I would suggest calling Portland and asking them- I do remember visiting Heirloom Roses on Mothers day one year because I had a bunch of blooms, but there was nothing blooming there-- Hope you have a lovely time! I have never been to the rose gardens - sad since I live so close. Marleah

Thank you all for your advice...greatly appreciated. Karolina and Krista, your photos of your roses are inspiring. Dear Laura, First, let give some background. I cut my teeth on the high maintenance, exhibition type roses of the 50's to 90's era and in the early 90's made a complete about face with going over to predominantly hybrid rugosas. Cardinal rule #1 - NO MORE SPRAYING! Although the hyb. rugosas are very iron clad, I am spreading my wings, incorporating more "showy" classes of roses, but maintaining my 'prime directive' of: no-spray (except for midge fly...a necessary evil if I want any flowers all season), continuous blooming, fragrant, and winter hardy roses. Here is my current in-bed list, most have multiple, 2-5, representatives in the rose bed, essentially an oblong island bed, a rather large one, about 3 roses deep across its narrower width. Quietness (5) Carefree Beauty (4) Marie Pavie (2) Marie Daly (3) Jacques Cartier (1) Schneekoppe* (2) *the only two surviving hy. rugosas after Henry Hudson* (1) the hybrid r. purge. Golden Unicorn (2) Innocensia (Kordes - 1) The bed has room for about 25 bushes if their spread is 2-3' each. The colors I prefer in roses are in the light range: pink, cream, white, pale orange, apricot, peach and yellow. I spend a lot of time after sunset often as late as in the early AM hours, weather permitting, praying, contemplating and relaxing outside near the rose bed. The light colored flowers stand out like beacons at night. I guess you can say I am one of the few persons who enjoys his roses in the dark almost as much as in broad daylight. Except for the hybrid rugosas, most of the fragrant roses shut down for the night. Thorntorn

I don't get what greensand is, a chemical or just a type of sand, I'm not adverse to either, just asking. Spread it on top of the soil or it in or put it around the roses? I currently have lots of blooms on all my new minis with the exception of a couple and they have new growth. Apparently they don't know they're not supposed to grow in alkaline soil. I did get some sulfer and mixed it lightly in the soil about 4 to 6 inches in about 6 to 8" from each of the roses, I was afraid of disturbing my roses though. They are doing so well. I don't feel they're fragile, just I'm enjoying the heck out of them, they're not sick they don't have any diseases, they don't have aphids or anything else knock on wood, if it's not broke don't fix it.... I am interested in what you're saying. It makes sense, it's what I was doing, I quit fertilizing the next to last week in Sept. so that all this new growth would slowly stop and harden up whenever we stop having warm weather. You're right, nothing I do seems to change the soil. You're correct. Thanks for talking with me, can you tell me more what you're meaning about this sand?? I'd given up on this thread. Leslie

Hi, Christopher! You don't owe me a thing. I adore my "DLFED 3" with or without bloom. It's special to me because Kim Rupert bred it and you and I swapped for it. :-) I'm pretty sure it will bloom this year. It has produced a jungle of new growth! 'Indigo': mine has begun to spread much more enthusiastically as well. When you first asked about her behavior, she was a moderate traveler in my garden. Paul Barden, whose climate and soil are similar to mine, mentioned that his 'Rose de Rescht' doesn't spread much at all. After five years, mine started to travel, crawling under a small stone wall and leaping across the bed space. I know what you mean about the newer hybrid teas, even the dark red ones. I am keeping one 'Mr. Lincoln' (which my mother grew) and passing along the rest. As time passes, the old roses, plus a VERY small group of sentimental moderns, appeal to me more and more. I also have two 'Frances Dubreuil' teas in big pots, and I wouldn't be without them even if they are 'Barcelona' HTs. I'd love to hear about the cemetery garden you are planting. I must have missed the discussion during my check-ins. Ingrid and John, thank you for the "welcome back"! Ingrid, the closest I've gotten to Tahiti is a Gauguin exhibit, although I have to admit to preferring Redoute. :-) John, I love your moniker. My husband is insane about figs, too. We have a tree in our back garden which shoots up to twice its size after pruning...to my dismay (since it shades my roses) and my husbands great delight. :-) Carol