Growing roses from cuttings is a fine addiction and yours look very healthy. You spoke of rose sports and I have a Moon Shadow that is gorgeous but won't propagate at any method. I finally found a healthy rooting sucker or sport that is growing well but still small with thin canes but we'll see. My question for you is, I've kept my roses tall this year five plus because something is eating all the lower leaves, up to two ft, of the tops. It breaks my heart to see empty canes or flowers that were just ready to open totally gone. The backyard is at the base of a mountain covered with trees. In the front of the house all my roses are tall and flourishing .I'm always experimenting and in the kitchen windowsill have the base of a stalk of celery, some carrots and green onions all rooting well and begging to go outside in the dirt. Now if I put these in a large container close to the roses next to the gazebo which are being eaten, would you think the animals would get into the veggies instead of harming my roses. Poisons, systemics,animal be gone junk, electric devices, sour milk and Tabasco, nothing is working. These aren't big animals, just rats under my gazebo which love to thrive on poison and sometimes squirrels and rabbits.

Nancy My hedge is along the side of my house, I believe there are probably around 12-15 (I don't remember how many I bought) Louis Philippe spaced 4 feet apart. With some rooting hormone you could take cuttings and start them from the plant you have, but on Ebay and other places this rose is available fairly inexpensively in 2 inch pots or if you want your hedge to mature more quickly you could invest in gallons. I needed a hedge because the city put a sidewalk to the high school on the side of my property after I moved in and lots of high school students walk back and forth. The hedge is perfect for some privacy. The roses were planted around 4 feet apart and the roses have grown into each other so the hedge is fairly dense. They get by with very little care and are vigorous and fragrant. The blooms are small, only a few inches across, but there are lots of them. It is early in the season but I have a few blooms now. And because there are rarely freezes here, the hedge is leafy year around. When I first got them as tiny plants I did see to it that they were watered and mulched but they started growing quickly and after a while they were on their own except for fertilizing once or twice a year when I think of it. It was the perfect choice for me. I live on the Texas Gulf coast so there is plenty of humidity and there are plenty of bugs but these roses don't seem affected by any of that. I checked on Ebay there is a vendor selling 20 two inch pots for $50 plus shipping, here is the listing number if you want to look it up: 201707380237 You may have to trim the top annually with a hedge saw, I have trimmed my hedge twice with rose shears. Here is a picture of Louis Philippe in Florida (scroll down, it is under the opening page) Louis Philippe

One concern would be your soil -- is it alkaline? Many areas in Florida have limestone-sand as a soil base. Roses with strong Multiflora ancestry -- such as 'Lyda' and many other Hybrid Musks -- will frequently be chlorotic on alkaline soiil. As an alternative for an informal hedge if your soil is too alkaline for Hybrid Musks, look into Chinas. They seem to tolerate alkalinity better. I've seen pics of informal hedges in the deep south using 'Archduke Charles', 'Old Blush', or any of the smaller red Chinas, depending on how tall you want it. If you wanted white, look at 'Ducher', 'Rival de Paestum', or "Smith's Parish". Oh, and find out if root-knot nematodes are in your area, if these are your first roses. If so, you'll want to find roses on 'Fortuniana' rootstock. From what I've read, though, this seems less of a concern for Chinas, Teas, and Noisettes than it is for other types of roses. :-) ~Christopher

To me, it looks like J. Talaipe - or J. Talaire. It does look like a Bob Ross painting, which IMO is a compliment. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve passed time watching Bob Ross’s goofy paint shows at 3 am. I love the way he always made it look so easy.