Sorry I couldn't repost, my computer crashed within an hour of posting this (I'm on a friend's computer). Sorry about the spelling also, I was never a good at spelling but that is pathetic (I just read the caption in Passion for Roses by Peater Beales where there was a Madame Hardy planted on a wattle fence before I posted this, which is my inspiration). It's even more beautiful in person, the picture is terrible and does not do it justice. To answer Ingrid, Bolero is very promising! I love the simplicity of that semi double flower that I was completely overlooking. Gruss an Aachen seems like a very nice rose and I can visualize it on that fence. Mme. Cornelissen is too susceptible to black spot. Kronprinzessin Viktoria von Preussen is very much like a rose that I want on that fence, I've never heard of that rose before. Rosefolly, I have been debating weather to plant buff beauty there, because it would get hot, full sun where the booms will fade (which I love), but I heard somewhere that the disease susceptibility could be better and I don't know how big it gets... Melissa, I have a Paul's Himalayan Musk Climber in my yard and it drops all its leaves with black spot every summer. It's a show stopper, and grows like there is no tomorrow, but bs really affects it (I wonder if its just Paul's Himalayan Musk). Not 20 feet away I have a lady banks in bloom, although it is small (for a lady banks that is). Littlesmokie, Penelope is very pretty, and the thought of hips hanging off that fence is really growing on me. I like buff beauty much more than Crepuscule. Seil, the fence is extremely sturdy. I was very surprised, when I got finished with it because I could stand on the top of it, rock back and forth and there was no movement. There is something about weaving the wood in between those thick stakes that makes it so strong. In the medieval times people would build their homes out of wattle and mud with thatch roofs. Thank you for all the complements! It's very exciting to get so many. It really wasn't that much work, but I have done this four times before (The first couple of times the stakes would bend and the fence would end up being straight sticks held horizontally by multiple stakes). It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of it and make sure there isn't too much pressure on one side of the stakes, or fence, than the other. I can write a how to with pictures if enough people ask. -Jason

"Kim, thanks for the explanation. I regard scentless roses about the same as tasteless apples, or tasteless tomatoes or peaches, or .... for that matter. That's why we grow our own tomatoes, and only eat the peaches off my mother-in-laws tree when the are ripe." You're welcome, Jackie. Actually, that's appropriate. Both are selected for lacking traits many find desirable for the same reason: durability and shelf life. Stone fruit is regularly checked by the big growers for sugar levels. Micro sports, to our tastes, degenerative, are frequently selected for further propagation because they produce LESS sugar. Sugar is what makes the apple, pear, peach, etc., taste good. It's also what makes them spoil so quickly. Sugar ferments, creating the ethylene gas that ages or rots the fruit. By growing those sports which produce less sugar, the apples can be held for up to two years in nitrogen storage and be available for shipment year round to anyone who wants to buy them. The majors buy them by the ton and expect them to last on their tables for weeks before drying out. Apples from "organic growers" tend not to be those selected for long storage and tend to taste better as they contain more sugar. When Gala, Braeburn and all were introduced into the supermarkets from the road side stand market, they tasted wonderful! No longer. There's been sufficient time for "development" to take place. Now, they have little more taste than the traditional "Delicious" varieties overflowing the store tables. If you buy a tree of Delicious, it will taste great. It's still the old version that makes a ton of sugar and tastes "Delicious". Store bought ones are little more (very often) than insipid, mealy rotted Styrofoam. The same is happening quickly with the Galas, Fujis, etc. If you noticed in spring, Honey Crisp was available in many markets at significantly higher prices than the other varieties. They were also only available for a very short season, because they haven't been "selected" for shelf life and still contain sugar, tasting wonderful! Each year, you can find odd varieties in the super markets at higher prices than the others, and also for short seasons. That indicates they don't store long and won't be available year round as the others. They spoil too quickly due to the sugar. If you go to Ramona, Tehachapi and the like where they're grown, the apples are wonderful! They aren't grown for the major supermarkets and they don't store well because they are REAL apples, full of sugar and flavor. Florist and exhibition roses are virtually the same. You expect your intensely fragrant roses to only last a few days in the vase. You demand cut roses you've paid for to last longer. They are selected for vase life and production under the conditions which permit the grower to offer them as a reliable, year round product. They have to be scentless, or nearly so, to have them be as durable and withstand handling as the tasteless fruit. We're lucky here as we have many Russian, Latin and other types of markets whose produce is really quite tasty and very often significantly less costly than Ralph's, Von's, etc. You have to eat it NOW rather than buying it and using it ten days later, but it tastes delicious and often costs up to half as much as the supermarket version in the same area. So, when buying fruit, keep that in mind. When selecting roses, if the terms "heavy petal substance", "exhibition type" are used, avoid them as they are probably not going to have the scent you want. They SHOULD last well in water, like the Ralph's apples last in your refrigerator. Kim

