Although I do not have that long a track record, my Aeranthes Grandiose 'Shooting Star' courtesy of Oak Hill has pretty much been in non-stop bloom now for 7 months, and putting up more spikes! It must be typical of these because this plant has been a fixture on his "in spike" list non-stop for a while now. My Phrag "Sorcerer's Apprentice" has also been making new growth and blooming non-stop since acquisition. It is a beautiful if not sprawling plant. Unfortunately my wife and kids call it my "scrotum plant" . I think it is beautiful anyway. It is multifloral and I overheard my daughter announce "Dad's growing more scrotums" ... "no, its his plant, a flower on one of his orchids". She was on the phone with a friend and noted a new spike, forgetting herself she announced the buds arrival and gave her phone friend something to wonder about. Calvin, I am in the same boat with the R/O. My local Walmart already has me as "The water guy" when I go in to refill my 1 & 5 gallon containers. I have contemplated doing what you are doing but in stead have been sort of dunking and recyling along the same lines. Except when leaching, I go all out for a good leaching and its R/O for everyone! We will go to Orchid Hell together brother.

Hi there Nothingness, what part of the world do you live in? Perhaps someone else who lives in the same county or shire bought the same rose and you might find them at a local rose society. Also, if you live in a cold climate, I believe your rose may possibly be less likely to be a China or Noisette, though it could be related to one of those classes. I've grown or cared for in a public garden, all the roses mentioned so far on this thread and am of the opinion that, your rose isn't any of those. Although the foliage and pedicals are quite different, the bloom shape and color makes me wonder if your rose is related to Mlle. Cecille Brunner' which has been in commerce since 1881, perhaps someone might do a search on helpmefind.com of roses bred from Cecille Brunner, or open pollinated seedlings of it. Anyhoo, I went to the vintagegardens.com website which is a very good reference, though the nursery is closed. I looked at all the photos available on Polyantha roses and didn't see your rose there. by the way, I have a few questions that might help i.d. it, How old is your rosebush? -what is the largest it has ever been? which climate zone do you live in? is your rose fragrant at all? -is it sweetly fragrant? -or does it have a spicy scent, or a combination of the two scents? I love your rose and sure hope you find out its name, I like the thought of a study name; I'd suggest 'Grace', for it is full of grace. Good luck and best wishes in your endeavor, Lux.

I think it may have been Alexander Pope who said, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." I will be the first to admit that, at best, all I have is a little knowledge of, plus several decades of experience with, camellias, living in the ground as well as in pots during Zone 7b, now classed Zone 8a, winters. I know what I've observed among slightly more than one hundred named cultivars as well as seedlings--both japonica and sasanqua, plus a few other camellia species. 'April Dawn' is an introduction of internationally known camellia authority, Dr. Clifford Parks, and is available from David and Kai Mei Parks' Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, NC, as well as through various retail nursery outlets. The Camellia Forest Website indicates that 'April Dawn' resulted from a cross between _Camellia japonica_ 'Berenice Boddy' and _Camellia japonica_ 'Herme'--two well-known, standard cultivars famous for their beauty and their cold-hardiness. In the Southeast, we've had a warmer than normal winter (Knock on wood). It's springtime here in Zone 8a, but we still could have a little more freezing weather. It's not been very long since the infamous Easter Freeze that brought devastation to many exotic ornamentals around here. To make a long story short, what I'm getting around to saying is that I have several 'Berenice Boddy' camellias in the landscape, and the one closest to our house is exhibiting the same problems as those afflicting JCNTN 7a's 'April Dawn.' A case of like mother, like daughter, or son, perhaps? The 'Berenice Boddy' was getting ready to bloom when our one really cold night (17 degrees F.) occurred several weeks ago. That wintry blast seems to have knocked this otherwise super-hardy camellia's flowering out. It has hardly bloomed since then--due, I would think, to the timing of the cold snap, the flowering state of the camellia, and the dry weather of the previous growing season. I will, however, not claim my opinion to be Gospel Truth because I don't really know Gospel Truth on this matter. I just know what I've observed, which leads me to make this judgment of JCNTN 7a's problem with 'April Dawn.' The problem sounds like cold damage, pure and simple. The plant is containerized and has been exposed to the fluctuating temperatures of a Southeastern winter--up one day, down the next. As bboy says, get that damned plant into a permanent place in the ground where its roots are warmer and happier. If you cannot bring yourself to plant it somewhere, by all means, don't water it twice a day. You'll drown it, for Heaven's sake. Don't over-analyze the problem. Do something. Act. _Carpe diem_. And put this in your pipe and smoke it: Do y'all have petal blight up there in TN?

Loretta: The plant is very weeping and spreading (I could email you a digital pic if you wish). Camellia Forest Nursery suggests pruning on their website but Fairweather said to let it be and I did. Winter's Star blooms the earliest. Winter's Interlude and Winter's Rose are the hardiest (according to what I have read on the Fairweather website). Ermazi: You can examine the buds If there is no brown on the tips then the buds are definitely fine. New growth on camellias is the most susceptible to frost damage. The plant should be just fine even if you had temps near zero. Mine did fine for the past two winters and we had several days in a row with nightime temps in the single digits. Weather.com has a page with records for all the days in the year. pontesmanny