Thanks, Melissa & Patricia! jumbojimmy.....Yes, Mme. Plantier's blooms do always look like that for me. Not sure if I can answer which is better of the two. They both have pure white blooms with a green button eye, they both are fragrant and they both are hardy. The blooms are similiar. Maybe the difference is in the size and shape of the BUSH. Mme. Plantier can reach near-climbing proportions whereas Mme. Hardy is more of a manageable-sized bush. I grow my Mme. Plantier on an obelisk so that she can drape her smooth, supple canes over and around it and she grows like a short climber that way. Mme. Plantier has little to no thorns to contend with; Mme. Hardy has thorns. Maybe someone else can tell you which they prefer, but I think they're both great roses. Personally, I like Mme. Plantier better. Celeste MME. PLANTIER...(again)...to show how she grows on the obelisk and her smooth stems..... Close-up of Madame Plantier bloom..... Now, for a photo of Madame Hardy.....

Aamir - gorgeous pictures again. Thanks for posting the Hibiscus - makes me homesick :o), my Paternal Grandparents had a whole hedge of different coloured Hibiscus in the front garden that I had so much fun playing with (the blooms were a favourite for pretned cooking cos they came in so many colours) aprille

Thanks again to everyone for your very nice and encouraging comments. Always makes me want to improve as a gardener! hoovb. If I have enabled Y O U to a rose, I guess that would make me a Rosarian ;-)! I have to admit you are one of my garden idols! Carol, for some reasons Iceberg roses simply love Southern California and all the rain that we had this year has just let them explode into the spring flush. Beth, I am glad that you like my photos. As for the scrub jays, I don't recall seeing them the first two years that we have been here, but this winter suddenly they showed up at the feeder. Masha, I am always happy if someone likes my "White Bed". I guess there are people, who think it is just plain boring or too monotone, but I like to experiment with the nuances of white and find it very exciting! Krista, thank you so much for your wonderful compliment, that is rather flattering! I didn't know that your Mme. Ernest Calvat is also so young. It might be interesting to compare how our roses are doing in the very different climates that we are gardening in. Serena, it is always nice to have bird guests in the garden, isn't it? You have a very eloquent way to use words "Even Lady Guadalupe shows sheer elegance the way you portrayed her", thanks for saying that! Florence, it gives me joy that you like my garden! Christina

Hi, I'm not a grower of roses, but a painter of them. I would like to commend you on these beautiful photographs, including sunlight. I wish that more people would realize that photographing them in sunlight adds another dimension to them, the blue reflecting from the sky back into the shadows, the glow from within the deepest parts of the rose, these are stunning. Thanks for using the beautiful light of the sun in your photos instead of waiting for it to go behind a cloud to take the pictures! Cia