I have removed the pictures from photo-bucket. I got too many emails asking me way too many technical questions and inquiries from professionals who asked if they could use my designs. Also quite a few asked if they could buy some of the structures and have them sipped to America(Imagine the cost of having a 90 pounds arches shipped!!! Then I saw that some even used my pictures on their websites! Then someone complained that I was "Advertizing my products here on GW ... So I decided to take them down. I don´t mind ordinary rose-people getting inspiration about how they can create affordable metal structures, which was my intentions. But I did not like the accusations of soliciting products ... And Hey I live in Europe. Today I have a blacksmith do my designs, since I am busy making garden design plans for my clients. (ooops I did it again! ...soliciting my services and products. I bet I soon gets banned from GW.

One that is new for me this year is Golden Unicorn. Earlier this year I reported on this forum my disappointment in this one....the bush was scraggly and got a terrible case of BS. The flowers were extremely ho-hum (I had thought it would be more of a bright apricot color) and they looked good for about 5 minutes before they blew away. I had actually relegated it to the back of my pot ghetto. What's that old thing about "giving peace....er, I mean ROSES a chance?" I noticed several weeks ago that the bush was looking very good (still in it's pot). The foliate is very lush and the plant is nice and rounded. (I did have to start spraying a bunch of my roses due to major BS so that is probably part of it) But the blooms started looking really good too! They are a really delicate shade of pale apricot with the buds being darker - very attractive! If you like subtle and delicate color, this is one for you. Here is a picture which does not do justice - the color is not as pronounced in the photo. It looks a bit paler than it is in actual life. On the other hand, Blue Skies has been a disappointment. Scraggly growth (obviously a sin in my garden!) and BS prone (although it, too looks better since being sprayed). The flowers are ok. My daughters love the HT shape and the strange color! Although an oldie but goodie, Carefree Beauty remains one of my favorite roses in my entire garden for it's health (NO spraying for that one!), vigor (very full and lush growth) and those masses of huge pink blooms with the yellow centers! My spring display was incredible and it is now beginning a second show. I would love a hedge of this one! Here it is in early April, just starting to display: I keep reading about Quietness; I guess it is now on my list for next year! Lynn

I have a Dorcas, which I bought about 6 weeks ago, and I am waiting to start loving it. The bush is fairly nicely shaped with flowers nicely spaced throughout. It is blooming very steadily but they fry pretty quickly. However, there are only a few roses in my garden right now with blooms that look decent at all in this major heatwave that we are having that goes on and on. I am hopeful that when the temperatures cool off (about 3 months from now :)) it will be able to show off. Dorcas I also have a small Spanish Rhapsody received as a band from Vintage in February. This is one of Buck's spotted roses. It is still pretty small and slow growing but chugging along steadily. I don't think these new blooms are truly representative of the more mature ones to come. I have Distant Drums and Distant Thunder and I absolutely love the colors - very different! It's interesting you mentioned Golden Unicorn as your husband's favorite. When I first got this one early this Spring (as a potted plant from a nursery), it was a huge disappointment. The blooms were ugly and non-descript and it promptly got a terrible case of BS. It was very quickly marked as a failure. I even ended up hitting it with some fungicide a couple of times in early May. Some time thereafter, it seemed to recover from it's lack of vigor and the blooms improved and the plant became full and bushy. It has not been sprayed since those two times in May and has remained healthy. I love this one now - the blooms are a very lovely and subtle shade of peachy apricot (actually a bit darker than the photo) Did yours remain healthy.....it is really really humid here all year long so BS is a serious issue. Lynn

Hi Carla, here I am! Just made a great road trip today - went to Chamblees, Blue Moon Gardens, the Edom Art Festival. My SO was a very good sport, never a complaint. We ate at his favorite mexican food resturant, so he came back full and happy! He even picked out a rose for his fence - a $2 Eden from the sale bin!! [he better plant it quick or else I will!] I didnt exercise much self restraint.......here are the Bucks I got. If anyone grows these, would love to hear a comment! Do-Si-Do Pearlie Mae Iobelle Country Song Frontier Twirl Griff's Red Malaguena Sunbonnet Sue [already have one of these, but needed another!] Prairie Sunset Prairie Star [thanks to all the enablers - this is a favorite of Maria at Chamblees too!] Mountain Music Rural Rhythm I also had to have: another Allister Stella Gray, then got Molineaux, Pat Austin, Cl. Westerland, Cl. Jacob's Robe and Meredith Bohls. And in the sale bin - some real finds: huge and healthy Thomas Affleck, Pink Gruss Au Auchen, Puerto Rico, White Katy Road Pink, Reine de Violettes, and Red Hearts. 25 in all......I cant wait to start digging in the morning! These Chamblees roses are SO healthy! I wish you all who order roses by mail could see these plants - Cinco de Mayo can be sold in 10 days........I need more of those sale roses........I think I will go back after I get these planted......will sneak up there one day during the week...... Judith