I've finished the Eddison book. A lot of wisdom, well-said, but not very applicable to me for several reasons. She says that gardeners are perfectionists. Anybody who sees my garden, or the Sacramento cemetery, knows that I am not. I do strive to grow every rose as well as possible, but I am a "good enough" gardener. I can focus on the things that please me, and block out the things that do not. Eddison's lowered standards probably are still much higher than mine! Being such a perfectionist, probably there are few roses that would have suited her. She likes hot colors, which would have driven her to modern roses. She says in the book that probably the only more labor intensive garden than a sunny perennial border is a rose garden. I'm pretty sure that she'd have made roses a tremendous job, deadheading them every day just as she does the daylilies, and feeling the need to spray or fuss in pursuit of "perfection." I do think that Albas or species roses would be fabulous in her garden, but don't think such a thing ever occurred to her. (She does mention grubbing out wild multiflora, a good thing!) Eddison gardens on a scale that few of us have the space, finances or energy to do. She had help all through the process, too. She has woodlands, shade gardens, sun borders, etc. She describes her "little" woodland garden as 175 by 70 feet. That's about a quarter of an acre, huge by California suburban/urban standards. She talks about pruning being terrible for the hands, and choosing plants that don't need it. I'm blessed with very little arthritis so far (nearly 60 yrs old), and wonder if decades more of wielding secateurs will take an inevitable toll. I had some bursitis in my hips, which was keeping me awake at night, but no longer have a problem now that I do water aerobics several times a week. Being in the water has made my hands, back, shoulders, etc feel better, as well as improving my overall disposition! She advocates container gardening as being an easier strategy. I've been intrigued by the differing views of containers in this thread. In hot, dry Sacramento, watering containers is a major chore. I also find wrestling things into/out of a pot is a problem. I just had a plastic pot shatter from old age, and its Japanese maple has grown into the ground. I asked my husband to build a box around it, because otherwise I'd kill the tree (and my back) trying to repot it. Overall, I don't think that containers are a strategy for MY old age, unless I end up somewhere with only a balcony. I've never read her other books, but do love how she writes, and she truly is a real gardener, even if her garden in Connecticut has very little resemblance to mine. Hostas and primroses are tatty and short-lived for me. I have to say that she seems largely oblivious to the fact that many people garden in different climates from hers. Reminds me of those maps of NYC, where Manhattan is very large and everything to the west is miniscule. One thing that I love about this forum is how it's made us all very aware of regional differences. Anita

No, I haven't made any decisions. I don't know how anyone makes a decision about these things - there are just soooooo many varieties to choose from, it's sort of overwhelming. I have, however, been having a good look around my suburb at what my neighbours are up to in terms of rose growing, trying to see what does well and what does not so well. So within a few streets of my house Crepuscule, Renae, Pinkie and Ballerina are all doing exceptionally well. There are a couple of Pierre de Ronsard's doing ok, the blooms are looking lovely but they're not growing very much and they have very little foliage, so I guess they're not exactly vigorous. All of the hybrid tea varieties, however, and not doing too well - they have a few scattered blooms but the bushes are looking very leggy. I don't think they get enough sun up here to become bushy and healthy.

I grew one in a greenhouse for several years. It was in a 5 gallon pot but eventually rooted into the ground. After 3-4 years it put out several racemes of flowers and they were amazing! Probably my favorite vine grown for flowers, the color is like those blue-green neoprene gloves you see in hardware stores! The vine always seemed to suffer through the summer, the greenhouse regularly reached over 100 degrees and the vine, of course, was close to the ceiling of the greenhouse. Eventually it died and although I was given some cuttings from a Botanic Garden, they were difficult to root without mist and they all dropped their leaves and died as well. So finally broke down and order one on line. It came in a tiny 4" pot but was healthy with good roots. It was transplanted to a one gallon and it put on a burst of growth in December and then pretty much stopped. As soon as the weather is warm enough, it will go into a 3 gallon and be put outside in semi-shade. The greenhouse is too hot and sadly our outside climate is too cold. Plant to make some kind of structure that will fit in a pot, allow the vine to climb and allow the flowers to hang freely, then keep the plant sheared to about 6-7 feet to keep it manageable. Can't wait to see it flower again!

Be prepared for possible bad weather. They are under tornado watch currently. Just got off the phone with my friends and family there.