I haven't been here on GW forever ... saw this and thought that my perspective may be of interest, since I ran my own boutique rose/OGR nursery for five years. I started growing roses years ago, when introduced to OGRs by a friend. Quickly found that the ones I were most attracted to were ones that were not available on site anywhere in our area except at one small nursery, Sherando Roses, about 2 hours from here ... shopped there at least twice a year and my love of roses was fueled by my conversations with Randy, the owner. He was generous with his experience and I valued his opinions, which helped shape my gardens in those early years. When Randy retired and Sherando closed, friends and I were lamenting the loss of the one place where we could gather to enjoy, discuss, and buy our roses. (We were ordering online from the nurseries we all know, but nothing compared to the experience of getting our roses in person.) It was then that I decided to turn my garden and my love of OGRs into a nursery, to try to pass along and nurture the fire that Randy lit in me and in so many others. The reality of the rose business hit me pretty hard shortly after I opened. To put it bluntly, the average gardener does not want an old garden rose, especially one that gets big (and many people think that 'big' is anything over 4' tall), blooms only once per season (see ya, all those beautiful Gallicas, Ramblers, Albas, and so many others that are gorgeous in my hot, humid central Virginia garden) When the roses in the garden were in bloom, it was easier to introduce customers to ones that they were unfamiliar and convince them to try something that they had never heard of before. I fondly remember the year that I sold out of 'The Bishop', a wonderful Hybrid China, in one day because it was blooming and the color and fragrance and form are superb. All of the people who bought it that day left here with a new appreciation for a once-blooming rose. This is not what usually happens. For the most part, I had lots of people coming to look for New Dawn, Buff Beauty, various exhibition-style Hybrid Tea roses that I don't grow, anything by David Austin (because they knew that he produced the English roses), and anything orange, red, or yellow. When I opened my 'doors' that first year, I had what most of us here would consider a balanced assortment of a variety of good roses from most of the OGR classes. The popular ones that people had heard of sold quickly, the unfamiliar ones languished. (By popular, I mean roses with familiar names ... not necessarily roses that people knew in person.) During the years that followed, I propagated fewer roses that I knew would be challenging to sell that season, in favor of having more stock of the popular ones on hand. I convinced myself that I could do this (in conflict with my original mission to preserve and to distribute rare and worthy roses), because the meager $$ from the sale of the popular ones allowed me to buy more rare roses to add to my own gardens. This small positive aspect of the way my business was growing wasn't enough in the long run to keep me going. In 2012, I closed the retail portion of my nursery, and donated the remaining 80 roses in inventory to Stephen Scanniello's projects in NY. Stephen's Subaru that day was full of wonderful roses that most of us here know and love. I was happy to see them go to such a worthy project, but sad that I had failed to convince the public that old roses were something that they should get to know better. A general retail nursery, whether it is a brick-and-mortar store in your examples or a mail-order business, has to cater to its customers in order to survive. The average nursery customer does not go there to buy roses, and the average nursery owner/employee does not know how to choose or care for roses. (Speaking of care, there are many different levels of care that gardeners are willing to subscribe to in their rose gardens. Me? I have no problem spraying fungicide on my rare blackspot-prone roses that need it. That's what it takes to grow these here, and I know this and accept it. Other roses, like my ramblers, teas, most of the Chinas and Polyanthas, don't need fungicide and they don't get it. No type of Insecticide is used in my gardens.) This is a long-winded way to say that it is best to put ourselves in someone else's place before we criticize. Roses are a tough item to sell in the best of times at most nurseries ... even nurseries that specialize in them have a difficult time developing their customer base and logging enough sales to keep afloat. I hope I haven't offended anyone. Connie

Hi, Melissa, what a great post again. I guess first of all, I'm grateful I don't have 400-500 roses! :)) I'm grateful for a very small lot without which I would be into roses WAAAAY too deep. And for the three weeks of rain we had up until 10 days ago which gave us the deafening bellow of millions of frogs every night for a while and now has blessed us with zillions of tiny baby frogs - so many that it looks like the ground is moving! And I WILL be grateful to get more than a sprinkle right now out of the thunder that is making our Brittany very nervous. Like others I'm grateful for my husband, too, who lets me do my thing - constantly with not a word of complaint and listens to me - constantly, only rarely with eyes glazing over. I'm grateful for Melissa, Ingrid, Jeri, Duchesse, deb, Florence, Ann, luxrosa, Pam, MichaelG, Eric, Sammy, Paul, buford, Joanne, seattlesuze, Olga, Anita, patricia43, thonotorose, Diane, Niels, Hamp, and many others that I shouldn't have omitted. You have all taught me everything I know and held my hand so many times. I'm grateful for a warm climate (HOT today!) where I can see roses pretty much year round. Is this why we moved to Florida 32 years ago? And for living in horse country where there's free composted horse manure and for the sweet, generous lady who loads it on our truck. And more and more I'm grateful for Tea roses that grow splendidly here. They came rather late to my garden due to my fear of their size, but they are the only roses that don't give me a moment's trouble. Little by little they are taking more spots away from others that don't like it so well here. Hopefully, I can get the hang of pruning them when the time comes. And I'm grateful for pine straw. What a wonder that stuff is at holding the moisture in sandy soil! And last but not least, I'm grateful for my health that allows me to do what I do. Sherry

