Gorgeous roses all, with my favorite being Liv Tyler, Baptiste Lafay and Sonia Rykiel. My garden is one of the great passions in my life and I can't imagine a life without roses, especially old roses. The care I've given them has been repaid many times over with the happiness they've given me over the years. The planning, the planting, the growing - it's all been so exciting and pleasurable. Even the setbacks and challenges have added spice to my life, especially after I've overcome them! The garden will never be perfect, but striving to make it so is making me perfectly happy.

Well it looks like you're close, though I can't say it fits the desc. exactly. The bark and trunk is different, and also the seed pods are smooth and only 1/2 moon, not 5/6 of a circle as the picture you linked to was showing. I would guess its in the same family though, and sounds like you're on the right track. Also is my tree just a single tree with many trunks? Or was that 6 trees planted together that formed into 1 base?

Gary, regarding your nest boxes, do you know that you have to have the correct dimensions to build the proper sizes for different species? You might already know this, but if not, "generic" boxes aren't the way to go. The size of the box and the size of the entry hole vary from species to species, as well as the placement of the boxes. Most birds are very fussy about which boxes they will use. There are several ways to get patterns and dimensions for the birds you are hoping to attract, including online searches. The entry hole is especially important. There are a lot of species who will use nest boxes if the dimensions are correct for them, including wrens, bluebirds, some woodpeckers, great crested flycatchers, screech owls, wood ducks, and more. Good luck! When you get them built, keep us posted on the results! Marcia

Generally, floribundas are derived from polyantha class of roses, thus they have large blooms, several flowers per stem, but are very short shrubs, smaller than hybrid teas. Plus, as David Austin says, climbing sports of floribunda roses are rare and usually not great (of course, there are exceptions). Roses like Cocktail are derived from shrub and rambling roses, and some vigorous wild rose species (rosa wichuraiana) which produce masses of tiny flowers (usually single to semi-double) and grow very quickly. So, although abundant in flowers, Cocktail doesn't fit into floribunda class by its parentage and flower shape. -Tom