I can't really tell you much about The Alnwick Rose as it didn't bloom much for me. The bush was good though. I don't have any pictures that I can find as a lot of my pictures were lost after my computer died a few years ago. Also, I don't cut for the vase except for in October when the blooms would die. So I cut all of my roses en masse.

I wish I still had my Evelyn pictures...they were exquisite!! Dang. Oh well. I have to make a not for Don to back up my pictures that I do have.

Carol: Evelyn is the easiest rose to root, I rooted a few for friends. If you know someone with Evelyn, get a few cuttings and it'll give you an own-root within 3 months. Leander (almost thornless English rose from LongAgoRoses) has fabulous very strong scent (similar to Felicia), and lasts 4+ days in the vase:

Below bouquet is day 5 in the vase with pale Leander, yellows are Well Being. Big Purple is on right. I don't miss Jude the Obscure with Well Being's scent being just as good.

Straw - no, I don't know anyone who has Evelyn. But I'll keep looking for one. My darn Jude the Obscure died over winter. I was really surprised as I've had it before and it did well in my garage. Oh well.

Really? Those roses really last well in the vase!! They look fresh still. :) :) I will certainly keep an eye open for Well Being...but I've never seen it offered anywhere in Canada. Your Leander is beautiful!!!

Comte de Chambord shows up every so often--I've seen it at Heirloom and ARFR. Evelyn I've had to scrounge for by going to nurseries in person or getting one to mail her to me.

Aaron: If you run across any older Austins like Cressida, Cymbaline, Sister Elizabeth, the Countryman, please inform. THANK YOU. Older Austins with their best scents are hard to find with large nurseries aren't allowed to sell Austins.

Carol: Jude prefers constant moisture but alkaline and its rooting survived my unheated zone 5a garage when I watered it with pH 9 tap-water. Jude does well for folks with sandy or loamy and alkaline soil, but died 3 times in my poor drainage clay with too much acidic rain.

@strawchicago z5 I have a few--I'm going to try to get to Peter Schneider's in June to pick up my CP Cymbaline because I feel like the fall shipment is too late for them to get a hold, but I think my Perdita and Chaucer survived. I've also got some great Tantaus and Guillots if you have any interest, as well as Pompon Veranda (now out of patent). I know WS2000 is one that I've been after, myself. I'm not far from you and plan to visit Chicago. Maybe we can meet up at Gethsemane Garden Center when they open and do a meal? I'm only about 90 minutes north of there and have made the drive to get Evelyn and Rose-Marie. :p We can message also!

Have you gone to Peter Schneider's open days? One is on my birthday this year and I'm really tempted. There's a highly rated B&B near there that's pretty inexpensive; it might be a fun trip if some of the Houzz folks all went! What do you think? I know you've got other obligations but it'd be interesting to put faces to names :)

Aaron: That's exciting that you are getting Cymbaline. A friend in CA grew that and she loved its fabulous myrrh scent. I looked at Austin Catalog 2018 today and all the ones described as "very healthy" are stingy on me, and need tons of acidic rain, such as Queen of Sweden, Charles Darwin, and Teasing Georgia to bloom as own-roots. Teasing Georgia can't even bloom for a friend in CA (hers is grafted on Dr.Huey). But the older Austins (Radio Times, Pat Austin, Evelyn) bloom easily even with my alkaline tap water at pH 9. I wrote in my post "Ratings of scents and vigor of own-roots" about this.

Vaporvac knows more about Peter Schneider's open days ... I hope she will chime in. So glad that Perdita and Chaucer survive for you. It's good for someone to start a thread on "Trading older Austins." I hope to preserve the older Austins that bloom well with great scents.

I don't like to travel but I do exchange rootings/cuttings with others. My many roses & garden projects plus family obligations tie me down. But I love to exchange info. with you. Thank you, and feel free to message me in Houzz.

