hoovb, I'm glad to hear the flowers on SR get even better; they're rather awesome already. We also didn't get nearly enough rain; I have a feeling we're heading into a drought year. michaelg, I like your description of SR's habit, it sounds very attractive. Thank you for the compliments about the landscape view, hoovb and rosefolly. The purple bush and six or seven others I have further along that same stone wall are blooming rosemary bushes, which the bees are having a field day with. I do have two wild ceanothus but one grows out of a crack in a rock formation and the other is near a pepper tree so neither puts on much of a show. Ingrid

mexicanhat, mine are about the same size. Sophie is a bit more upright, Tamora flops a bit. I have them both at the front of the bed and so far they are perfect there. We must have the same taste, because I do have The Prince next to Tamora. It was short and floppy for the first 3 years, but is becoming a bit more upright this year. Others on this site say it does get a bit bigger. I've been in drought conditions for 2 years, so that may have stunted The Prince from getting larger. I do love the color contrast between Tamora and The Prince.

I've ordered Sophy's Rose so your information is very useful, Michael. I love to cut roses for the house but so many of them don't last well. I'll gladly settle for two or three days in the vase, but with the old roses and Austins I grow I often don't even have that. I'm a little disappointed that this rose is a bright cherry red on the bush since I'd always assumed it to be lilac red. Well, it remains to be seen what color it will be in my climate and I'll hope for the best. The compact shape and fast rebloom are exactly what I was looking for. Ingrid

Kristine, I saw a Sophie's at High Country Roses and it looks pretty much the same color as my Pretty Lady Rose. My Chuckles rose is the hottest pink color I have seen. It has a tinge of neon pink to it. Really glows in the sunlight in my yard. There was one called Children's Hope that seems to have red and a hot pink color. I noticed it had alot of blooms on all my visits to HCR. And this time was no exception. Tons of blooms. They look like mini roses but they come in thick clusters. They remind me of Chrysanthemums. http://www.highcountryroses.com/children-s-hope-tm