Those look like keepers! Nice! :)

Part II

Belindas Dream

Liebeszauber

Twilight Zone

Orchid Romance

Tiffany

Francis Meilland

Firefighter

Pink Peace

Double Delight

Charles de Gaulle

And others:

Easy Does It, Midas Touch, Royal William, Love Song, Berolina, all my established Bourbons, Reine des Violettes, America, and Dublin Bay. It's not easy for me to think about discarding any rose, but there are quite a few that aren't on this list.

If you were planning to only keep your best, which ones would you definitely not get rid of?

Those are some beautiful roses!

Also

11. Memorial Day

12. Valencia

13. Peter Mayle

Too tired to find a picture. :)

Carol

Some gorgeous roses, Carol! Your Memorial Day is lovely! Unfortunately, I lost mine, not sure why. I was beginning to love it!

Every picture is so beautiful!

Sara-Ann - that's too bad. I hate it when I lose a rose that is a favorite - like my Paradise Found.

Thanks Sara-Ann and Barbara.

Carol

For me to do this, I'll cut my number of bush's in my garden to 1/2 of what I have now. That's 55 roses. First up are my OGR's; Rosa Rugosa, Rosa Rugosa Alba, Pink Pet, 2 Compte de Chambroud. Knock Out, Blushing Pink Knock Out. Most of my Austin's stay; Scepter'd Isle, Lady of Shalott, 2 Munstead Wood, Molineux, L.D. Braithwaite. Floribunds; 2 Hannah Gordan, Chrisma, Hot Cocoa. HT's; 2 Louise Estes, 2 Brinessa, 2 Moonstone, 2 Marlon's Day, 2 Baby's Blush, 2 Elina, 2 Mavrik, 2 Let Freedom Ring,2 Randy Scott,2 Dark Night, 2 Remember Me. Miniflora's; 2 Tiffany Lynn, Shameless, Leading Lady, Ingrid, Cooper, Bold Ruler, First Choice, Dr. John Dickman, Shawn Seace. Mini's; Soroptimist International, Pierrine, Daddy Frank, Giggles, Kitty Hawk, Glowing Amber.

This is what my garden would look like if I cut my garden size by 1/2, keeping "the best of the best". I might just need to keep this thread handy.

Yes, that was a good thought process!

Carol

I would probably keep all the ones I have now. I started cutting back several years ago, hoping to get under 60--lot of good that did me--I had just about reached 60 when some roses I just had to have came along and now I'm up to 70. But these last 8 or 9 roses are some of my very best ones, so I don't regret them at all.

My newest rose is the stripey Broceliande, which is OK, but not terrific. On the other hand, it is only on its 4th and 5th bloom, so maybe it just needs more times to settle in. If it doesn't improve, I might replace it with a stripey I like better.

I have 2 Elinas that have been acting up for the past year, partly due winter damage in the past. If they don't improve by the end of the summer, I will have to get some kind of replacement because they form part of a long border along the property line--would look rather strange to have two gaping holes in the border. Elina was an excellent rose in the past, so I hope she improves.

I really don't think I want to get rid of any of my current roses. I'm quite pleased with the present ones--Munstead Wood, 2 Molineux, Olivia Rose Austin, 3 Queens of Sweden, Love Song, my new hybrid musks, Eden, my 3 Eutins. Mystic Beauty, my rugosa Fru Dagmar Halstrup, other Austins, hybrid teas, floribundas, a handful of OGRs--can't forget Boule de Neige after all the trouble I went to to get her--and the list goes on.

Edited to add: Oh yes, forgot about my minis--got about 10 of them. I might sacrifice one or more of the 4 Sweet Dianas if a really irresistible rose came along, but other than that, I like them well enough to keep them.

Kate