Hi Elemire, I've noticed the shrubby element to most of the Noisettes. In most ways in most places, that's good. Here, given that I've decided that I need a few extra canes to pull down to the ground, I think it will work out fine. But if I wanted only a few leggy canes to climb that narrow area between the windows, then shrubby might be a negative. I looked some more this morning at the narrow spot, and 4.5 feet across is probably stretching it. It's probably just about exactly 4 feet wide... meaning that in order to get the canes traveling upwards at 45 degree angles in such a narrow opening, I'll be really, really glad that Crepuscle is _flexible_. >Crepuscule. I think I might be pairing her with Ghislaine de Feligonde on the arbor, the orange gradient might be nice. That sounds like a wonderful pairing to me, Elemire. Crepscule will like every one of the shades of Ghislaine's coloring that she runs into, and both plants will look even better next to the other than they would alone. I don't know about mildew problems with oak trees, Elemire. If ours have it, then they manage to grow just fine in spite of it. Much of the yard here is covered in all sorts of deciduous trees, and they all do okay without any care at all, except for the dogwoods. Dogwoods are prone to succumb to really bad droughts, so during a drought we water the few dogwoods that are within the reach of our hoses. Other than that, we don't pay attention to the trees. Once in awhile, a large tree dies, and at that point we always speculate that it had had enough of all the droughts here in recent years. I'd read that Mac likes a lot of water, and have thought some about the competition of tree roots. I've actually thought some about trying out putting a huge pot with some drainage holes into the ground there, and may end up going that way with it. Not this year, though we might get a small MAC started here as soon as this fall if I ever get the total scheme straight in mind for this section of the yard. We just redid a raised planter (near the potential MAC spot but slightly downhill), and I want to see how those planter roses are doing in terms of the pergola that sits between the two (potentially two) rose sites. Assuming the Renae I cut one cane of RRD out of starts the spring growth with no signs of RRD, then it's going into the planter along with Madame Plantier to climb up the pergola. There's also a Eutin there to wander around the planter floor with some hellebores and spice up the closeup view of the planter from the pergola. If the climbers do reasonably well in their too-shady spot, then we won't need MAC to try to climb up from the other end, and she could then scoot into the nearby oak tree. We cut off the lowest limbs of that oak tree to give some sun to the top of the pergola, and I just hope the amount of direct sunlight there will be sufficient. If not, then I suppose we can put camellias into the planter. (I adore camellias too! It's just that I couldn't quickly get a camellia to do the scented pergola-covering tricks a rose can easily do within a few years.) Well, I'm off to more rose planning/imagining... Thanks again for your comments! Best wishes, Mary

Gean, that is exactly what I meant, odd or rare or exotic and unusual just adds to the beauty like you. I have about 20 favorites Pam, narrowing it down. Manana! Lynn, you're welcome, she does like afternoon shade to forestall sunburn. Thanks Randy, the girls thank you too. Florence, I wish you could too. Thank you Cziga--once you get started with teas, it only leads to more teas and teas get very large indeed. Clem is 6 feet tall and in a corner so it is hard to guess the actual dimension but the neighbors did put up a fence to keep her out of their daughter's bedroom. la

Roses Unlimited (RU) does not have Rosa rubrifolia (R. glauca). I googled the R. Glauca rose to procure more information...and wow...it is beautiful! I will need to find this rose from a different vendor (maybe next year). I am ordering the following roses. Are these roses are well suited for our WA climate zone (esp. for disease resistance, hardiness, and adaptability). 1. Climbers: Alister's Gift 2. Hybrid Musk: Bubble Bath 3. Polyanthas: La Marne 4. Hybrid Tea: Sweet Promise 5. Floribunda: Easter Basket (will this work in WA?) I am also considering Evangeline, Echo, and Lorenzo Pahissa but am undecided at this time. Kindly let me know if there are other roses on the sale page that may work better for our climate. Thank you very much in advance for your kind help! - Reem Here is a link that might be useful: RU Summer Sale

Site the containers somewhere where they will receive a lot of reflected heat - on a concrete or stone patio, a driveway, against a west or south facing wall. It doesn't often get hot enough in western WA in summer for these vines to flourish and bloom well. We get good growth......but not so much the flowers :-)