Ariel & Purpleinopp, Thanks so much! I love her. I bought her about 3 years ago from our local supermarket. She was in one of those time pots for $1.99. She wasn't flowering at that point and I didn't even know to expect flowers. Imagine my surprise when these delicate pale pink flowers bloomed! It goes through cycles when it doesn't bloom at all but I don't mind because the leaves are beautiful all by themselves. As far as care goes, I don't do anything special. She sits in my sitting room on the heater in front of 3 windows. She gets late afternoon sun. I water a few times a week and have never given plant food. I've only repotted twice since bringing her home. I never expected her to do so well, since I don't have a green thumb at all, but since she is I'm afraid to change anything. Purpleinoop, I would love to chat about plant care & tips:)

Kate, you are great for figuring out despite my typos what I tried to say. This rainy-cold-windy weather makes my typing even worse than it usually is. As for whites, I ordered Ice Girl from Palatine based on Aprille (North Cal) recommendation. It is a florist rose bred for garden use and supposedly very fragrant. Memoire is another white florist rose I read praises about. I got Lions rose - supposed to be a very healthy white floribunda/shrub. Rene (the owner of Palatine) was enthusiastic about Caramel Antike. I ordered it last year and it started out great but in that horrible drought we had last summer I didn't have that many flowers as I expected. I am sure it isn't the rose's fault, florist roses usually bloom more than the rest - they are bred for bloom production. A yellow that picks up apricot tone in cooler e weather is Valencia  one of my favorites. Parole is hot pink with mauve tones and has huge blooms and delicious fragrance. Floral Fairy tale is very healthy, colors change between apricot, pink, pale yellow or cream depending on the weather  I like that rose very much. I can recommend it in place of Tamora that is very bs prone here. But blackspot might not be a problem for you. I could recommend more, of courseÂ:-)

My LB plant was new last year and stayed extremely tiny. It is planted in a 10-gal. container and I overwintered her in the garage. The cane (Twig) is still green as of today as I nipped the top of it off and called that pruning. So, I hope that she is still alive. I hear it takes several years to really establish, so I will continue to really baby her along. The couple of blooms I got last year were small and not much form, but the color was outstanding and they lasted a long time. I am keeping all my appendages crossed for good luck with this one. I actually had two of them, but one didn't survive breaking dormancy. John

Wow! Okra is related to hibiscus?? I got this from seed at Renee's Gardens. The only seed that "took" and then I got this plant, and then I looked it up, and turns out it's an annual. That was a lot of work for a very few flowers... Yup -- that arbor cost me $10. Plus some sweat equity! @rosecanadian - Carol -- that's not a bench, that's my worm box. But I think I killed all the little wormies... Thanks for your good wishes, all. I am watching my Rouge Royale closeley these days. More buds coming! Such a good bloomer already, and in its first year. Diane -- you crack me up. Always. And make me think. Kristine -- I do love Huntington/Life -- but right after it blooms at least half the leaves turn yellow, so it's a bit higher maintenance than I'd like. But it's still quite young (year 2) so maybe it will have more roots soon and can support its blooms without freakingout afterwards. It is pretty and has a lovely fragrance. Okay geniuses -- totally off topic -- not even about roses! But how do I get old tea stains/deposits out of my go-to tea thermos that I take to work?