I miss Aleene's but also Carol Duvall and all of the craft shows on "The Home and Garden Network" that appeared in the early 2000"s. Before the DVR I taped them and watched them over and over again. I was visiting my cousin the other day and she had her fall decorations out and I admired some pilgrims and she said, "you made those and gave them to me". It took me back to those days. I still love crafts and make an effort to balance work with crafting and art. I know my daughter's generation would watch and enjoy a Craft Network for their creative time with my grandchildren.

Virginia, here's my original post, with the diagnostic photos I took then. Are they good enough to be helpful? I was thinking of the first-generation crosses with R. gigantea, which would be once-flowering, if I understand the matter correctly. But perhaps "Miss Mystery" is simply a Tea showing considerable Gigantea influence in her bloom form and general largeness. I have a couple of Tea-Noisettes and "Miss Mystery" doesn't strike me as being in the group, but possibly I'm looking at the wrong characteristics. It looks to me like a potential climber because it's big (like 'Archduke Joseph, for example), rather than a climber because it has lax or arching growth. It has that Tea look of jointed canes consisting of straight segments, if that makes sense. P.S. Sheila, your rose is beautiful! I hope it gets big for you! Mine doesn't have that deeper pink reverse yours shows.

I just looked up my old screen name before the switch to houzz....I used to be johnorange. I'm not nearly as OLD as some of the rest of you but I also miss some of the other folks we had before the big switch. That being said, the new folks here are priceless....lots of different regions, areas of experience, enthusiasm, and great photographers. I sometimes visit other forums here...figs, succulents, ginger, kitchens and this is one of the better forums. The fig forum and the kitchen forms are also very active though.

Holly, do you know what type of area you are in eco-system wise? It might be fun to try and replicate what is near you. Me, I'm in SD right about where the coastal sage scrub and chaparral areas meet. I'm starting on a plan to rip out my front yard and replace with plants local to the area. As some mentioned, manzanitas, lemonade berry, toyon or California lilac from the chaparral zone and maybe some California sagebrush from the coastal sage scrub zone. Benefits are that they attract local birds (to include hummingbirds!) and butterflies. A lot of local nurseries carry these. As a bonus, I have a couple of toyons that have sprouted in my back yard. One is too big to transplant, but I'll move the other when I start this project. Jason