First, let me say that I'm in central Italy, not the USA. Normally, at the end of July we would expect that our temperatures should be at least 30 - 35 degrees C or more (85 - 95 F) from mid-June until the end of August with no rain since, at least, the beginning of June until the end of August. However, this year is like no other. Last winter wasn't cold, it rained constantly until mid-May and it's now raining three or four times a week at the end of July - absolutely unheard of - it's raining as I write this, and today our top temperature was 21 degrees! So, how has this affected my roses? Well, blackspot is the major problem. My rose garden is only two years old. The first two Austins I planted were a St. Swithun climbing rose against the south-facing stone wall of the house and a Golden Celebration planted in full sun. These were both 2 year old grafted plants. For me, 'full sun' means that in Summer sunrise is between 5:30 and 6:00 am and sunset is about 8:30 - 9:00 pm. There is no shade for any of my roses (apart from the one against the South-facing stone wall) - they're in 'full sun' all day. St. Swithun has almost reached the top of the 4 metre (13 feet) South facing stone wall of the house. It was planted in mid-May 2012. Despite its location the pale pink blooms are prolific from April until November. It really doesn't seem to stop blooming until very late November. The perfume of the blooms is wonderful (I like the myrrh fragrance) and it is a healthy plant, apart from some BS problems with our ridiculously humid weather this year. The flowers do not fade, even though they are a pale pink. However, it has the most hideous prickles of any of my roses. They really are vicious and I have to wear leather gauntlets when dealing with it. The other negative comment I have about St. Swithun is that the blooms don't fall off the plant when they've finished flowering - they stay there, dead, brown and ugly! I have to use a broom to knock them off. Because of the height of the rose I've had to spend a fortune on a ladder that's tall enough for me to take my life into my hands and prune it! Golden Celebration is, perhaps, my favourite DA rose. My grafted version is about 1.5 metres high with a diameter that is at least the same as its height. It is covered in blooms all Summer long and is normally disease free but, this year it has some BS. The fragrance of Golden Celebration is the most pleasing to me. Other DA roses I have - A hedge of Queen of Sweden roses (100 plants) - the most healthy of all my DA roses. Planted bare root in January 2013, they now form a hedge about 1.2 - 1.5 metres in height that flower constantly from the end of April until November. A delightful myrrh fragrance. I can't think of anything negative about the Queen of Sweden. An own-root Teasing Georgia bought in May 2013 in a 2.5 litre pot which is now over 1 metre tall and perhaps 1.5 metres in diameter. It has flowered constantly since mid April. At the moment it has some black spot, but it is smothered in blooms. I find its fragrance very elusive. An own-root Golden Celebration, also bought in May 2013 in a 2.5 litre pot which is not as vigorous as Teasing Georgia but is healthy and floriferous. A 2 year old grafted Lichfield Angel, planted in June 2013, mid-Summer (never a good idea - but it was a gift). It is already a 1.5 metre tall x 1.5 metre diameter plant covered in enormous blooms. For me the only negative about this plant is the lack of any fragrance - at least, I can't detect any. A grafted Wildeve - I love the bloom form - but I should have paid more attention to the catalogue where it said that it shared many characteristics of a ground-cover rose. Mine is much wider than it is tall but it, too, is covered in the most beautiful pale pink roses with a lovely perfume. A Shropshire Lad - a mistake. I didn't realise that I had bought the climbing version. This too, is a 2 year old grafted plant that I've spent all spring/summer trying to convince to become a shrub rose. I believe I'm fighting a losing battle. It's also a complete BS magnet. I've also noticed that my Shropshire Lad flowers don't seem to bear any resemblance to others I've seen. Don't quite know what went wrong here. I can't detect any fragrance. Sharifa Asma x 2 - bought as own-root plants in 2.5 litre pots in May 2014. Replanted into larger pots a month ago they've both doubled in size and are now covered in buds. I just wonder whether I can keep them small enough to grow in 50 cm pots? Very healthy foliage and delightful perfume. Evelyn - another gift - about a six weeks ago. I've replanted it into a larger pot until I can decide where it should be planted. At present, the foliage doesn't look great and it seems to have some fungal infection so I've sprayed with an anti-fungal spray to see if I can control it. Sorry for such a long post … I forgot to say that I have extremely alkaline, very heavy clay - pH 8 soil - which, in its natural state varies between yellow and blue/grey in colour. Truly hideous. I have amended it heavily with anything and everything I can find - kilos of coffee grounds from my local bar, dozens of plastic bags of oak leaves (which I collect in early Spring an let rot down for 12 months), truck loads of rotted horse manure. Something must be working because the roses are all growing like crazy. Cheers Tricia