Straw - seriously...the ONLY Austin rose that has ever done well and survived for more than 2 years is my Bishop's Castle. I don't know why that one survived amongst all the death Austins I've had. :) :) But, I probably won't be trying any more. They hate me. LOL

Carol: Alfalfa tea and sulfate of potash does wonder to force blooms on Austin roses (bred from a rainy climate). Sulfur is for growth, and sulfur is from tons of rain that decay organic matter, or from dunking 2 TBS of alfalfa meal in a gallon of water with 1 TBS. of sulfate of potash. Works wonder in inducing blooms. I received 4 bands from LongAgoRoses on April 28, and now each has 3 buds on May 14, thanks to dousing them with such solution. See below 3 buds on Austin Wise Portia, pic. taken today May 14:

The best rose for the vase plus MOST FRAGRANT among my 150 fragrant own-root roses is Yolande d'Aragon, received from Roses Unlimited this April 27. It lasts TWICE longer in the vase (up to 6 days) and smells just as fabulous as Comte de Chambord.

Yolande d' Aragon's scent is so powerful that it lingers on my face for 15 min. after sniffing, pure heaven !!

@strawchicago z5 I immediately added Yolande d' Aragon to my wishlist! Thanks for the recommendation!

Straw - thank you for the recipe for my Austins...I have a couple that are just hanging in there. My Jude the Obscure died over winter because I foolishly didn't cover my roses last winter. Should I wait until they're actively growing? Ooooh!!! Your Yolande looks amazing!!! What a rose!

Straw, thanks for that information for Austins. I just got Jude so I’ll have for try it. Do you let the alfalfa soak in the water for any period of time?

My Jude is on his second flush after getting him in January so he’s not been stingy so far but I’m always up for trying it on others that have been more stingy like my Elle that I got at the same time and has produced just one bloom.

David Austin's "Beatrice"(bright yellow with waving petal edges) is a must have if you value cut flower quality

@Ryan Coastal LA Zone 10b I used to make alfalfa tea regularly, before I got old. I added 12 cups of alfalfa horse pellets (from the feed store) to a 33 gallon trash can filled with water. The key to get the maximum benefit is to let it ferment... I usually did 3-4 days. It's maybe the worst thing you ever smelled, but it's also maybe the best thing you can add to any plant. You can get similar results (eventually) from just applying alfalfa meal to the soil, but the fermenting process really releases the triacontanol from the alfalfa, which is the plant growth stimulant. (Apologies to Straw for answering a Q directed to her!)

Thanks @susan9santabarbra I’ve read alfalfa tea on here but haven’t found an exact recipe and was worried I’d burn something if I didn’t have correct ratios. I’ll have to try it before summer sets in here. I’m worried my roses are all starting signs of a potassium deficiency I showed on here earlier so I’m trying to figure out where I’m going wrong in fertilizing so at this point alfalfa may be good.

What did you do with the crud from the alfalfa tea? I did my fermenting in a five gallon bucket and really disliked the way it looked on my plants by the time I got to the bottom.

I think my best rose for the vase has been Rouge Royale. Evelyn can last when it's good, but it's been quite variable at times. I probably need to experiment and see what time is best to cut it. I also remember Honeymoon, Pomponella, Savannah, and Fun in the Sun doing okay, maybe 3-4 days-ish. I need to try cutting Bolero earlier as a bud. I've been too scared to do so in case it doesn't open.

Ryan Coastal LA Zone 10b One size doesn't fit all when it comes to DIFFERENT own-root roses versus grafted-on-Dr.Huey. I tested 3/4 cup of alfalfa meal dunked with 2.5 gallons of my pH 9 tap-water for 24 hours, plus 2 TBS of sulfate of potash.

The PALE leaves own-root roses like Yolande d' Aargon, Clothilde Soupert LOVE this acidic mix, breaking out in buds. Today May 18 (20 days later), I get 4-buds on Clothilde Soupert (received as a tiny band on April 28).

Own-root Sonia Rykiel (lime hog) hates this acidic water, leaves become thinner & droopy.

Roses grafted on Dr.Huey (Fragrant Cloud, Pink Peace, Oklahoma) absolutely HATE this acidic mix, leaves curl up & wilting.

Jude the Obscure has pale leaves as own-root and can take more acidity than Elle (darker green leaves).

Previously I tested 1 TBS of sulfate potash in 1 gallon of alkaline tap water, and roses grafted on Dr.Huey became perky, it's the acidic alfalfa meal that is NOT best for Dr.Huey rootstock (bred in dry & alkaline CA).

pH of alfalfa meal is 5, and becomes more acidic when soaked in water.

