Sorry it has taken me a while to get back and check in. I was out of town for work and just got home. Thanks so much everyone for the compliments. It makes me feel good, I must admit. I always seem to see what needs to be done, and sometimes forget to look at what it is! I will try to answer everyone's questions. Hope I don't miss any. In no particular order... The lilies in the "big" picture are almost all daylilies. The lilies in the close-up pictures I am not sure. Just some bulbs I picked up, probably at a big box store or the local garden center? Sorry I don't have their names. The rose pictured in the 4th picture is Morden Belle. There are actually 3 bushes planted in that bed. I hope that is the rose you meant? Yes, I do have the courtyard of roses and yes they are blooming. However, many of the roses on the fence were taken down this year due to RRD. I have planted bittersweet in their place. Won't be the beautiful flowers, but will provide privacy that won't get RRD. As you can see from the picture below, the fence is now pretty bare looking on the side. I have decided that I will try to keep the roses on the fence across the end and around the corner. The need for privacy there is not so great, as the Wine and Roses weigela in the island bed does screen most of the garden from that end. Again, thank you everyone! I am so glad you enjoyed the pictures. It does help to make the aches and pains feel better! :-) Marylu

Thanks everybody! Yeah Bustopher, we're definitely in a drought situation. We didn't get enough rain to build up hardly any snowpack in the upper Sierras. Not much run-off, so the creeks and reservoirs are getting extremely low. We're on every-other-day water rationing. They initially wanted us to cut back water use by 20-25% which for me is fine, because I over-watered last yr. So far, the roses are doing ok.

I like the smaller size of I See Stars at a time when trendiness is for big flowers. Up Against the Sun is indeed big and well budded. Don't your scapes lean a bit this year? Hadn't seen Kick Out the Jams before.

Hi Helen - sorry to be a DA tree rose enabler! I have Mary Rose, Charlotte and Tamora which I planted in Feb of this year. Of the three, Mary Rose is the healthiest and most prolific bloomer. Based on this performance, I plan to get a tree rose of Mary's sport, Winchester Cathedral next year. Here's Mary about two months ago, late June in her second flush. Just today she started her third flush, Charlotte and Tamora are currently on their second flush. The photo below was taken on Feb 29, about a week or two after being planted. DA shipped all three standards in one box. They are pretty small and I can see how they can be put in planters. I think the growth has been slow but the standards aren't in the sunniest spot. They get great morning and early afternoon sun, then partial shade after that. I planted them against a fence to brighten up the area but also because they are protected from harsh winds that can snap the standard. I saw Facebook photos earlier this year from Arizona where someone had a huge, fully blooming standard after only one month. So I'm not exactly sure how to measure my progress but a lot of my DAs take a year or two to mature. The only exception is Molineux which never went through a baby stage, it became a full shrub virtually overnight, and it happens to be offered as a tree standard. Hope this answers your questions! Ann