Dinglehopp, ..I hope 'The Poet's Wife' does well for you, it has blackspotted here for me in its first season, from after the main flush... I have also found it grows a bit lanky for a small shrub, quite angular and I really should have pruned it back earlier... as of right now, it doesn't look that great... which is probably my fault... ...There are better shrubs, like 'Graham Thomas', and maybe 'Molineux', but its scent redeems it considerably... I think it's gorgeous... I hope mine does a lot better next year as I learn how to manage this rose... ..photo taken 9th August after the main flush... an example of the lanky growth habit if unpruned...

Kachana--good substitute. I'm sorry you can't get Pretty Jessica, but Olivia Rose looks to be a first-rate shorter pink with a lovely bloom and good resistance. While the bloom is different than Pretty Jessica's, just remember that beautiful blooms come in many different shapes and forms and shades of pink. I think you will really like Olivia Rose, and I don't think she will have problems with balling--which Pretty Jessica does sometimes. Kate

Hi Carol, Diane Sorry I haven't been chiming in lately - life as always is getting busy. To add to what Diane said about the cages, I plop a circle of the flexible green wire fencing that's about 2 feet tall around any rose at any point that is annoying me by flopping too much. They sell the 2' wire fencing at hardware and farm supply stores in big rolls for maybe $10-15. I can get at least a dozen or more loops of this fencing that are maybe 18" in diameter, and I just open the loops out and gather the fencing around the outside edges of all the floppy canes (or branches of things like peonies), then hook the open wire ends around the other end of the fence to reform the circle when things look to be more or less upright. Often the rose can then hold the fence upright, but you can push the bottom edges into the dirt for stability around the sides. This is way cheaper and easier than peony rings, and more attractive to my eyes than the tomato cages, but the principle is the same. I also have rings of the stiffer 4' high green wire rolls that I use for taller floppy roses, or roses that haven't decided if they want to climb yet. This fencing is harder to cut (get sturdy wire cutters), but it's stronger. It also doesn't have the poky bits at the base to push into the soil, so you'd have to use some soil staples or other stakes to attach it down to the soil if it leans too much on the circles. I find that as long as the rose is more or less symmetrical, I can hook these taller circles around the canes and the flat circles at the base of the wires can hold things upright. As for disguising the green wire, I find that once the rose has any foliage at all on it these cages largely disappear unless the fence is taller than the rose. You can put the cage around it when you start to see new growth if you like, or circle the wire around the rose at any time it's bugging you. There's high tolerance of this method for lazy gardening, which is why it suits me. The wire cages can either be stored as loops wherever you store your tomato cages (if you're too lazy to unhook them like me) or rolled flat for storage if you're more efficient. I see no reason why either of these methods wouldn't work in pots, though if you're getting over 4' of floppy growth in your zone you have to wonder how well suited the rose is for a pot. Your list of roses looks very nice, and I grow all of these that you had on your latest Saturday list more or less unprotected in zone 5, except Olivia Rose is on order and I don't have the Poet's wife. I'd say Roberta Bondar, Radox Bouquet, and the lovely Broceliande are the least hardy, but since you wheel them into protection in zone 3 anyway it's not an issue. I quite like the blooms of Wedding Bells - a true HT form with a little darker pink than the photos of Belinda's Dream - though I'm useless to report on its fragrance since my nose isn't good for any of these. I'd post a picture but my photo flashdrive isn't cooperating for the time being. Hope this helps. Cynthia

With all my roses pruned, there is no activity nowadays. However, when I complained to my rose nursery that the roses this year were not healthy, he sent me another pack, most roses of his own choice, at 80% discount. I am dealing with this rose nursery since long and many a times he sents a few roses free of cost Penelope (Hybrid Musk, Pemberton 1924) Brandy, (HT, Herbert Swim 1981) Memorial Day (HT, Tom Carruth 2001) Elizabeth of Glamis (Floribunda, McGredy 1958) Black Caviar (Astrid Grafin Von Hardenberg, Shrub, Tantau 2001) Daftrausch (Senteur Royale, HT, Tantau 1986) Andre le Notre (Betty White, Meilland 2000) Niclole Carol Miller (Grandiflora, Meilland, 2005) Pink Peac, (HT, Meilland 1958) JFK, (HT, Eugene Boerner, 1965) Souvenir de Baden-Baden (Pink Enchantment, HT, Kordes 2000) Princess Alexandra of Kent An un-tagged rose I already have two bushes of Princess Alexandra but he sends me a third at his own. No problem. I am not paying . I am fascinated to have Penelope, Memorial Day, Black Caviar and Andre le Notre. Have heard good things about these roses. I spent whole friday afternoon planting these roses... On Saturday morning me and my sons went up Margalla Hills for hiking. Margalla Hills National Park starts less than a km from my house. Here is one of the biggest trees that I saw in many years.... growing on the foot hills of Margalla. Yes, this is one tree. It is certainly hundreds of years old and Banyan tree do spread like this over the centuries; each root that touches the ground becomes a tree. This was last week. This tree is not that old but it is located high up on the Margalla mountain. We reached this spot after 2 hours of hiking. And here are few photos of one of my favourite palms, growing in the wild in Margalla National Park. Phoenix rupicola is indeed makes a majestic bush when fully grown. Phoenix rupicola grows up in the Margalla mountains at medium ranges. Here is one majestic specimen, isn't it? Another specimen This one has been through a jungle fire. The trunk is old but the leaves on top are few. Look how majestic this one looks. I am quite certain that if I grow this plant in my house (which is just 2 hours walk and in aerial distance, around 5 km from this place where this plant is going naturally), it will perhaps never grow this well. This is what I try to discover during my hikes. In nature, what makes the plants grow so well. What is God's Recipe for this lush growth? I think Straw would be interested to know this.... So many Phoenix rupicola growing naturally near the top of the mountain. I am so lucky to have this place just two hours hike from my house (in distance, it would be around 5 km aerial distance). Since there are no rose pics to show.... I thought we can talk about Banyan tree and Rupicola Palms I guess All photos shown above have been taken by me during my hikes in Margalla mountains. best regards