After it finishes its current bloom cycle, I personally would prune the 3 main canes down to about 3 feet tall. The will slow down the next bloom cycle, but I prefer blooms no higher than my nose myself. I would also get either some alfalfa meal (or pellets or cubes) or one of the --Tone fertilizers (Plant-Tone, Rose-Tone, or Holly-Tone). The --Tones have some alfalfa mixed into the bag, and are easier to find than the alfalfa meal/cubes which you would have to buy in 50 lb bags at a grain feed store, although the straight alfalfa would be better. Alfalfa often stimulates new cane growth, which is what you would really like. Roses usually bloom better on newer canes. Spread the --Tone or alfalfa around the base of the rose out to the drip line and water in well with your hose nozzle turned on to a stiff spray. In about a month, you should see new growth and then some buds starting to form. In the future, do that severe pruning in the late winter-very early spring if it is needed. In fact, it wouldn't hurt the rose to be pruned that much every spring if you want a shorter rose. Are you losing the lowers leaves due to blackspot disease? Peace is known for being susceptible to blackspot. A fungicide spray will help with that, but you will have to decide whether or not you want to use fungicides. If so, I recommend Bayer Advanced Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, Shrubs--buy it at Lowes or online. You will need to buy a small spraying unit to go with it--Lowes should have one. If not, Home Depot definitely does--about $20, if I remember correctly. Back to pruning, one thing you can do every couple years in the early spring is prune one of those main canes down as low as you can--pick an old greyish-brown one with "barklike" texture on it. That, plus some alfalfa, should stimulate new cane growth--which is what you want. Peace is a BIG-BLOOMING and beautiful rose--one of my favorites. Let us know how it goes with yours. Kate

I'd plant it, and let it settle in a couple of months, and then have another look at the flowers as they bloom. A potted rose bought and placed on a shaded patio can produce flowers very different from what they would look like planted in a garden setting. My 'Peace' in a shaded situation would produce very pale yellow flowers. With sun it pinked up and yellow up considerably. The foliage of 'Peace' is quite recognizable, a leaf photo (in daylight) would be helpful. 'Peace' has leathery, thick foliage with bubble-shapes or small domes here and there on the leaves. If you want quality roses, the best time is late December, when the first of the roses harvested a few weeks earlier are available. A good garden center is a more reliable choice than a big-box store. Roses bought at this time of year have been sitting around since last autumn either refrigerated, bagged, or in pots waiting to be sold. Look for firm, fresh green canes (stems) without spots or injuries such as scrapes and cuts, which indicate rough handling. Avoid anything that looks dried out. Fresh is as important with plants as it is with food!

Wonderful news! Roses' purpose may be to teach us patience and humility.

A rose-ID quest here is almost always "a process of elimination." Certain details in the mystery-rose description from your mother-in-law tell us it is definitely not Peace. According to the ARS's official description of Peace: Peace has "slight" fragrance [others say "mild" at the very most]. Peace's mature leaves are (very) dark-green. Peace's mature leaves are (very) glossy. To try to be more helpful than just saying what the rose's name is not, I'll add: (1) Ask her whether it bloomed in clusters or mostly as one-bloom-per-stem. (2) Ask her about the size of the blooms. (3) Ask her about the size of the bush. (Tall, short, wide?) (4) WalMart almost never sells Patented rose-varieties - just inexpensive expired-patent varieties. This means that even 20 years ago, her rose was a 17-year-old (or more) variety. This indicates it is a rose introduced prior to 1967. Without a photo of it (now an impossibility, I know) and lacking certain other important info, the comments above are the best I can do to be of service to you at this point. Regards, JohnReb