Now come on Seil, of COURSE you meant to enable (smile). It's what we do around here!! Besides, it's not like I take a lot of convincing to buy roses, or any other plants for that matter. Um, you see I'd decided on putting in some daylilies to fill in around roses in a couple of beds, and Gilbert Wild had 50-75% off some rather spectacular ones, and well...suffice to say a lot of beds are going to get padded out this year. That's OK - it'll be a short term boost to make up for the slow regrowth of most of the yard from the brutal winter. Anybody other than Edmonds sell this one? For some reason, their bare roots haven't done as well as expected for me (not necessarily their fault - I'm not good with bare roots anyway). Cynthia

I grew Yves Piaget on its own roots and found it to be lacking vigor. I would try it grafted next time. I grow Charles De Gaulle- I find it to be less than vigorous on its own roots. Nice fragrance though and pretty flowers. Peter Mayle- Peter grows tall and narrow, nasty thorns, flowers usually come singly, intense complex fragrance, lasts uncommonly long in vase. Nice long stems. Mine does well in part shade, but the repeat is kind of slow, it would probably be better with more hours of sun. Rouge Royale- Wish I had a better picture. When fully open the flowers are large, flat and quartered. Lots and lots of petals. Intense fragrance, lasts very long in vase. Every year I make a pact with myself to cut every bloom off this rose and let them open in a vase because so many of them spoil instantly when left on the bush. I never do it though and end up regretting it. The color is often more Raspberry than this picture shows. Its worth growing if you love fragrance and cut flowers. Frederick Mistral Freddy flowers later than any of my other roses. but once he starts, he keeps putting out. Strongly fragrant, with large flowers and a large bush, struggles with thrips. Needs extra room. I've lost several over the years to winter and RRD, and I don't currently grow him. Papa Meilland Ooh la laaa- Papa Meilland has intense fragrance, puts out a generous amount of big deep red flowers, that hold their fragrance and blue as they age. The stems are brittle and the bush is awkward and not symetrical. I have mine planted in close groups and they look good as a mass, but they didn't look good as individuals. Comptess De Provence- Sorry no pic, but this is a pink. A most unusual sharp fragrance, that is very hard to describe. Very thorny and nicely rounded symetrical bush, good repeat, great for cutting. Bolero- Sorry no pic. This is a workhorse, more of a Floribunda than HT. Nicely fragrant, loose, many petalled creamy white. Low growing, rounded habit.

Pumpkin Patch showing the aging of the color. Crescendo, new to me this year. First bud. Crescendo, in the evening with the flash. I'm still waiting for first buds on Drop Dead Red, Tuscan Sun, Memorial Day, New Day, Peace, Night Owl, and Top of the World.

Carol, I got about 2 - 3 blooms per flush and it's going into the 3rd flush. If it had better sun exposure, I bet it would do more. It's not a bloom machine, but the blooms are very large and usually well formed, not to forget its awesome fragrance. Its slight orange cast gives it a neon effect that pops from across the garden at dusk. The plant itself is very attractive - nice shape, leathery dark green foliage. If your very limited on garden space, it may not be for you. My solution was to propagate a second plant, so next year I'll have more. Dolly is susceptible to powdery mildew and so I probably shouldn't be growing it. with our fog and cool nights. However, with enough systemic, it's manageable. It's very resistant to BS.