Mari, I'm sorry about your luck with Alchemyst--I just stumbled on him one day and had my wits about me so I purchased him. Still workiing on something to grow him on. I just got Madame Dore whom I was desperate enough to get as a special propagation when the heavens opened up and there she was, on the list. Cannot wait for her to groooow! Duchesse, I agree,she is such a runty little bush but the occaisional flower is a small miracle.She may be Spanish being one of Pedro Dot's creations.I have 3 of his now and each is so unique. la

I'm not sure what "it" it is that Kim says above that Vintage does not have available, but I think he may be referring to 'Gruss an Aachen' and/or 'Climbing Gruss an Aachen'. If so, I wish to offer a correction: According to the Vintage website (as of abt 3 minutes ago), both of those varieties are presently available. A second band of their 'Climbing GaA' arrived on my doorstep yesterday. If you're seeking only white roses, though, 'Gruss an Aachen' is probably not the rose for you. There is 'Weisse (White) GaA' (exceedingly rare) and 'Pink GaA' (plus 'Minna', a still darker pink sport). Regular old 'GaA' and it's climbing sport, however, are usually pale pink, not white. In my garden it tends to be more decidedly pink when temps are mild. It's a truly wonderful rose, nevertheless . . . 'French Lace' with its pefectly formed small cream-colored blooms is a long-time favorite of mine. Unfortunately its bloom production shuts down when summer temps soar. So far during this hellish spring it's hardly bloomed at all.

Sharon, Larri, and Fran -- Thanks so much for your input. I checked out the sites you listed and done some more searching on Youtube. I have also located a pattern available at a favorite quilt shop. I managed to copy off a pattern for the rose itself and also talked with one of the quilters at our local quilt store that recently made one. I think I have a better grasp of it and have studied soooooo many pics and blogs pinned on Pinterest. I'm going to give it a go with some scraps and see what adjustments I need to make and be sure it really is what I want to make while I'm waiting for my pattern. I've been away from the sewing room for a long while. It's time to get with the program and see if I still remember how to be creative.

Bump up this thread. I hope to learn from Nippstress in zone 5, Nebraska with loamy soil & less rain. Nahema as own-root was wimpy in my dense & alkaline clay and refused to bloom unless tons of rain. While looking at Nippstress' old posts, I found that Nahema did well for her. Nippstress is in zone 5, same with me. However, my soil is heavy & dense black clay and roses that are wimpy for alkaline clay California are also wimpy in my soil, like own-root Felicia which died the minute I planted in my clay. Felicia is also wimpy for Debra in CA. Felicia has Trier (hybrid multiflora) as its parent, and multiflora doesn't like dense & compact & heavy clay. Multiflora is salt-sensitive and doesn't tolerate high pH like Dr.Huey-rootstock (my tap water pH is 9). Multiflora is a cluster root and can't push through rock-hard clay like big-fat-chunky Dr.Huey-rootstock, or vigorous own-roots with thick & woody roots. Below is multiflora-rootstock, note the thin cluster roots, NO WAY that can go through rock-hard clay which broke 2 of my shovels. The wimpiest rose in my garden was Comte de Chambord (grafted on multiflora), which was 1/3 the size of my 2 Comte as own-roots. Comte as own-root bloomed many times more than Comte grafted on multiflora. Comte own-root has thicker & woody roots that can produce acid to digest the hard minerals in my clay. Below is multiflora rootstock, note the thin cluster roots, similar to hardy snapdragon flowers: Compared that to below thick & chunky Dr.Huey stock (more like a tree's root). This is a 1st year Dr.Huey rootstock that decayed in my wet clay. I dug up older Dr.Huey (15-year-old) that spread out 4 feet in all directions, and went through my rock-hard clay better than my steel shovel: