Let's see--they came from different nurseries. Munstead Wood and Scepter'd Isle were bareroots from David Austin. Berlina, Pomponella Fairy Tale, and Little Sunset were bareroot from Palatine. Wedgewood Rose was bareroot from Regan Nursery--at least I ordered it originally from there, but I'm kinda remembering I had to change that--so I might have ended up ordering it from DA or some other place. But something is wrong with that list--I have a distinct memory of planting a couple potted ones also--from Chamblees. Hmmm--I also ordered several replacement roses (the drought last summer got a couple of them), so maybe it was the replacement ones that were own root potted--they aren't shown in the pics here. Yes, all roses I received this year were good-sized and very healthy. And since we had a mild winter, there were no late thaw-freeze-thaw-freeze cycles to endure--that always sets roses back on their heels. And then we had lots of spring rain which the roses have loved. In fact, this may be the best blooming year ever for all of them. Kate

For me Grandmother's Hat is a nice rose but not one of my most frequent bloomers. She only blooms in small flushes and no more than others of my HPs. HPs in general do well here as do Bourbons. Mme Pierre Oger is a monster (from Vintage who obtained a virus cleaned clone so maybe that accounts for some of the robustness???) Bourbon, healthy as can be and blooms repeatedly. Souvenir de la Malmaison is more demure in size but also a very healthy Bourbon with very good repeat. I can't remember whether she has many thorns. However, my HP Reine des Violettes is thornless and repeats about as much as Grandmother's Hat. Another HP I have is Comtesse O'Gorman, she is quite healthy and has few thorns. GH, RdV, and COG all seem to have very flexible canes, not twiggy/stiff like what I think of as HT habit. The HP that has bloomed the most for me is Baronne Prevost. She has also never shown any disease and has flexible canes. I have an HP from Eurodesert that came misidentified as Symphony but Cliff said it clearly wasn't. It's very pretty and healthy but quite strange. Grows in a very narrow, elegant, upright shape. I don't have a single rose that has that particular growth habit. Some canes are bristley while others are entirely smooth. I wonder how many of the found roses aren't any particular historic rose but rather seedlings of them. We know that in France back in the old days if you ordered a rose with a certain name you just might get a seedling. So what do we know about very old American nurseries? What were their practices? Did they always sell the actual variety or were seedlings sent? I really don't know but am curious about it. In addition, it seems modern day roses can easily get mixed up in commerce, so I have to wonder how many times that happened in the past, and we just don't know about it. Or if someone, way back got a seedling and that rose did really, really well, it might have been passed on to friends and spread because it was such a good plant. It won't match precisely a famous antique variety because it isn't. But should be treasured because of garden merit. With roses at Sangerhausen, I wish someone or a group would visit and discuss, in depth, the ID's of roses such as Cornet and Mrs. R. Sharman-Crawford with staff. How certain is Sangerhausen that these roses are correct in their garden? Do they have documentation that helps in the ID, and can this be viewed? Were these plants growing in parts of the garden that were bombed to heck during war, or in areas that came through unscathed? Then it would be nice if DNA of GH, Cornet, and MSC could be compared to see if they are related or are any of them identical.

nomen, use your judgement regarding how to grow your plants under your conditions and lifestyle. What works for one person doesn't mean it works for another. I get in trouble on this forum when I suggest other methods of potting outdoor plants, especially large container plants. There are other suggestions which include bark which holds some moisture longer than pure gritty mix. Large containers are a challenge because they take a lot of water. Someone growing small plants and plants which do not like to watered often (succulents) are easier to deal with outside. I live in Florida, my large container plants dry out quickly as we have little rain and intense heat. I do use a potting mix which holds moisture longer so I don't have to deal with watering constantly. I use rain barrels and do have to fill large buckets and watering cans to carry to the plants. I do not use our tap water. It has damaged some of my plants and I only use rain water. Florida water is terrible. One thing I use is a time release fertilizer on my large plants. It works. That is something you might consider so you don't have to mix fertilizer. If your tap water is good, you can hose your plants down and they get fed with each watering. I feel large container plants need to looked at in a different way from small, little plants. You have to do what works for yourself and your plants. My suggestion would be to try adding some moisture retaining material to your potting mix so your plants can wait a week or longer. I know I will get criticized for telling you that but it is what I do and it works for me. You need to figure out what works best for you. I understand where you are coming from. I'm a 67 yr old woman who doesn't do well trying to lug 5 gallon containers of water around the year in blistering heat. But I found what works for me. That's what its all about. Trying to find a balance which works for your lifestyle without feeling guilty. Your plants will let you know if they are happy and if they look sad, you'll adjust things. As far as pruning, not so much help from me. Al is the expert. Only bonsai growers really understand the science of proper pruning. As for me, I prune both roots and branches in spring. Unless the plant is in bad shape, I do not do a lot of root pruning, only green pruning. I do not watch the calendar, I watch the plant and its growth. Spring is when I do all my pruning. I've never had a problem. Again, use your judgement. Good luck, Jane

Hi Everyone! And thank you all for being available and alive. Much joy in my day today, and you all are part of it! Thank you for your link to the Agg potting mixes, Al! MUCH more reasonably priced ingredients than repotme, though I am impressed, still, by the quality of stuff at repotme. I am guiding my essential purchase of potting mix by choosing one that yields aeration (large size without small piece congestion), durability of structure, and uniformity of partical size . The Agg site gives me more control of uniformity than repotme does . I am back to the drawing board! Also, thanks for the info about when to repot houseplants. I was set to start this month but will wait until the week before the summer solstice when my Dracenas spring into serious growth! They are so happy, and grew some during winter. It would kill me to have them take a dive after repotting. I am seriously considering a mix from Agg so I can control particulate size and uniformity. But the quality at repotme is breathtaking. I want what's best for Thing One and Thing Two even if I have to shell out some serious money to do so. I thank you for your time and interest!🌱☀🌈😊