ROSA RUGOSA ALBA is the granddaddy of all white roses. I normally don't like single roses but this one was love at first sight (and smell). I saw this species sport growing as a security hedge in front of a Cleveland Park townhouse in Washington DC. Several things stood out about RRA and it remains one of the most beautiful white roses that I've ever seen. First, the sheer size of the blooms was astonishing, and they literally covered the shrub. The fragrance was intense and could be smelled from yards away. The unusual wrinkled foliage didn't have a speck of disease (if you want a no-spray white rose then pick this one). Would be just about perfect except for one thing: OMG the thorns! I got a crash course in what rugosa thorns look like that day. There wasn't a spot along the canes that wasn't bristling with needle-like thorns. It was obvious the owners were growing this rose as a sort of living barb wire because any intruder who tried to move past those shrubs would be ripped to shreds in seconds. I was told by the owners that in the autumn this rose has the enviable habit of showing blooms, hips and glowing gold foliage all on the shrubs at once (the leaves on rugosa roses apparently have the enviable habit of turning autumnal shades of gold, fiery orange and scarlet in the fall). COLONIAL WHITE (aka Sombreuil) is another gorgeous white rose. The official registration name is Sombreuil but the ARS really does need to change it ASAP because it still causes confusion with Mlle. de Sombreuil, a little known Tea rose. Colonial White IS NOT a Tea! It is an aggressive, winter hardy, Wichuraiana Climber that IMHO belongs in every garden. In contrast with the wicked thorny canes (Wichuraiana) the flowers are very delicate and captivating. They open from blush pink high centered buds into large, ivory-white flattened rosettes packed full of wonderfully fragrant petals. Colonial White like all good climbers blooms along the entire length of its whip-like canes that are easily trained up a support (wear good thick gardening gloves or else!). I've had the canes on other climbers break on me but those on Colonial White seem to stay supple a heck of a lot longer. Repeat bloom is very reliable, and the leathery dark green foliage shows good natural disease resistance. Colonial White can also be kept pruned down into a large shrub. The following image of Colonial White is by Missy_GardenWhimsy at the Hortiplex database. ROSE-MARIE is my favorite white rose. Unfortunately this white sport of the English rose HERITAGE has become next to impossible to find. It was only wildly available for a few years and now may be headed towards extinction. Well not if I have anything to say about it! Rose-Marie has a lot going for it: graceful growth habit, grows well on its own roots (and roots easily), lovely foliage (if you spray), and unlike the previous two roses the canes on this English rose are only lightly studded with widely spaced thorns (thanks to its Iceberg ancestry). Best of all are the medium-to-large beautiful creamy white flowers that look like they belong growing in front of an English cottage. Rose-Marie is almost always in continuous bloom. Her only real faults is the need for spraying (black spot) and the short vase life of the sinfully fragrant blossoms. Frankly, I'd really like to give David Austin a good talking to about this rose. I'm so frustrated by its lack of availability that I've begun to root cuttings from my single grafted plant. If availability doesn't improve then in a few years I'm going to start giving this rose away FOR FREE! Other beloved white roses include Climbing Clotilde Soupert, Coquette des Blanches and Fair Bianca, but I think I'll wait until later to write about them. Here is a link that might be useful:

I will certainly post photos when I get the island planted. That will have to be next spring, after the pond [hopefully] has filled up with water. The soil looks to be sandy loam, best I can figure. I will no doubt have to ammend the planting hole with compost. I am saving all these suggestions.....thank you! I went to the Antique Rose Emporium yesterday and saw Swamp Rose - they have it around their little lily ponds. I also hope Spirea [Bridal Wreath] will grow there - it is just beautiful in spring with the white weeping branches. I have some cobalt blue louisiana iris planted by the former owner [18 years ago - I have been wanting to dig this pond all these years!] I plan to add more louisiana iris of differing colors that I brought from my former home. Maybe even some azaleas....they love water. Formosas get huge in time and would be gorgeous! The only color I would be not too crazy about planting is red - I would like a softer effect. But.....if one happened to be right for this space, I would use it. Its going to be a long wait while it fills up! I am having a bridge built over to the island - going to hang bird feeders, make a fire ring and put adirondyke chairs. And plan to put koi in the pond as well. All this may not work, but I have been thinking about it all these years.