I hibernate like my roses and watch the garden from a window. From my kitchen window I can see the blanda rose 'Betty Bland' with red canes next to Rosa pendulina, with its red flagonshaped hips. Other roses with hips near the house are R. moyesii, alba Suaveolens, R. stellata mirifica, the Portland rose and several rugosas. Pines, junipers, box and yew topiary add evergreen interest. The highlight of my winter garden is the round boxedged bed that looks wonderful powdered with snow while the sides are green. Close to the front door are two large box balls, mahonia, cherry laurel, Christmas roses and a clipped yew with red berries. I have put most evergreens where I can see them from inside or walking up to the house, redleaved bergenia 'Winterglow', rhododendrons, periwinkle, eight small box balls, euonymus 'Emerald'n Gold', cotoneaster 'Coral Beauty' and dwarf conifers like Picaea glauca 'Conica'.

Luis, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Altho I don't know the name of the camellia, it is a very common type, that's been around a long time. A pale pink rosette, remeniscent of a mandala in petal placement, symmetrical, and fairly flat. It has no cluster of stamens or pistil showing, even when fully open. The tree grows fairly quickly, because it has grown from below the eaves to a foot at least, maybe two feet above the eves in the almost 2 years I've been here, and I haven't fed it, and it gets very little water except that which get gets from rain. I don't want them to get any bigger, they have already outgrown their spots! I see your point tho, so if it grew 18 in two years, then if I prune it 9 inches to a foot below the eaves, that should keep it below the eaves for one year! Thanks, Luis! Or, If I were to be more conservative, prune to 4.5 or 6 inches below the eaves, and then, possibly again in 6 months. Since I wrote the first post, earlier today, I found a link to the American Camellia Society, which encourages severe pruning, even of an old bush, saying it will in fact stimulate the bush. It also says that pruning before bloom and cutting away the flower buds, allows the bush to put more energy into other things than flowering, resulting in a healthier plant, more vigorous growth, and a better bloom cycle the following year. They define severe pruning as removing one third to one half of the existing plant, but say that pruning can be even more drastic than that, and suggest doing drastic pruning in February and sparing the plant the stress of blooming, if I understood it correctly. This article reassures me that it would be fine to prune my camellia bushes at this time. Would you mind taking a look at the article and tell me if you agree? It seems to say that I could safely prune away half of the bush, especially if before the bloom-time. Maybe if I prune it now, it would bloom in winter next year. I'd like that, because that's when the roses are dormant. http://www.camellias-acs.org/display.aspx?catid=3,9,109&pageid=7 Yes, I'll be glad to post photos. and...don't worry about my trees, Luis. I make happy plants around me. Just be specific. -Gala

I think the advantage that David Austin has compared to other specialist rose nurseries is that they able to market their roses better and their brand is very well known and stands out. I do love the green logo and the fact they refer to their roses as "English roses" which conjures up images of drinking tea outside the garden. A lot of the Kordes roses don't appear to me much because they lack the defined shape and form of English roses. What I mean by that is when you look at the shape of David Austin roses, they look fascinating! Their appearances look like a piece of art : delicate petals and the complex arrangement of petals inside a shallow cupped blooms. Yes, most of them are not as healthy or bloom as much as other roses but I don't mind. It gives me work to do in the morning - keeps me healthy and fit. If a rose bloom too much it can ended up being boring so a shattered blooms here and there makes me look forward to see it bloom. Having said all that I do noticed a lot of their latest releases are very similar to their older varieties. Unless they change the look people will end up trying out newer roses from other companies. Take for instance Boscobel looks a bit like PAOK... but I love the name Boscobel and usually refer it to a "he" and I needed a "male" rose in the garden. If this rose was named something else like "The Endevour" I don't think I would have fallen in love with it.

I planted a KO Double Pink at the mailbox about 2-3 years ago, expecting it to grow big and become this summer workhorse everyone gushes about. Not even close. My experience so far has been underwhelming. First, who says they are disease free? Here in the South, mine got BS worse than most others I have. Second, it is not growing. It blooms, it does nicely in the Spring, it looks good while the bloom is young but has dubious bloom aging and the repeat is questionable. The mystery for me is why the bush overall stays very small, despite careful fertilizing and all that. It has barely grown at all since I got it at the nursery and these are supposed to get to 5 ft high. I can only suspect it gets too much root competition from the boxwoods planted very close to it, especially the one in the middle. All in all, nothing to write home about. What do people think of the newer coral KOs? They seem to have something much more elegant about them than the red and the pink. I love the pink's early strong, fresh color but the aging bloom becomes both washed out and garish. So it's a major meh so far and it has had enough time to provide itself.