I always thought Mme. Isaac Pereire the strongest old rose scent, then Comte de Chambord, and then I added Yolande D'Aragon which matched Mme. I.P. This year, in his third year, William Shakespeare 2000 finally had a strong scent; and Sidonie is beating out Mme. I.P., with Duchesse de Rohan, which I don't remember being said to be that strong, equalling Sidonie. Mr. Lincoln is one of the few H.T.s that I think has a fairly strong smell, and it is the old damask scent, although my only (non Portland damask) damask, La Ville de Bruxelles, hasn't bloomed yet, so I can't compare her. I don't remember her having a strong damask scent at all. Others say my Enfant de France has a strong scent but not so to me. September Morn, a 1913 HT, from memory has a strong scent but hasn't bloomed yet this year. My sole Alba, Felicite Parmentier, is fragant but doesn't match the others.

Diane, Prospero is a great rose for Coastal Southern CA. We find that he does best if he is spared the attention of clippers. Ours are "bend and snap" deadheaded and not cut unless I want them for a vase. Golden Celebration is a terrific rose here as well. It does not like much cutting back in our environment, but it makes a terrific privacy hedge, and blooms like a house afire with no disease problems to speak of. We have grown a great many Austin roses -- tho I confess, we quit them "cold turkey" some years ago -- but the few we like -- we like. Jeri

Thanks Kate--I guess I've been very much on the fence about whether they'll tolerate the cold here, will just have to see I think. The flowers look so gorgeous I think I have to try anyway, so I was going to put in 4-5 and see. I'm essentially zone 6 in the backyard, so maybe I'll have success with them if you have. Do you winter protect? My neighbor did lose some HTs from year to year but he planted the bud union above ground and didn't winter protect. My Austins always seem significantly hardier and I was hoping these, although marketed as HTs, were more mixed lineage and would be hardier too. The beds are a bit elevated, which hurts cold-tolerance but helps keep things well-drained. But I can bury the bud unions and throw on some bark mulch or leaves in the fall, which may help. Okay, Peter is officially on the list, and I think I MUST have Liv and Yves Piaget--the flowers look too wonderful to pass up. Every weekend the ground stays workable I keep fixing up the beds to accommodate more roses...so now I have room for another order from Roses Unlimited!

I bought 2 Eden's Perfume peony roots on Ebay because they were cheap and the seller had a good rating. Cut & paste this link to see: http://item.express.ebay.com/Home-Garden_Gardening-Landscaping_Plants-Seeds-Bulbs_Peony-Eden-s-Perfume-tuber-3-5-eye-very-fragrant_W0QQitemZ190149393506QQihZ009QQptdnZPlantsQ2cQ20SeedsQ20Q26Q20BulbsQQddnZHomeQ20Q26Q20GardenQQadnZGardeningQ20Q26Q20LandscapingQQptdiZ846QQddiZ984QQadiZ828QQcmdZExpressItem Maybe it's a rip-off, but when the roots come (should be any day now) I could let you know how well they look.