I had a point somewhere when I started that thread on this subject which I can't find now. So I'll settle on Cactus Joe's thread. Anyway I came across an article on Kordes in my old Rosebank news letters. It was an article by Harry McGee in September, 1995. The occasion was a visit to Canada by Wilhelm III. It has a good history of the Kordes firm. It started with Wilhelm the first in 1890 in Hamburg. Wilhelm II joined in 1919 in Sparrieshoop. He was succeeded by a non-Wilhelm but still a Kordes, Reimer. Then came the III. All were in charge of breeding operations. Other family members ran the business side. What is relevant in all of this is that the hybridizer was preminent in the firm and therefore put emphasis on that. At that time Kordes was the largest rose nursery in the world selling 2 million roses a year. They made 50,000 crosses a year. After a rose is singled out as a prospect it is grown for 6 or 7 years of testing before it is introduced. They probably are still the largest. Possibly the odds of creating a superior rose are in favor of those who do the most crosses. Stands to reason doesn't it? Even just blind choice should produce now and then something of value. One thing Mr. Kordes said that was interesting is that many breeders have stopped breeding HT's. One reason is that fewer people go to exhibitions. The other is that they are more difficult to get anything worthwhile. Hard to make disease resistant, many are single, fragrance is rare, have fewer hips and what they have don't germinate well and finally they produce fewer flowers. The emphasis on disease resistance began as a result of the Green Parties efforts to ban spraying in many parts of Germany. Kordes then stopped spraying. The result was disaster. Their fields became nearly barren of roses. I guess things have improved since then.

You already answered the question Bonnie, because they're stupid and clueless. I have no idea on why they were so adamant about wanting them and then didn't do anything but yank them all out. My nasty side wants them or at least her, to get bitten by the gardening bug and then to realize what they tossed down the hill behind the house! Serve 'em right. Those pictures up there of when we lived there, were taken before we even thought about moving. So all those bags of mulch had been spread, rocks were used to outline the grassy areas. I took pictures, but my camera pooped out on me and somehow, the pictures were all lost. For a cherry tree, an absolute bird magnet is the Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina). Another good one is the American Plum (Prunus americana). On that lot, we had Northern red oaks (Quercus rubra), Sour Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and also Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata). The Liriodendron tulipifera is the state tree and one to surely have. In the back yard, I had an American holly (Ilex opaca), winterberries (Ilex verticillata), viburnums, native serviceberry. I wanted, but never bought, Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) and Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). I also had Strawberry bush (Euonymus americana), American beautybush (Callicarpa americana), Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)....and I can't even think of all that I had. I still am in contact with people down there and they tell me all the time how bad that drought is. When we moved down there in July of 03, it was just after the flood! What a difference, huh? Wimpy for snow? I love snow. I think I missed that the most living in TN!! Forget my parents and my siblings and their families, I missed snow! LOL! I am seeing more and more butterflies around here. This morning I discovered a Black Swallowtail caterpillar! I'm happy ;) I think the ecosystem that exists here in this town is so out of whack. So anything I can do to bring it back, I'm doing. Bonnie, you can e-mail thru my page....maybe Rita would like her thread back....lol....Sorry Rita! ;0) Here is a link that might be useful: TVA Native Plants

To answer your ?'s, ( hope no one is upset by telling most of the story). Yes he did rig the gun - he didn't trust the girl - he killed the girl in Sweden cause she would have to have been told of his past, of his job, etc. The boss put a hit out on him cause he knew that Clooney had broken the golden rule of never getting close to someone (his girl in Sweden) and that he was not following orders (he didn't go to the town where the boss told him to go, throw away the cell phone, etc). I think he would have killed him if Clooney hadn't first killed him(remember he got shot and yes, we are led to believe that he died). When you really think about the story line - it really is quite heavy. He is torn between a life where you can't trust anyone and now he appears to be getting tired of it - remember he tells his boss he wants out after making the gun for the girl, another reason for the boss to do him in. He becomes friends with the priest - as though he is looking for forgiveness - he apologizes to the priest when he shoots the girl - even though she was going to kill him. My hubby thinks that the girl wasn't to kill HIM at first but someone else then when he wants out, the boss tells her to kill him first. It really is a story about someone who is conflicted with his life. He goes to just the one hooker - he wants a real relationship - not just the physical act. Thinking back - all the alone scenes and the silence adds to that inner conflict. The more I think about it, the more I'm liking it more. It's just not the typical Clooney movie. Hmm...something to think about.