Let's move this right on down the line.

I've grown two of the Vigorosa series from Kordes, Innocencia and Emely. Both were short, very disease resistant and bloomed a great deal. This was in the southeastern US - it's rated to 6b by default on hmf, but may well withstand colder temps, being Kordes. Emely is one, I think that Pickering is phasing out, but I think it's still available from there. I grow Kordes' Cream Veranda and have found it to be very bs and mildew resistant here; very pretty bloom. hmf rates it to 6b but I notice that Celeste in New Hampshire grows it. New to me this summer, but I really like Tantau's Sweet Haze, which has a very pretty single pinkish bloom; Heirloom rates it to zone 5. I think hmf zone rating is in error, 8 to 9. What colors are you wanting?

Today I recieved my rose order from ValleyK Greenhouses. They pack their roses so much better than Cedar Hollow. Each rose was wrapped in cardboard and they sent 10 roses in 3 boxes so they were easier to handle. They are bigger than the ones that I recieved from them last year with the exception of 2 Marie Bugnet which are quite small. I had a broken rose in this shipment too, but it only broke off half way. There is still leaves left on this rose.That is the only damage from shipping that I can see on this bunch. They look much nicer than my Cedar Hollow roses which are stripped of so many leaves. But one the plus side, most of the roses from Cedar Hollow are srouting out new leaves. I also recived my plants from Dominion House today. I had ordered a bareroot Kaleidoscope. The stem is huge!!! It is starting to send out leaves as well. I ordered some lilacs, clematis, lilies and perennials from them as well. The lilacs and clematis are fine, the lilies are a bit shrivelled, and the perennials are sick. I'm sure some are dead. Honestly, I don't know if I would order perennials from them again. Roses, I would though. I think that they were in the boxes for quite a while, there is lots of white growth. I moved a 5 yr old JP Connell the other day in the rain. It should have been moved sooner because it had flower buds on already. It is really sulking. Oh well, If it doesn't make it, they are easy enough to find to replace. I have quite a few of my older roses with flower buds on. It won't be long before the roses start to bloom!!!! Shelley

flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA1 hour ago Thank you, Ben, for the encouraging news. If enough of us let Francis/Certified know what we want, maybe they'll listen to us. yes, please do (try) Tyler would love to hear from you tmf@francisroses.com