Thank you, Kim, I'll debud her and move her to full-sun once the risk of frost is gone. I'll move my GRAFTED Pat Austin to that clay "swimming pool". I'll bury her 6" deep to ensure the death of Dr. Huey and the growth of own-root. I want to slow down her growth, so her thorns don't get larger. I already took pictures of Pat's thorns, to see if the future-own-root version would improve. Own-root chlorosis on alkaline clay doesn't inferfere with flowering. Christopher Marlowe will always be pale, but he has at least 20 buds compared to Grafted-Pat's 6 buds. He gets much less sun than Pat. Question: Once Pat is moved, I have a full sun, next to the house, southern exposure, sheltered from wind. Should I get own-root Yves Piaget this year for that spot, or should I wait until next year for a grafted Yves Piaget? I don't know how well Yves Piaget does as own-root in alkaline clay. He's low in thorns. Thank you for any info.

re: "The mauve/lavender rose on the test panel hasn't been named yet but I really think it deserves to be commercialized as well as the other two." Check this out... They named it Sweetness and are introducing it for 2009. Here is a link that might be useful: JP Wholesale

I use an infuser that fits into a mug, I love it. I think Lipton's loose leaf tea is pretty good. Not the bags, ugh, but the loose leaf. I can get another brand of loose leaf tea in the local grocery store called "Swee touch nee" which I also think is pretty good. A far better cuppa than bagged tea, but not as good as you might get from a high end specialty store. "Orange pekoe" is the standard black tea but I think even that comes in grades. A high quality orange pekoe makes a great cup of tea. I'm not a fan of iced tea, so I can't help much. I like a malty tea hot, so I drink loose leaf assam, but I don't think it would make good iced tea. Not sure though, different tastes. Tea offers a lot of taste options other than the ones I've mentioned. Sadly, I can no longer drink my favorite beverage due to my bladder going to pot! Here is a link that might be useful: Mug tea infuser on Amazon

When I first started growing teas, I posted a summary of my experience on a similar thread to this one. That thread has been resurrected multiple times--and I've been a little embarrassed each time I see it, because I realize now that I still had so much to learn at that time. I'm grateful that the forum members here are so forgiving and supportive, no matter my experience level. So at the risk of embarrassing my future self again, here is my experience with teas and tea-noisettes to date: Blumenschmidt: This grew very well for me, and for a while I really enjoyed it--because it was always in bloom and the flowers varied between well-formed classic tea shapes and picturesquely quartered blooms. But eventually, it started to take on the characteristics of MFK, with flowers that always balled and mildewed in cool, damp weather. I removed it several years ago. Bon Silene: This is my most vigorous non-climbing tea, and it is always in bloom. It does suffer from mildew, which can be troubling because it is so huge. But I'm hoping with age that it will get more healthy. Right now, it's about eight feet wide and twelve feet tall, and still spreading. The flowers aren't always perfect, and sometimes loose and sloppy, but other times they can surprise me with their beauty. Crepuscule: This was my first tea-noisette, and I was probably too impatient with it. When the flowers first opened, they were a eye-catching apricot yellow, but they tended to turn to a muddy, ill-formed yellow brown for me. Because I had other roses I wanted to try, I took it out, but now I regret it. Madame Gregoire Staechelin took its place. Dr. Rouges: This is still very young for me, but I'm liking it so far. The flowers start out dark red, and then open to a coppery-pink quilled full bloom. G. Nabonnand: This is turning into one of my favorite teas. It's been very healthy for me, and the flowers, while they can be loose (as Capt. Thomas would say) are variable in the best way, ranging from huge, perfect blooms to casual, soft, collapsing petals. The color shifts from soft white to soft pink in my climate, depending on the season. General Schablikine: This remains my favorite of the teas, because it has such a spectacularly generous bloom in the middle of winter, with flowers that are the best type of copper red, fading to pink at the center. The bush has been very healthy, and it has not gotten out-of-control huge. Lady Waterlow: This is sometimes classed as a climbing hybrid tea, sometimes as a tea-noisette. After two rough starts, it's now doing great for me, and I am looking forward to next year's bloom as the bush continues to establish itself. After three years of growth, it's about 10' x 12' and still growing up and out. Madame Berkeley: This rose took a lot of abuse from me. I left it in a bad spot as a band for a year, and it always looked near to death but it did not die. I have it in a much better location now, and it has been trouble free. My only problem is that the blooms seem to look better with more vibrant color in hot weather, so most of the time, mine have been a soft flesh pink. It's also not the most floriferous tea I have grown. Mlle. Franziska Kruger: I bought this rose as Duchesse de Brabant, but it turned out to be MFK. Most of the time the flowers balled and mildewed, while the bush grew too vigorously. In my climate, even when the flowers did manage to open, they looked like they were stained with lipstick, with odd red coloring on the outer petals and a muddled yellow-apricot on the inner. So I removed it at the same time as Blumenschmidt. It seems like this may be a much better tea for warm, dry locations. Mamon Cochet: This was another tea that other folks love that just didn't work in my climate. Almost all of the flowers balled for me. But when they did open, they were spectacular. This one died on its own before I could remove it, but I was not upset, based on its performance. Marechal Neil: Just starting with this one, but it looks like I may have balling issues. I will wait and see. It's growing nicely for me so far. Marie d'Orleans: This had more deeply red flowers than any other tea I've grown, but I planted it in a difficult spot, and it died from lack of water before it could even get started. Miss Agnes C. Sherman: I'm really liking this tea, although after a quick start for me, it's been quiet this spring and summer. I am willing to give it time to continue to develop. Niphetos: I've posted about my struggles with Niphetos. It is extremely slow growing, it suffers from rust, mildew and any other disease that gets near it. Most of the time the flowers ball. But when I do get a perfect bloom (about once a year) it's probably my most spectacular rose. Rainbow: This one died almost immediately on me. I shouldn't have put the band directly into the ground. Souvenir d'un Ami: I had the generic version of this, with plain pink flowers, so I ended up taking it out. Thomasville Old Gold: This was another failed experiment for me--again, I probably shouldn't have put the band directly in the ground. William Allen Richardson: This is one of those roses that I've always wanted, and haven't been able to find. I got a small band from Vintage, and tried to give it as much love as possible, but it just didn't take off. If I ever find it again, I will give it another try. I have its descendant, Buff Beauty, which is one of my favorites.