Thanks. I'd say, anything from late April to the end of May. The weather in the spring really fluctuates, especially night temp temperatures and more often than not, I find myself moving the 70+ pots inside and then out again. Last year, we had the last frost in the beginning of June and down to 36 or so in July, so yeah, it's not ideal. It doesn't help that I currently live at roughly 1800ft. ASL either. The 51st parallel is a pretty good indicator on how north it is. Sure, we don't quite get the arctic influence many parts of the northern US states experience, partly due to the Gulf Stream, but it certainly requires a little more attention and work than I'd like.

Gartenprinzessin Marie-Jose, the new Kordes rose, is a hot pink, fragrant floribunda. It was released in Europe last year, and looks very promising. It probably will be marketed under a different name in the USA, which name I do not know. If literally translated from German into English it would be 'Garden Princess.' The blooms are smallish, a little over 2" (probably larger here in the USA), and very cupped-globular (I see balling-up looming on the horizon in my humid, wet climate). The petal count is about 20 so this may be an asset in preventing balling-up. Flowers are presented in tight clusters because each bloom has a very short neck, much like Summer Romance's blooms are presented. I do not like this trait. I hope it has a more restrained, uniform bush form unlike the monstrous growth habit of Summer Romance. I do not know if it has been awarded the ADR designation. It would be a great plus if it has this asset.

Rifis, Beverly is a stronger grower than Savannah in my garden, actually a robust brute, but it dies back to the ground without a heavy winter mulch. It gets some black spot, but I spray. Whether it would defoliate, how badly, and how soon it would do so during the growing season, I have never determined. I don't have the guts to let it make it or break it on its own, so I spray. Savannah is not as vigorous as Beverly, but has more winter hardiness. I have not given it any winter protection this year as a test. Since it is not as beloved to me as Beverly is, I am willing to experiment with it. Savannah's flower, however, is outstanding in form, color, and fragrance, in some ways more alluring than Beverly. It suffers from black spot, but as with Beverly I spray it, so I really don't know how it would handle a no spray approach. I spray other black spot prone roses in my garden so while I have the sprayer out Beverly and Savannah get hit too. The only roses that get no fungicide spray in my garden are the newer ADR Kordes roses: Pink Enchantment, Dark Desire, and Earth Angel (no winter protection for these three), and the Buck rose, Quietness. No fungicide spraying, no winter protection, extreme fragrance, beautiful blooms, repeat blooming...Pink Enchantment, Dark Desire, and Earth Angel. I'm in rose paradise with these three. Kordes, keep up the good work! You're on a roll!

@cpartist, I am not the OP, but wanted to chime about closets in Germany. Most often they are not built-in but are "wardrobes". When you move, you take them with you to the next place. This is extremely common. At first we hated this concept as we had to make many, many trips to Ikea to outfit our rental home. Then, the installation .... But in the end we loved the idea as it allowed easy furniture placement. I wish more American homes had this flexibility. What was odder though is how the lighting and the kitchen (yes!) go with the renter/owner to their next place. We only saw one or two places when we were house hunting that the kitchen and lights were still there. On our look-see, the current renter and the landlord actually argued over the toilet and whether it would stay or not. The renter put it in himself to replace an ancient one. The renter stored the horrible one in the basement and threatened to put it back in. Our realtor insisted that the landlord pay back the renter and leave us the new one. It was crazy. I loved the experience and would not change a thing!