For sericia, next spring watch the color of the thorns; sericia ptericantha and R. pteragonis are two possibles. Then spend some time looking at many, many pictures of R. canina. In your part of the world it's a widely used rootstock and I'd guess that four or five of yours are slightly different caninas. (This fall they'll have good hips for making jelly). Something else to remember: the garden doubtless now has more shade than when it was first planted. This sort of situation may reduce or totally stifle rebloom, so when you label a rose a once bloomer, just remember that with more sun it might be a repeater.

Most florist roses are grown in Equador or another country in South America higher up in the Andies near the equator. Because of their location the intense sunlight helps growth while the cool mountain air promotes longer growth allowing the canes to get thicker. Buds mature slower allowing them to get larger. Florist varieties were specially hybridized for these qualities. The same roses grown in our gardens where conditions are quite different will produce smaller flowers on spindly canes and often very different coloring. These plants are watched closely. At the first sign of decreased production, they are removed and replaced with new ones. They are also treated with high doses of fertilizers at optimum times for best growth and blooming, plus pesticides to keep them blemish free. In the dry high elevations, insects and fungus diseases are less of a problem than in our often humid growing conditions.

When you say you are 'going to school' I assume you mean university. If you are at the University of Bristol or UWE you will live in or near Bristol. In UK terms Shropshire is far too far away to commute. Go onto the RAC or AA route planner to see how long your journey would be and how complicated. Plus parking when you arrive will be a nightmare. And don't forget you'd probably be driving a stick shift. You are still thinking American, or rather Californian. Maybe a New Yorker would have more idea of these problems. From what you are saying here I think you really need to come and find out what it's like. Some of your ideas are way off beam, I'm afraid, including your concept of 'cool' if you think cannas like cool. Your succulents will likely end up as a slimy mush after a British winter of cold and wet. One thing you will have to get used to is the lack of sunshine, especially in winter. Temperatures may look similar to you but you need to remember that grey skies are to be expected. Any christmas trees you see growing will be sombody's crop, not wild native conifers, so for goodness sake, don't go chopping them down! Snails love our climate, as do slugs. I don't want to quell your enthusiasm but I'm afraid you are going to be rather shocked when you see just how small everything is here. Unless you are rolling in money you will find yourself with a very small area of garden in this area. (I live quite near Bristol) There are many compensations to living here but you need to come without preconceptions. Also, you don't say whether you are student or faculty. If the former how long will you be here? Will it be worth investing a lot of time and effort in a garden? I find it really hard to believe that it is worthwhile bringing all that stuff with you. You are moving to a nation of gardeners and you will find everything you could possibly need to garden here, with very little trouble. You may even find that the range of plants available is greater than you are used to. What's more it will be suited to the local climate. I have been looking at these forums for a while now and the whole concept of gardening seems very different in the UK to the States. We tend to view our gardens as long term fixtures which we tweak and maintain, not seasonal projects where we start from scratch annually, moving things around and altering them radically. Instead of trying to reproduce a Californian garden here, why not try new things? For example, make the most of our long springs to grow bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, crocuses etc and the many spring flowering shrubs and perennials. Best of luck. Flora.

It’s been quite a few years now since we travelled to the UK. Beautilful place to visit! We mostly went in May so the gardens were good by then, but my first visit with DH was the last week of October and the first week of November in 1991. Raincoat, umbrella and boots were useful frequently :-) The temperatures were 10-12C (~50-54 F) so there was a lot still green - a few days after we got home, the forecast here was calling for the first snowfall (according to the travel diary DH kept). We did visit Kew and walked around various parks in London and then headed out in a rented car to the country (Bath, Cotswolds, friends in Cardiff, etc.) If i was going back now, I’d try to go to the RHS garden Wisley in Woking, which, apparently, can be reached by train and shuttle bus from London in about an hour. I’m not sure what the cost is, The UK is a great place to visit - for the gardens and other things…! Driving on the ’wrong’ side of the road was fairly easy. Have fun - I'm sure you’ll want to go again. Our travel journal had a list of places we wanted to go back to see after that first visit :-)