I grow, or hybrids of natives, and these are listed for z5 or WI. Sorry, I don't know about soil. Phlox divaricata Louisiana blue (purplish blue) blooms first in the spring and then phlox pilosa (pink & purple varieties). Princess Diana clematis (hot magenta, large flowering hybrid from crossing with native texensis), Monarda didyma (our native one is a dark mauve purple & listed for z5). I've read about native Viola pedata bird's foot violets and lots of clematis that are purple shades. There was a famous Polish breeder of clematis, Brother Stefan Franczak, so his hybrids would be cold hardy for you. Clematis on the Web lists his large growing "Polish Spirit" as deep purple blue, "General Sikorski" as mauve blue, "Emilia Plater" as blue violet and his pale "Blue Angel." Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Brother Stefan Franczak

Aaron, some of my roses do bloom in part shade, including Rouge Royale. I've found no difference in any blooms frying here, whether the rose grows in part shade or full sun. It's a desert here and the air is very dry. This does as much damage as sun and heat, making almost all roses quickly crunchy. We have been in a continuous heat wave since June 9, and no rose will do well in that, whether in shade or not. I wish the roses wouldn't even try to bloom when it gets so hot and dry. We had no rain for almost three months until a few days ago, and finally, we got one night of rain. No more since. Today, finally, we drop into the 80s. For a few days, then it goes back up, which I hope proves incorrect. I've grown Jude the Obscure (huge) for 17 years, and while it is an exquisite, unique rose, I don't find that it reblooms well, certainly not like Munstead Wood, so I hope you eventually do acquire Munstead Wood. Other great bloomers for me, which I've probably already mentioned (sorry) are Julia Child, of course, Tamora, Golden Celebration, Boscobel, Love Song, and good bloomers, Rouge Royale, Augusta Luise, Ebb Tide, Twilight Zone, Bernstein-Rose, Ballerina, and who did I miss--ha? You will have fun, if you find him, with the challenging Prince, which slogged along for years, and produced nice blooms, when it felt like it, on a pretty little bush. After The Prince's third transplant, it perked up, liked the place, and began a slow "expansion", which exploded about three years ago, when The Prince put pedal to the metal, blooming almost nonstop. The blooms even got darker. This rose has gotten so big that I'm wondering if it has gone own root, or what other major factor has caused such a transformation. Diane