Me too, Carol - welcome back!

Jackie

Welcome back Carol! :)

Welcome back! Your post and yourself have been missed!

BTW, how is your 'DLFED 3' doing, portlandmysteryrose?

:-)

~Christopher

Woo Hoo. Great to see you back!

Susan

Thank you all for the warm welcome back! I've missed the exchanges with everyone. You are such a lovely circle of rose lovers! Only family and technology (shudder) would keep me away. Christopher, my 'DLFED 3' is growing strongly, and I'm hovering over him and hoping for a bloom this year. That was such a fun swap! I have a 'Deep Secret' that I'm pondering whether or not to keep during my downsizing project. She's been a pot pet for several years and is thriving, but I'm giving away roses right and left. I think you mentioned a hankering for her once. Let me know if you are still interested. Maybe we could do another swap? :-) My email hasn't changed. Hopefully, I'll have some garden photos to share this year. In spite of my chewy collie pup's "rose pruning," I expect to be able to share a few blooms. I've got some Paul Barden roses that should flower this year : 'Marianne,' 'Rook,' 'Crested Damask' and 'Oshun'. Carol

Carol, what a pleasure to have you back! I've wondered about your absence frequently, and regret that it was not for pleasant reasons such as suddenly running off to Tahiti where the rose growing isn't great.

Carol, I'm surprised your 'DLFED 3' hasn't bloomed yet. Mine put out 3 blooms in 2014, then had a big show in 2015. I didn't dead-head it, and collected all the 30 or so hips to send to someone on the Rose Hybridizer Forum. I also left mine outside all Winter every year, and it had only minor tip damage -- this is one hardy rose! Its parent 'R. fedtschenkoana' received the same treatment, but that one is about a year behind in growth. Both will be repotted from their 15" pots into 22" resin barrels this year -- they've shown me they deserve it.

I appreciate the offer for 'Deep Secret', but I've veered away from the bigger more modern HTs. I had a bunch in big pots back in 2014, but as they grew, I just didn't like their stiff upright habit in pots. And my experiment of leaving them out all Winter SP'ed them for me. Now I'm sticking to the older wimps among the dark-red HTs because they look better in pots -- and bringing them into my enclosed back porch for Winter. But if you're interested in trading again, I'll be embarking upon quite a bit of propagation this year. When I start seeing results, I'll post a thread of what I have and what I'd like. In any case, since you sent me several suckers of 'Indigo' for the one 'DLFED 3' I sent you, I feel I still owe you some, anyway. My HelpMeFind garden listing is in my Houzz profile, and my email is the same. If you see anything you'd want me to try rooting, shoot me an email and I'll add it to the list.

:-)

~Christopher

Carol, welcome, welcome, welcome back. NOW you have to make up for lost time by posting at least twice a day for six months, lol.

John

Hi, Christopher! You don't owe me a thing. I adore my "DLFED 3" with or without bloom. It's special to me because Kim Rupert bred it and you and I swapped for it. :-) I'm pretty sure it will bloom this year. It has produced a jungle of new growth! 'Indigo': mine has begun to spread much more enthusiastically as well. When you first asked about her behavior, she was a moderate traveler in my garden. Paul Barden, whose climate and soil are similar to mine, mentioned that his 'Rose de Rescht' doesn't spread much at all. After five years, mine started to travel, crawling under a small stone wall and leaping across the bed space. I know what you mean about the newer hybrid teas, even the dark red ones. I am keeping one 'Mr. Lincoln' (which my mother grew) and passing along the rest. As time passes, the old roses, plus a VERY small group of sentimental moderns, appeal to me more and more. I also have two 'Frances Dubreuil' teas in big pots, and I wouldn't be without them even if they are 'Barcelona' HTs. I'd love to hear about the cemetery garden you are planting. I must have missed the discussion during my check-ins.

Ingrid and John, thank you for the "welcome back"! Ingrid, the closest I've gotten to Tahiti is a Gauguin exhibit, although I have to admit to preferring Redoute. :-) John, I love your moniker. My husband is insane about figs, too. We have a tree in our back garden which shoots up to twice its size after pruning...to my dismay (since it shades my roses) and my husbands great delight. :-)

Carol

Carol, there are two things I can never have too many of, and that's roses and figs...unless my figs began to shade the roses, in which case I could be brutal, lol. I'm just careful to give them both plenty of room, so I don't have to make heartbreaking choices!

John

Carol, in one of my posts in the thread about purple Gallicas, Hybrid Chinas, and Centifolias I posted the links to my previous threads about the cemetery. If you missed it, here they are again.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3531423/tree-eater-suggestions-for-nj-church-cemetery-project?n=22

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3532142/ogr-suggestions-for-nj-church-cemetery-project?n=9

:-)

~Christopher

Thank you, Christopher!