Both rose parks here (Cantigny park and Chicago Botanical Garden) never use alfalfa tea on their roses (grafted on Dr.Huey), yet they have more blooms than leaves despite our soil pH of at least 7.4.

marascz9b I leave the crud (from alfalfa tea) on top of my pots since the crud helps to seal the moisture below in pots. Rouge Royal lasts 6 days in the vase, nice raspberry rose scent, but the color is too bright. Below pale blue is Lagerfeld (lasts 5 days in the vase), and pink is Aloha (lasts 5 days):

Savannah below lasts 4 days in the vase if cut as bud. Scent is nicer than both Aloha and Rouge Royal:

Straw - ooooh!!! Your Aloha steals the show!!! What a glamorous rose!! They're all beautiful roses!!

Alfalfa meal gets extremely acidic if soaked for more than 2 days .. I had about 1 teaspoon of alfalfa bits that clung to the bottom of gallon-container that I stored my rain-water.

That turned sour within a week. When I watered my roses in pots, that water was "sour & stinky" and attracted sawfly.

Roses in pots hate that sour "Kimchi water" and leaves got brown specks in high heat.

I had to scrape off the top soil and put new soil on top.

From now on, I use a separate container to soak alfalfa meal for a few hours, and I make sure that it's rinsed well with no residue left to turn sour.

Soaking 2 TBS of alfalfa per gallon of water for a few hours to release its growth hormone is OK, but 1 teaspoon of "fermented alfalfa meal residue" is too acidic per gallon of water.

I didn't have any sawfly nor thrips last year with 20+ pots since I top roses with alfalfa meal mixed with pelletized lime prior to day-long rain. That stayed dry on top and didn't ferment to corrode roots, nor to attract flies (sawfly or thrips).

Below bouquet was picked at 97 F on 6/22/22, we had 2 weeks at over 90 F. The winners in high heat are Evelyn (behind dark-pink Dee-lish), blue Poseidon, yellow Moonlight Romantica, right cluster of James Galway, left orange Summer Sun, Sweet Mademoiselle, Munstead Wood and W.S. 2000 (need shade):

@strawchicago z5 Oh, what beautiful bouquets! I need to catch up looking at uour roses!!! I esp. love your Comte de Chambord photos…. on my list for soring 2023!!!! And Evelyn & Poseidon! I’m going to look at Evelyn some more…. your bouquet w/ Evelyn & Munstead is stunning!!!! Thank you! Love looking at your roses.

@strawchicago z5 your bouquet is stunning!!

My first bouquet of the season...clockwise from top is Sparkle & Shine, Ebb Tide, Gertrude Jekyll, Compassion, William Shakespeare, Abraham Darby, and then Bolero tucked in the middle. Sparkle & Shine is the only one with mild fragrance, the rest are unique and amazing!

Straw - beautiful!! Moonlight Romantica...oh wow!! I love your Evelyn and Sweet Mademoiselle sooo much...but, to me, MR really sings. :)

Joey - I love the BRIGHTNESS of your Sparkle and Shine!! Your Ebb Tide has wonderful color to it...oh my!

Carol: thank you, Moonlight Romantica is NOT huge like Sweet Mademoiselle. Sweet M. got up to 5' x 4' in late fall 2nd year, but Moonlight Romantica will get to 2' x 1.5' max this fall as 2nd year own-root. It's about 1/4 the size of Sweet. M, yellow roses are less hardy.

Joey: I love the yellow color of your Sparkle and Shine, and your Gertrude's bloom is huge (love that dark pink color).

Kitty: LongAgoRoses sells Evelyn, and most likely Hummingbird roses since I'll send Mindy of Hummingbird roses a bunch of my Evelyn rootings. Evelyn is the easiest rose to root.

Straw - I had thought that MR is a tall/big rose. Sounds like it might be good for my pots. :)

I will second Straw's height for MR in cooler zones. My two plants are barely 18" tall and no buds in sight. This is their second year; last year they bloomed once. I will give them one more year...

Shoot. lost the post. I was mentioning Katherine Zeimet who is fragrant from bud to bloom with a white flower scent. ..very charming flower and bush making her perfect for a front of the border plant in a colder zone....Im ot sure of her size in a warm one. I was surprised by her scent so thought Id mention it. These polys add a lot of charm to bouquets or as a single spray in a bud vase and usually last well.

Sunny - yup...not a good choice it seems.

Vaporvac - KZ sounds like a good rose.

