That's so funny! That time I thought you were just being silly! Good news at the dentist always makes for a better day! Yay! Lisa - I'm so sorry that I've been remiss in taking time to post on the board that I received my prize package from you. I sent you an e-mail when it arrived on Monday. I hope you received it. To everyone else - Lisa sent me the nicest box of prizes from last month's games. For some game when I was the next person to post (it seems like we were waiting for Tracy to materialize but I don't remember why) she sent me some nice gloves and plant markers. For finding that tiny Christmas tree, thereby putting an end to her 'I Spy' game, she sent me a plant off of my want list. She chose to give me Phlox 'Orange Perfection'. I was very excited to get this, as I've never seen it in my area. And, just because she's so sweet, Lisa sent me another start from Larry's iris collection! I'm a lucky girl!

I have 5 abe Darby's & 3 tamoras they both have great scent - your rose looks like Darby to me !! The colors can vary depending on weather when it comes to Darby. In winter my blooms have strong apricot, peachy yellow & pink but in summer it's very pink. Tamora can also vary in color due to weather. When I saw your pics- Darby was first rose that came to mind. I'm a David Austin rose freak - I have around 20 different austins, plus a few extras of my favorite Austin bushes but I'm not counting those. Tamora is a great rose also, the scent reminds me of starburst :) yum but here in class the bush isn't the most vigorous grower- Both are susceptible to black spot in my garden. Darby however is extremely vigorous. I've noticed on my Darby, the blooms can vary greatly, some are so packed with petals & others not so much ( prob Bc of the heat!) i just dead headed all of mine otherwise I would post pics :( sorry but Good luck!! :)

As the years have gone by, I've become solidly in camp Abraham Darby. First of all, Abe reblooms for me. As time has gone on, Evelyn has stopped reblooming for me. In contrast, Abe's reblooming has gotten better. Then, as Brandon says, Abe's color is richer. This is not necessarily a better thing, but I like it better than Evelyn's hues in my garden. I've seen Evelyn in other gardens which have colors that I like more. It's true that Abe has big thorns, but they aren't particularly numerous, and they are actually attractive (to me) on the new growth when the sun shines through them. I like the bush form of Abe better than Evelyn. It's more sturdy, whereas Evelyn is more wispy. Both Evelyn and Abe have beautiful fragrances, although they are different. Neither has much fragrance on hot days especially in the afternoon. I call it a draw in that department. Abe responds quite well to water and fertilizer, by growing and blooming. Evelyn does not. Abe has bigger flowers for me. Evelyn has more of a romantic look to her flowers. Abe's flowers are more formal. So a draw in that department. Abe still catches my eye and makes me catch my breath. So it's Abe for me. But I still want both. Because I keep thinking that maybe I can figure out how to get Evelyn to perform better for me. I still consider Evelyn to be the quintessential English rose. I've posted these pictures before:

Found this post in another thread, maybe the strain I dealt with was different from Diane's: henry_kuska 6 years ago There is no such thing as a virus named RMV. RMV is the group name for a number of viruses that infect roses. Even for a single virus in that group there are different strains that have different virilities. Also, the rose imune system has been shown to be more efective at fighting PNRSV (usually considered the most common rose virus in the U.S.) at higher temperatures than at lower temperatures. Thus, someone in a warmer climate may feel that a certain virus infection is not a big deal, but that experience probably will not apply to the same variety of rose with the same virus (and same strain) infection grown in a cooler climate. Also, since we are normally dealing with hybrids, the immune system can vary from rose variety to rose variety. When you add that it may be a different virus, a simultaneous infection with two or more types of virus, and/or an infection with a different strain of an individual virus; you see that it is risky to make general statements about what an untested rose virus infection will mean to someone else.