I've bought only one rose from Walmart--Elle--and she is beautiful and healthy. In fact, that's why I bought her. I was walking by all the pathetic victims of Walmarts concrete parking lot/greenhouse, and there was one rose standing up healthy and blooming. I figured it she could thrive in that environment, she had to be a winner in my garden where she would actually get water and food! It's up to the buyer to pick the good ones instead of hoping that a dead-looking bundle of twigs will somehow undergo a transfiguration in the home garden. Wish you hadn't mentioned doughnuts. I got a sweet tooth and just remembered there may be one left in the kitchen. 'Cuse me while I go check. Kate

It is very difficult to find budders and very expensive if you can. Also try convincing the US Government you need to a temporary work permit to bring in skilled budders from out of the country! Most budded crops grown in the field are also two year old plus crops. Own root crops in pots are one year old for a gallon plant or larger. For small nurseries the savings of a year old crop over a two year old crop can be the difference between staying in business and bankruptcy. Personally I think the debate over which is better is answered by the simple question, "what is best for you, in your climate and for the types of roses you like to grow?" The answer can be found by talking to other like rose lovers in your area. I like own root for my garden, but it would be presumptuous of me to try to convince someone up north who prefers grafted that own-root is better because I have never grown roses in their climate. And vice versa of course also holds true. ItÂs all personal folks! And isnÂt it great that you have a choice. Paul

I really don't like messing with the larger canes at all. No matter where the bud eyes are pointing. The smaller canes crossing over larger canes , yes. All the way down. As the bush starts to grow and flower, you can shape the bush as desired. I personally let my first year bush's grow, bloom, grow, bloom all season long to get some bush and thicker canes under the blooms by fall.

Thanks for all these comments! Carol, I'm afraid your first sentence nailed it. About the progress that comes from all that labor, you're right. It's slow, glacially slow, but the garden does grow. Bart, good luck in your garden efforts! If you find a workable way to whack grass and weeds, please tell me about it. I bought a sickle a little while back, but then found that the hori hori (which I've never seen here, but mine has "Made in Italy" stamped on the blade) is the best for shearing in a small area. It's still a lot of work, but, if you don't have one, I recommend you look into getting one. I find it easier than shears. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of your garden. We may be losing our own photographer: DD has applied for an exchange program (Erasmus), and in any case she'll be moving out one day. I'll pass on your thanks for the pics. I use expanded clay for drainage in my pots, and then the following year the exhausted potting soil goes out in the garden, so it makes its contribution. You can report on your experiences with it. I can't say I'm looking forward to lugging buckets of sand around but can take it a little at a time, with lots of trips to the sand pile. Slumgullion, it's the soil. When I say "clay", I mean something close to the kind used for modeling, with very little organic matter or sand. Our climate is fine: like you, we live in that blessed space where we can grow both warm climate roses and those that require winter chill, and we get good rainfall. I've experimented extensively with growing Teas and Chinas, and the results have been perhaps my biggest sustained failure in all my gardening. The soil does improve, very slowly, as year after year grass and weeds grow on it and contribute organic matter to the ground; I amend planting holes, recycle all pruning clippings to the garden, and bring in more organic matter to spread around, but it's slow. I'm hoping digging and amending with sand as well as organic matter may finally work...when I get around to it. Jackie and Jeri, I have 'Sombreuil' (CW) and am still trying to convince it to grow. It's on its third site and is taking its time. It certainly looks like a Wichuriana to me, and I agree is a most glorious rose (though I don't care for the fragrance), so I do hope it will get going one day. I have a sort of semi-conscious idea, not original, about growing what does well in my conditions. Large-scale plant nurseries want everyone to buy the same plants; garden designers must, perforce, to some degree work according to templates; no book or catalog can list every plant; it's only the home gardener who can think long and hard about what will work in her conditions, and doggedly experiment until she attains success. Male gardeners too, obviously. Partly because I have more garden than I can maintain, I find myself looking for easy solutions, a garden that doesn't require spraying, fertilizing, water after the first year. I do spend amazing amounts of time shearing and pulling weeds, not entirely my fault, But again, the plants that require the least work are by and large the best-adapted ones. What results from the intersection of growing plants that are adapted, the specific character of the ground and area the plants are growing in, and the gardener's own tastes and skills, is a unique garden, one unlike any other garden in the world, and with a very strong aesthetic character, This is what I'm slowly working toward, and I think it may one day be wonderful.