Vaporvac: Thank you for the recommendation of Katherine Zeimet, I love small white blooms in a bouquet. Below bouquet has the best scents among my 150 fragrant own-root roses: Pink is Yolande d'Aargon ... it repeats well like Comte de Chambord, but lasts TWICE LONGER in the vase than Comte de Chambord.

Red is Firefighter, and Beige is Princess Charlene de Monaco. Pic. taken July 1 at above 90 F:

The new rose from Antique Rose Emporium is upper left large pink: Prairieville Prince. It's shown on ARE site as orange, but mine turns out to be pink, perhaps due to high heat above 90 F. Right beige is Queen Nefertiti (got bleached out by hot sun).

Upper pink Prairieville Prince lasts TWICE LONGER in the vase than Queen Nefertiti. Prairieville Prince has a fabulous myrrh scent on the bush, but scent is gone once cut for the vase.

Wow thank you so much for this beautiful and informative post. Super helpful for me. Making all my wishlists.

In the pic above with Poseidon and Sweet Mme what is the vivid coral-salmon-pink rose touching the Poseidon? I am loving those Summer Sun/Sweet Mme colors right now.

I did a search for Summer Sun and don’t see it for sale in many places. Was it discontinued or am I just not looking hard enough?

Thanks again for posting these pics and compiling the DA vase info. Super helpful.

Loving the specific alfalfa info as well. Especially about it attracting sawflies etc. I have made it for other plants but just threw some meal in water or tossed the meal in my beds with no idea as to what I was doing.

So interesting to think about which plants like acidic v alkaline based on how and where bred. 🤔

Do you keep all this info in spreadsheets or just in your brain? Keep thinking I need to make a master list—

Oh, lastly, sorry for multiple posts I am reluctantly using the Houzz app on my phone bc it’s far easier to type—but I can’t figure out how to edit my posts.

One rose that has lasted really well for me in the vase this summer is English Miss. Mine is a baby (as are all of my roses) but I just got another one bc it is so pretty, smells amazing and lasts very well. It fades to a paler pink, and then white edged with pink.

**am ordering Aloha and Savannah right now from ARE for Sept delivery based on your pics 🤭

Meghan: Your English Miss is very lovely !! Thanks for sharing about its scent and lasting long in the vase.

As to what own-root roses like alkaline versus acidic, the pale leaves like acidic rain or acidic alfalfa meal, but the dark-green leaves prefer alkaline lime. I always mix 1/4 lime with 3/4 alfalfa meal to top DARK-GREEN leaves with that, and I had zero rose slugs last year with 20 roses in pots.

This year some alfalfa meal residue (in a bottle) got fermented and I used that "sour pickled water" to water the dark-green leaves .. they broke down in rose-slugs. That's from leaves got thinner from low pH.

To choose the right own-roots for one's soil or climate (high rain or dry & alkaline), I compiled the info. in the "featured answer" in below post:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5944634/your-most-favorite-fragrant-roses-from-roses-unlimited

The vivid coral-salmon-pink rose touching blue Poseidon in way above bouquet is Sweet Mademoiselle.

Savannah is good for high rain climate, but it needs some partial shade (blooms fry at above 90 F heat). Aloha is a pain in my heavy-rain climate: constant balling during rain. Aloha is best in full-sun (less balling), but I don't have enough sun in my garden until the last 2 years of freezing rain killed six of my decades old trees.

Evelyn is far better than Aloha and Abraham Darby, no balling whatsoever with Evelyn. Evelyn is my most favorite rose for the vase: it doesn't fry in full-sun, and lasts 5 days in the vase (much longer than Aloha and Abraham Darby). Below pics. of LARGEST BLOOM are Evelyn. The small right pink bloom is La Reine:

All the pinks below are Evelyn, and apricots are Crown princess Mag (lasts 5 days in the vase like Evelyn):

Below left orange is Sweet Mademoiselle (much better than Summer Sun. Summer Sun is too gaudy and scent gone in the vase). Below right apricot-pink are Evelyn:

Straw - I really love your Prairieville Prince and Yolande!!! Sooooo lovely! OOoooooh!! I love your Evelyn!!! GASP!

Now that I have my rain storage system and I can have rainwater whenever I want, I'm going to try to get some more Austins. :)

Teresa, I've been using your thin leaves/curled up as a cue to when they've had too much rainwater. There's some that really love rainwater...Perfume Breeze...I never use tapwater on that one. It has about a 100 small buds on it now.

