Susan-- I've grown quite a few Austins and have planted more in clients' gardens. I'm not as in touch with new releases from the last 4 years. I was a garden designer but I've been full-on teaching for 6 years and mothering a toddler. Tamora is an earlyish Austin but still one of my very favorites. I could post 1000 photos of her. She is gorgeous at every stage of bloom and always appears to glow from within. Her color is saturated enough to grab attention but soft enough to blend with just about any other shade of anything. She grows to a modest size and is easy to site. Then there's her scent.... Tamora is one of a handful of roses that is always fragrant for me. The only downside is that she's not so much long-lasting in a vase. Maybe a couple of days? My apologies that I droned on. I really am enthusiastic about this rose! Mlle. Melanie-- Oh, yes! Isn't the fragrance just the bomb? Carol

Thanks Patty and Rebecca. Dynatrap! Dang that auto-correct!! I did search on Amazon but couldn't find one that had the amount of blue like yours does. I wonder if it makes a difference? I think other commenters thought that the blue would attract thrips and midges-then Zap!! A bit pricey when there are roses to buy ;-) but worth it. We have dogs and heart worm is very prevalent here. Actually two of our past dogs were diagnosed and treated for it. Plus we have Eastern Equine Encephalitis here to worry about as well as West Nile Virus. And now a new deer tick illness that has killed, I believe, 8 people in Massachusetts. And we thought lyme disease was bad enough. Some of the beneficial nematodes, Nemaseek being one, list ticks as a target insect so I'll be purchasing some in the spring since I read summersrythm's post that said they need over 45 temps to survive. mad- So the little suckers don't drown? I would think the eggs would be encapsulated somehow though to protect against drowning like a chicken egg. Would the go into a kind of suspended animation and not hatch until the conditions are favorable? There's just so little info available on detailed rose midge life cycle. How do you handle new spring rose purchases? No killing frosts at that point. Would a quarantine work? If so, for how long to break the cycle? Do rose midge breed and reproduce from spring through frost? And I thought the monthlong assault of Japanese beetles was bad enough. sharon

I was deadheading the roses when I photographed the last bloom on the Duchesse de Montebello, which was particularly luminescent (China heritage?). Phone can't really capture. Here she is in her glory -- Kathleen in background The pretty duchesse was the wife of the young & dashing General Jean Lannes, Napoleon's favorite general, who was given the victory title of Duke of Montebello after his victory in a battle of that name in Lombardy, Italy, in 1800. (Unlike his predecessors, Napoleon, whatever his faults, believed in rewarding people on the basis of merit, rather than birth, and he also instituted half-pay pensions for the military. This made him a favorite with liberals, including some breeders of roses.) Marechal Lannes died in battle in 1809. Below, his widow with their five children. (Please excuse my pedantry) .

We are hardiness zone 7 but typically our lows are in the 20 or 30s for most of the winter. Yes I leave them out no matter what and as long as they are on pot feet or something so the water can drain as they freeze and thaw they are fine. The shop I got them from taught me to do it that way and it works for me. I have a few more totally under snow right now lol. In these huge pots I usually put some branches in the bottom then I use mainly G an B Organics Rose and Flower soil mix along with random other soil mixes I have on hand.