I am still learning about gardening in the Mediterranean. Some things have disappointed me, some have frustrated me, and some have delighted far beyond expectation. Fuchsias and nemesias, have been a mixed bag. Some have grown and flowered beautifully, whilst others have kicked the bucket for no discernible reason. All the dahlias had powdery mildew, and none of them flowered much at all. Two of the alstromerias, died in just a few days in August. Mind you, they had been flowering without pause for two years. I can only assume, that they were exhausted. BUT, Nepeta Walkers Low has flowered since early May and is still flowering. It has spread itself out into a completely weed suppressing mat. It looks lovely next to a silvery Artemisia which shimmers non stop and Gaura Siskiyou Pink, which has also been flowering since early May. In the same bed, is a magenta pelargonium and Celosia Caracas, which is a plant that I thought a bit crass and over the top in England, but which works well in the stronger light here. The only trouble is, having only seen it as a summer patio plant before, I underestimated it's mature size. It is going to have to move. Behind these is New Dawn climbing up the apricot tree with Blush Noisette beside it. Lovely. Other big successes have been; Aster x frikartii Monch, another one that has been flowering since May. Felicia amelloides has made a rounded fat cushion, studded with it's blue daisy flowers all summer. Clematis Perle d'azur, still flowering in November, and too many more to mention. The apricots, black plums and golden gages, were so profuse we didn't know what to do with them all. Every day for weeks on end we would lug carrier bags full around to all the neighbours. They always "seemed" delighted with them. We received a lot of them back though as jars of home made jam. I think we now have enough jam to last ten years! The roses. Oh! the roses have mostly been wonderful. It was very hot here in August, and most of them did the sensible thing and stopped flowering for a while. However, Archduke Charles, Abraham Darby, Archduc Joseph, Blush Noisette, Duchess de Brabant, Sombreuil and Colombian Climber, took no notice of the intense heat, and continued to flower all through it. They are all still flowering, and have been joined by all the others. Marechal Neil, although young, has so many buds and flowers on now, that I gave up trying to count them this afternoon. The only big catastrophe has been the loss of my big, beautiful, Astelia Silver Spear. It was one of the plants that travelled across Europe with me from Cornwall. I had planted it on the end of the first flower bed I made, where it looked just right. Oh well, I have bought a packet of seeds and will try again. Daisy

Hi Maddy, Your climate sounds something like ours. We have limited water supply from a dam, so I use drippers on all my plants, with thick straw mulch. I have access to a nursery that sells a large variety of plants in tubes for $2, so I buy lots of these. That way I can find out what is suitable for my area without it costing me heaps. Whatever dies is not a great loss, and whatever grows I buy more of or make my own cuttings and do repeat planting. My colour scheme is blue/mauve/pink so I can make a few suggestions: Roses - a remarkably tough plant, flowers repeatedly from October to May. You'll get the dark red here - lots to choose from and you must have Mr Lincoln (what a perfume). Check out the Roses in Oz forum. Salvias - come in red and blue/purple. Don't need a lot of water. Come as perennials and annuals. Cut back in winter for new growth in spring. Buddleias - tall, lanky shrubs, can be kept trimmed. will flower all summer with varying shades of blue, purple and magenta. Butterflies love them, and they have a lovely perfume. Verbenas - a low growing plant - probably 30-40cm high and spreads. Comes in blue, purple, pink, mauve and combinations; I've just discovered one called Hunter Red. These do well in my climate. There are many varieties, and the ones that do best for me have a broader leaf with a serrated edge. They flower all summer too. Lavenders - all sorts - french, italian etc. I have a tough, common one called Lavandula Vera, which has been flowering for a couple of months now. It doesn't mind being cut back well, whereas some of the others can be a bit finicky if you cut back into old wood. Daisies - my garden has been alive with colour since winter with daisies. The common white and pink daisy bushes which I refer to as marguerite daisies. I also have felicia amelloides - dainty blue and mauve flowers on a low shrub. And the African daisies - osteospermum and dimorpotheca, grow like a weed but are just a mass of colour at the moment. Native hibiscus - alogyne huegelii. This is my latest discovery. I planted one twelve months ago and it is now covered with large, deep purple, crepe paper flowers shaped like a hibiscus. I can't grow hibiscus because of the frost. this one is supposed to be slightly frost tender, so I planted it below a big tree. It has grown into a 1m x 1m bush and is a sight to behold. Chase this one up at your nursery. I am planting more of this one - all around my garden... And I nearly forgot Agapanthus - it seems you either love or hate this plant - I LOVE it, unashamedly. For colour at Christmas you can't go past it. And they thrive on neglect! Don't forget happy Wanderer if you want a purple climber to cover a fence. I also have good success with the potato vine Solanum Jasminoides - both the white and the Monet's Blue - evergreen climbers, don't mind the heat or the frost and "respond well to trimming" (in other words, grows so well...