You just made me reconsider my plans for my west facing hot border. The decision coincided with an offer by mail for 20% off January orders from Austin's Swedish partner. My husband reminded me that we must do something about this border because of weeds and weedy perennials. So, I ordered Summer Song, Lady Emma Hamilton and Lady of Shalott for spring delivery. Other roses in this border are Brown Velvet, Princesse (Laperriere 1964), Sutter's Gold, Linnaeus, Mountain Music and Folksinger, a total mix of apricots, yellows and oranges plus the white Nevada. It will need lots of perennials to bridge the colours. The bed is backed by a small woodland with some wild roses in the same colour range, Austrian Copper and a yellow spinosissima called Maria Stuart, not an official name. Some perennials we will keep are rudbeckias, oriental poppies, daylilies, doronicums, achilleas, helianthemums, perennial digitalis and primulas. This riot of colour is mainly a spring and autumn garden. We shall probably need sunglasses when we look at it even in late sunlight!

This has been quite the winter.I think that our schools have had more weather-related days off than any time in the 20+ yrs. we've lived here. Sadly, some of our single digit temps occurred without snow cover. Fortunately, there was snow cover when we were below zero and it warmed up before too long. If that's not enough, we are due another arctic blast midweek along with possible snow. March really will come in like a lion this year. I will have to check my Lady Hillingdon again but she seemed OK last month. Mrs. Dudley Cross seems OK, too. Those are my only two teas. They are both older roses so I hope that they made it. I think that I've lost several roses: modern shrubs, a floribunda and maybe some mini's. Since almost everything is own root, I'll wait and see if some of them will come back. This might not really ease the pain of losing roses, but this year my crocus seiberi 'Firefly' are blooming bigger, brighter and fuller than they ever have. They are my special favorites, even though I find that they tend to die off after awhile and I need to replant them every several years. A lot of my old-fashioned daffodils are up with buds, even the ones I should have divided last year because they were too crowded and weren't blooming. My Lenten roses are covered with buds, too. Maybe it will be a beautiful spring. Let's hope!

I agree Kathy - it's such a beautiful rose and looks so feminine a lovley Lady name would suit it better. I just love those colours. that picture really is stunning. aprille

That's a wonderful country song, written by Rory Feek (he and his wife have a weekly TV show on RFD TV--"The Joey and Rory Show") and Johnnie Barnett, and sung by Clay Walker. It was based on a story written by Barnett for the book "Chicken Soup for the Country Soul". It was based on an actual event in Barnett's life. It is beautiful, and I got teary-eyed the first time I heard that song...it still touches me.