In Lakeland Florida (average 150 to 200 chill units), we can grow and flower 'Alba Semiplena' and 'Félicité Parmentier' fairly well, nearly every year. On the other hand, 'Celestial' and 'Königin von Dänemark' never got around to blooming so we removed them. They grew just fine, but wouldn't bloom. Same for some Gallicas -- we grew Camaieux for over 4 years before it made a single cluster of flowers. Do you know how many chill units you get? I'd think on the coast you might get quite a lot, even though your minimum temperature is not very low. Certainly, San Francisco gets far more than we do, even though we're both zone 9b. Malcolm

I've had Prosperity for years. It is only so-so (has a tea parent which struggle even to survive here) for me and does get big. On the other hand I had the opportunity to see Cliff Orent's collection of hybrid musks growing in his desert garden. Magnificent!!!! Loved Excellenz von Schubert with the gorgeous purply flowers. It loves it here. Will climb but seems easily contained. Mine is from Rogue Valley. Saw many Cliff had that I'd eventually like to get. There were quite a few of modest size. And you should have seen the HM area of his garden when in full bloom--it was a sight to behold. There are plenty of his pictures up on HMF of individual HM's, and if you look in the background you will see other hybrid musks. One that I loved is Omi Oswald. It is a single and a very pale yellow that fades to white in strong sun. The flowers have a nifty formation of stamens in the center that make the blooms look like hibiscus. Mine did shut down in the worst heat of the summer but the foliage continued to look great--even in my low-water garden. It is reblooming now. My plant is fairly young still, so my only guide to seeing it mature was at Cliff's, where it made a beautiful mound of color, about the size you want. Here's a picture on HMF: http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.169796 Another that I saw at Eurodesert that was just stunning was Heavenly PInk. It stays small too and what a mass of color it made. Melissa Here is a link that might be useful: Heavenly Pink on HMF

"Don't know why they are are not more common here in zones to 6b to 7b in nj.. Never see them at garden centers or the big box stores" Because they're very difficult to accomodate in nursery practice, with their massive deep taproot and very slow 'grass stage' seedling growth. There's one or two small, gaunt specimens in botanical collections in southern England (around 51ðN), which will likely be the northernmost of the species in the world. Very slow-growing due to lack of summer heat. Resin

Heruga, You’re nice to help the residents, they must appreciate that! I purchased 3 more dicentra ‘alba’ this year, they have lovely pure white flowers. I also love the dicentra ‘valentine’ on which the flowers tend toward red rather than the clear pink. All are lovely! I have a golden foliage one, very pretty but it catches my eye, making me feel like it’s fall all summer long. (Our main fall color is gold). My problem isn’t that the dicentra turn brown (due to my cool climate, they stay green), rather they get terribly floppy and that’s why I’m moving them to deeper shade, we don’t have maples but lots of birch. i like calling them lady’s locket, doubt I’ll ever get used to lamprocapnos