Carol: thank you for that tip on Perfume Breeze. I agree that the tiny leaves prefer LOAMY soil and can take tons of acidic rain with no diseases. Perfume Breeze's leaves are even smaller than Marie Pavie, and MORE disease resistant. Best of all, rabbits never eat the leaves of Perfume Breeze, but they devour Marie Pavie.

That's the case with small-leaves W.S. 2000 ... I never see blackspots on that, same with tiny-leaves Blue Mist (never see blackspots in 11 years). Below W.S. 2000 is my favorite for the vase, lasting 4 days. It's the dark red in the first pic, and the dark purple in the 2nd pic.

Below W.S. 2000 (center purple) turns purplish with horse manure (has aluminum to shift bloom to the blue zone):

That must be what happened to my Marie Pavie--I had giant rabbits in my back yard and my Marie Pavie, a star of last year's garden, is no more :(

Hard to like that last comment Aaron..😣

Straw - that is the most luscious picture you've ever posted!! Unbelievable beauty!! Putting WS2000 in the middle of the bouquet...gorgeous! Interesting that rabbits won't eat PB's leaves. Too much effort for such small leaves? :) Probably not the reason. LOL

Aaron - rotten rabbits. :(

@strawchicago z5

Fabulous vase thread! invaluable information!

Could you list your disease tesistant vase roses? I am trying to have a no spray garden as much as possible.

How does Evelyn, Rouge Royal, Comte de Chambord, Yolande de Aragon do?

From above pic., I'm in Chicago suburb, IL with YOUNG SOIL (black gumbo clay) rich in calcium. Compared that to the east coast (North Carolina) with old soil depleted in calcium.

In my last house of acidic clay (from an older neighborhood with soil dating back to 1800's), roses were blackspot fest. That house is only 1/2 hour from my current house that was built on brand new soil.

My neighbors grow 100% healthy no spray roses like Angel Face & other hybrid teas, and Evelyn, Comte de Chambord, Yolande de Aragon are 100% healthy as own-roots for me, except for Rouge Royal. I'm moving it to a faster drainage spot soon.

Comte de Chambord blackspotted for the 1st three years, until I moved it to a fast-drainage raised bed which I worked in plenty of gypsum and lime in advance.

I followed Roses' Unlimited recipe for the planting hole, but instead of 1 gallon of peat moss I used my homemade compost rich in potassium.

@strawchicago z5 AUG 20, 2022,

Wonderful! Great ideas!!!! Thank you! Yes, drainage would help! Keep them drier! I’ll definetly work on drainage as I acquire these roses. Raised beds is a great idea. I have some OGRs in pots now to keep them drier.

I think I’ll put Yolanda in a raised bed and raise my Ardoisee de Lyon’s bed, too!

BTW, it rains a lot in fall and sometimes every 3 days in summer here. So keeping it dry is work!

ITS RAINING NOW and this morning!!!

I solved my vase life issue!!!!!!! I knew there had to be something wrong when NOTHING lasted longer than 3 days in my vases...not even strawflowers!

We have crazy high clear iron, and we had a filter put in for our health. Wind broke a bunch of stems and I gathered them and thought, "3 days is better than the compost." It has been 1 week and they still look okay! So it could also be water that makes a difference!

( I did try distilled water early on and that did not work either) I wonder if the minerals or the ph has to be around just right?

ann beck 8a ruralish WA How does your soil look like, being high in iron?

The top layer of my soil is black and rock hard clay, but the lowest layer is lighter color clay (orangish), and red roses do well here. Red roses like Double Delight & Munstead Wood both have a higher need for iron.

I check the web, and it stated: "The most distinctive characteristic of an iron-rich soil is a ruddy orange or red color, though not all red soils are rich in iron. When the iron deposits in the soil oxidize, they turn a distinctive rust color that tints the soil red. "

In early summer when the stems of cut-blooms are softer, they wilt easily if I use acidic rain. My cut-blooms always last longer in my alkaline tap water at pH 9, rather than acidic rain water. My tap water leaves whitish calcium and hard magnesium deposits on pots. We have hard well water, and our soil is high in dolomitic rocks (calcium plus magnesium).

