4 years? Maybe? As to "making" it into a tree? Remember that I said: "If I lived long enough . . . " I suspect that you plant it, make sure it has water, and come back in a century or so to check on it. The best point of reference would be a look at the century-old Tea Roses at Jackie Schmidt's home. Give them a century or so, and they can become giants.

Lovely, it was so good to meet you at The Sac Cemetery Rose Sale, so many beauties. Your dogs are so well-behaved & calm, didn't expect that in Dalmatians but your husband explained this is how the Longhaired ones are. It was a lovely day out.

It's hard to see but he has lots of buds. My daughter and I picked two buds, one not quite open and one almlost bown. The semi-closedcone smelled almost a little sour but the open one smelled like cinnamon!!! it was lovely, but a little surprising to us.

Ingrid -- They didn't really chop it up, but as the tall old wood aged, the Mow & Blow gardeners chopped off every new cane that started to grow. THEN, the installation of a new grave cost it half of its roots., and I really thought we'd lose it. But when we called attention to the problem, some great SJB folks went into action ... pushed for change, and saved the plant. "Jesse" of course, isn't the only old/valuable rose in SJB. Jill Perry, of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, has spent a lot of time there, and has done a great job of documenting the roses there. (Including a truly gigantic 'Niles Cochet' on the Alameda, and some others. (I have a truly spectacular, best-ever 'Gloire des Rosomanes' collected there.) You can learn a bit more at the Heritage Roses of San Juan Bautista FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239702600410032