we use the same camera! Canon Rebel Xti. Capturing red roses that are true to the colour our eyes see - (Obviously - the camera sees something else!). The only solution I have found is to shoot a lot of pictures in different light conditions - it is harder to find the right light conditions when the rose is still attached to the bush - pick a perfect rose and try taking pictures different places in the garden - in dappled shade, overcast, or in dusk/dawn using blitz or set the light with different foil reflectors you can make a small one from card board and crumpled alu-foil (great on overcast days to create the right light - try alufoil reflectors in different colours too. Experiment with settings like the others recommend - you will get it right - at least with digital cameras we can erase the pics we don't want. Do remember that the "killer" pictures we often see are taking in studio setting where the light and exposure set by prof. photographers do get it right. And then they even photoshop the near perfect pictures on top of that! We Can't compete with that. We will however sometimes get a great rosepicture - but with red roses in their natural place on the bush in different light conditions - very rarely! Sunny/light clouds: No Blitz Sunny + blitz: Dappled shade in very sunny conditions - using the macro setting (kit lens) no blitz: - in the future I am going to bring my red roses to this exact location - use the same settings - that is if I have a beautiful flower that day! ( This is a Tuscany - not a HT): This year I will try to get the red Austins right - they have an amazing range of colours on the same petals/flower - I am tired of the pinkish/mauve colours that are not as red as I see them. I have gotten some better lenses now than the kit lens - but even the kit lens was so much better than any point and shoot camera. Keep experimenting and trying - shoot shoot and shoot...

I looked at the new varieties that DA was introducing, but the only one that looked interesting was the white sport of The Mayflower. All the others were some version of pink, and there are plenty of pink roses out there to choose from. The only one that I am interested in getting that is new is Lady of Shallot. I would like to see how it compares with Summer Song, Pat Austin, and Lady Emma Hamilton. If someone has Lady of Shallot, please speak up on how it does. Pat Austin is a nice, clear orange. Lady Emma is a softer orange on a smaller bush and has a nice fragrance. My first crop of flowers off Summer Song were not as dark as the pictures, but that can change with time and plant maturity. So, on that one, I will wait to see what they do. Other Austins I would like to add to my already severely overstuffed garden are another The Prince, another Lady Emma Hamilton, English Garden, and Sir Edward Elgar. Other than that, I have plenty and am out of room. Ones I am not impressed with for one reason or another are Tea Clipper for its dirty dishwater-colored flowers and no repeat bloom, Sweet Juliet for its all bush no flowers lifestyle, Fisherman's Friend for its excessive growth habit and not enough flowers especially because the ones it has are fairly large and fragrant, Ludlow Castle for its lack of repeat bloom, Rosemoor for its poor performance and very small flowers if it has any, and Port Sunlight for its mini-flora-sized flowers so far although its color has improved this year.

no, not really. In fact, I only buy plants I have seen and know a bit about. I didn't always though. Lessons have been learned. Generally, especially if money is not always flush, it seems better to buy plants which you believe will be good for your garden...and this info is rarely available in the horticultural industry. Lots of lovely photos, but hardly anything really useful and never specific to your garden. Not that I am not tempted - I have been holding off T&Ms blue verbascum for a couple of years yet - if it's good, it will still be around when I have had a chance to get familiar with it. Because I love roses, the issue of rose replant syndrome also tends to propagate a certain caution - a bad choice is not easily replaced without much soil amendement and mycchorhizae so impulse is a bad rationale for plant buying.

One work-around I've found for that, Marlorena, is to back up and take the shot from a further distance. The camera will likely get all items in focus, doing that. Then you can take advantage of the great resolution the camera has by cropping and enlarging that portion of the photo, so it is like a close-up. Another trick is to experiment with the plane of the shot. By slightly depressing the shutter button, the camera will show you which areas are in focus in the field of view by surrounding those with green rectangles. If you tilt the camera slightly or shift it to a slightly different view, you will often find you can bring more of a view into focus by doing that kind of adjustment.