In the fall when the stems are harder, cut blooms can tolerate acidic rain water better with less wilting. Below are some recent cut blooms this Sept. 2022. Dark red are Munstead Wood, it's a constant bloomer as 8th-year own root, light pink is Princess Charlene d. Monaco (4th-year own-root), and whites are 12th-year own-root Mary Magdalene, lowest ruffled pink are Augusta Luis:

The Dark Lady (red), Tchaikosky (light yellow), and Sweet Mademoiselle (salmon) are heavy bloomers this Sept. Tchaikosky is 4.5" across and Sweet M is 4". They are fertilized with biochar at pH 8.6 which supplies calcium and potassium for large blooms.

fragrancenutter gave fantastic info. about vase life and scent in below post: Most highly scented roses (houzz.com)

She listed from her zone 10: "Fragrant, long stems and last well as cut flowers:

Granada, Double Delight, Sonia Rykiel, Firefighter, Nahema, PJP II, Evelyn, Augusta Luise.

These last pretty well too:

Barbra Streisand, Papa Meilland, Crimson Glory, Blue Moon, New Zealand, Fredric Mistral, Honey Bouquet.

Short vase life:

Happy Child, Marie Pavie, PAOK, Munstead Wood, Ebb Tide, Duchess de Brabant, Felicia, Jude the Obscure. " fragrancenutter in zone 10.

From Straw: Below was my Nahema but it's very stingy as own root, I find Evelyn's scent is just as good and Evelyn is a constant bloomer.

Below is Evelyn, it's a constant bloomer as 12th-year own root. Evelyn gives me the most blooms among my 150+ fragrant own root roses. Below upper peachy blooms are Evelyn (smaller blooms since it's a in cluster), light yellow is Tchaikosky (candy and floral scent), deep pink is Parfum de Paris (honeysuckle scent):

Yellow Honey Bouquet lasts long in the vase, see below, along with Sonia Rykiel (pink). Middle is Sweet Promise 2007, a French rose with amazing apple blossoms scent. Honey Bouquet lasts twice longer in the vase than Golden Celebration in my zone 5a.

Augusta Luis lasts 6 days in the vase, just as long as Firefighter in my zone 5a. Red behind it are Munstead Wood, lasts 3 days in the vase. Augusta Luis blooms are big at 4" across:

Oh, I'm sighing with happiness over your wonderful blooms, Straw. :) :) I especially love your 2nd pic with those Evelyns!!!

You probably all know this, but I watched a show and the guy said to use cold water.

rosecanadian Thank you for that tip of cold water. Cut blooms last longer after I disinfect the vase with bleach, or scrub the bacteria-film with a brush. Below bouquets were picked Oct. 29, 2023 before it dipped down to 20's in my zone 5a:

Below Radio Times (intense damask scent) holds the record of the most blooms before frost since it's huge bush. The dark red is The Dark Lady (wonderful old rose wafting scent). Lighter red is Veteran's Honor (smells like cherries, YUM). Everyone should have a Veteran's Honor since it's a constant bloomer and is compact 2' x 2'. Light pink is Princess Charlene de Monaco. Dark pink is Dee-lish, and the ball-up mess is Sweet Mademoiselle (such a deep, deep cup that it won't open in cold temp). White Alyssum grows wild in my wet clay and re-seed itself yearly.

Gorgeous roses...as usual, my favorite is The Dark Lady. I've got to get that rose! :) :)

The Dark Lady has a wafting scent. More bouquets picked on Oct 29, 2023 before frost came in my zone 5a: Below yellow Well-Being smells YUM like a ripe nectarine, pink Dee-lish smells very fruity in cold temp.

Below Oct. 29, 2023 bouquet has 2 best smelling scents: Dark pink Noble Antony (pure old rose), and light pink Evelyn (peachy rose):

Below Oct. 29 bouquet with Queen of Elegance in the middle, and The Dark Lady above, plus dark-red Twilight Zone, and blue Poiseidon:

Straw - hmmm...maybe I shouldn't try to find The Dark Lady...my roses never waft their fragrances. A few years ago I had 2 (was sent two by mistake) DeeLish rosebushes and both of them had a horrible grassy fragrance. I didn't like that at all. They were good bloomers though. Well Being's fragrance sounds wonderful! Lovely bouquets...my fave is the bottom one. :) :)