All of them are nice. I too have DRESS BLUES so hopefully I see it bloom this year. I had it in a pot most of last year and then in the fall planted it in the garden. Hope mine behaves like yours. Can't pick just one so they would all be on my favorite list. Julia

I posted on the decorating forum for you but also thought it might benefit others to know how bad it can get yet end so well. We had a lot of small irritations during our build but also had a couple of MAJOR problems. Our contractor said he would be done in 9 months....but then spent 3 out of 7 days in Texas (we're in CA) trying to save his marriage (he didn't). So basically we got 4 days a week if lucky. The total build from land purchase to key took over 3 years. In that time of course the housing market went to hell and cost of building sky rocketed. Because of that the GC who is a wonderful builder but a terrible businessman went over budget. We fired him, then he quit, then the bank said work it out b/c going with another contractor would be near impossible. So... we paid almost 30% over our estimate. After we were roughed-in on electric, plumbing and HVAC we found out our architect used the wrong elevation and didn't use "snow load" trusses. That cost tens of thousands of dollars extra (architect is reimbursing that). But it also caused a 3 month work stoppage while we researched retrofitting the trusses (and whether the framing would hold the extra weight) in hopes of not having to tear the house down and rebuild again (we would have just walked away if that happened). From that, HVAC was the only rough-in that had to be redone. That caused an ugly return register monstrosity over my fireplace which I'm in the process of "hiding". We moved into our home in August of 2007. Although it took over 3 years to build- it still took a while for me to believe it was mine and not some wonderful vacation that was going to end come each Monday morning. Yes we had punch problems....still have a few minor ones that we know will never be fixed by the GC. But I LOVE my home, the area and especially my neighborhood. DH said once he never understood people that wanted to just stay home on weekend, now he says he does. So hang in there, it's worth it.

Fond memories of a Lady Banks the grandparents had meticulously trained over their lattice arbor in Oak Cliff inspired us to try it in a couple places when we moved to Dallas. First one I toasted trying to espalier it in a dry bed on a shadeless south facing brick wall... proving they can be easily killed given a brown enough thumb. Second one thrived with 6+ hours of summer sun on the north side of a wood fence for 9 or 10 years. We took it out when we converted the pool beds to deciduous/less dense plants to deal with drought and duck problems, though probably would have gone anyway due the growing effort needed to keep contained and looking good in the space we had for it. Would use it again in a minute in the right location.

I have 2 x Abraham Derby, 2 x Golden Celebration (unfortunately they both suffer badly from black spot in my garden), 2 x Sharifa Asma, 3 x Desdemona (purchased bare root a few weeks ago and currently in pots waiting for me to dig their permanent homes, 7 x St. Swithun (I bought one as a climber in 2012 and, when I cut it back two years ago I tried my hand at taking cuttings of some of the pruned wood - about 20 cuttings all grew). I gave away most of them but kept 6, which I'm growing as shrubs - so far, so good. I also have more than 100 Queen of Sweden, which I grow as a hedge around the lawn. Fortunately, the Queen of Sweden is very healthy and trouble free for me and I do love her flowers, which also last well as a cut flower and look great when they go in a vase with English lavender. I think that in future I'm going to concentrate more on old Tea Roses as they seem to be much more disease free for me and, thankfully, don't need pruning.