Wow, I've culled out some of them and now I've got more to contemplate. Thank you, I'M NOT COMPLAINING HERE :).... At this time of year for my area, is it better to 1/ get it as a potted rose since bare root season here has come and gone OR...2/Order it as a bareroot? Assuming I can get EXACTLY what I want potted up (but maybe that is not possible, I don't know enuf at the moment how the rose industry works). QUESTION: I just got D.Austin's catalog in the mail (swoon)but after reading some other posts etc. I'm not sure about them,,,I noticed that every description says "repeat bloomer" and I'm finding posts that contradict their catalog so I'm relaying on you "my friends" for tried and true climbers for my area and have been rewarded by your wonderful info and suggestions for specific roses to meet my needs. Since I really want a repeat bloomer, as I enjoy being out in my yard year round, is it more of a grower thing, as to how well they have propagated their roses to repeat bloom or just the genetics of that rose, that determines how well it repeat blooms, or is it a location thing of where you plant the rose? I know, I drive my own self crazy, being a 'thinker' personality isn't always a plus. Leads one to ask the 'WHO IS A CREDIBLE/exceptional GROWER' question? Should one go with overall info on that particular rose (to make final decisions) or rely on how that one particular grower has developed their particular rose and pick that way? I'd like to avoid paying huge amounts for shipping but paying extra for a really good rose now, is money well spent in enjoying the rose in the future.

Yes, Poochella, I am having an excellent year over here on the Island! I had both knees replaced last year so I am really enjoying gardening again! Planted 130 tubers this year, and have divisions still sprouting in the pile of excesses that i think I will go throw into the ground just in case one of them is a replacement for something I love that did not come up. I also bought one of those "Dinnerplate" mixes at Costco, and am enjoying seeing what blooms from it. So far I have a very pretty soft lavender, and a bright yellow. I have cut about a dozen dahlias all ready and look forward to the full spread of them! My older son is getting married at the end of August and guess who is doing the flowers? Yup! So I have planted a number in the peach/pink or deep purple range for that. Of course nothing is more beautiful then Hillcrest Kismet, but one needs the color in other sizes and shapes too. What do you do specifically for earwigs? I wish they would leave my Bert Pitt alone! I do garden organically but these little monsters are defeating me because you never see them, only the damage.

First... let's start with the official registration... the link from hippienono... Paul Aden registered it as the product of the cross of two of his numbered breeders. Evidence suggests that there were no such plants, so we have no idea where it came from. Then look at the size... registered as 12" wide by 8" high. If you look at old FB plants in gardens you will see lots of them in the 30-36" wide clumps. The height isn't too bad - it is a lower, flat growing plant compared with other hostas. The registration does indicate it is not fragrant. Yet the registrant (Aden) didn't indicate a different "nominant" so it would appear he named the plant FRAGRANT Bouquet and indicated is is not fragrant. Pretty odd! He gave the flowering period in New York as a range of time of 3 1/2 weeks. That usually indicates somebody really isn't willing to watch the plant for a couple of years and narrow the time down. He did get it right that its a white (sometimes whiteish... with some of the lavender chemicals present and fading to white) and an earlier rather than later bloomer. Not sure where Fine Girl's extensive description comes from... noting the location as the Enterprise Rent-a-car Flower Borders is fun! They got the size wrong, like the registration... and "showy" might be a stretch on the flowers, but that's in the eye of the beholder... So... we don't want to ever get into disagreements based on either unofficial or official plant descriptions. It is sad to see this kind of mistakes on old plants - Aden could have gone back and corrected obvious errors like the size of this plant. We'll see what happens to this registration after the two AHS committees get done reviewing the Aden registrations. Unfortunately, we're continuing to see such errors... even more of them. It is all about marketing. I waited to register Polish Prince until I'd grown it independent of its parent plant for four years. I observed its growth and made sure it would remain margined and interesting. On the other hand, if I'd have wanted to market it, I'd have offered it to some of the bigger companies and let them name it for marketing. The could have put it into tissue culture five years ago. Of course, they wouldn't have really known what an adult looks like. This is happening all the time. People get a neat seedling or sport and name it and throw it in tc. They register it based on "best guess." In spite of how easy it is, very few registrants go back and correct the registration. The only thing we can totally trust on the registration is the name. Oh, wait... lots of people getting what are probably the same sport in different locations are naming them, so names are even suspect. And who knows about the naming on all the Aden plants. So... I still encourage people to register hostas and to make them as accurate as possible. You'll often hear me referring to registrations. But we do have to use a grain of salt. One thing about Fragrant Blue is undeniable. Some people call it fragrant. Of those, most say "mildly fragrant." The majority of people say they cannot detect a fragrance from FB. No joke, folks... I've been testing people on this from numerous plants... (I only have two left)... and only a few folks have ever detected a fragrance. These plants are FB in every respect except for that. I grew them from a tc batch I got, I think, in 1996. Now, Brandy... I think you are one of the lucky ones. Yours is fragrant. And I even believe that there might be an "original" strain of FB that is fragrant and a much larger group of FB that came out of tc without fragrance. The only reason I wouldn't lable it FB... because it was originally labeled Blue Flame. The most likely scenario, as we've discussed before, is that an all blue plant snuck through the culling process along with with the rest of the Blue Flames. Every batch of BF tc will have a percentage of these all blue plants. In the old days, solid colored plants in the tissue culture of a variegated plant would be culled - thrown in the compost. But there are some plants that give high percentages... like 30%... of solid-colored plants. It has become common practice for the wholesalers to re-label them or rename them. Examples... when they tissue culture June, it is common practice to pull out the all blue ones and re-label them Halcyon. On the other hand, when Q&Z got a bunch of blues coming from tc of Paul's Glory, instead of labeling them with the parent's name - Perry's True Blue - they chose to give it a new name - Wheaton Blue. Following their lead, a lot of retailers started doing this as well. The nursery Brandy's friend got the "Blue Flame" from could have avoided the serious confusion by putting in a tag for Fragrant Blue. And I know its become common practice in home gardens. Lots of people say they never had to buy Halcyon because they pulled a blue piece off of their June - or First Frost or El Nino etc etc etc. - and relabeled it Halcyon. There is a good chance that plant is genetically identical to FB... making it FB. Unfortunately, without genetic testing, we are only guessing. So I won't label mine that way. It doesn't really matter WHAT we call our plants... until we share them with somebody else. I know I'm in a distinct minority... but I remain a purist, especially because I might be dividing and sharing/selling the plant. I HATE the idea of adding any confusion to what is already a wild naming environment for hostas.

'Belinda's Dream' is a very nice bright pink with a lot of fragrance. It gets a lot of wonderful reviews from people in the rose forums. It is a gorgeous rose. On my list to get next year. There is also the old stand-by 'Queen Elizabeth', mine is in it's Fall flush right now and looks beautiful. It is a very bright pink as well as a vigorous rose that is pretty easy to care for. Nice fragrance too. 'Queen Elizabeth' will be available to buy easily bare-root in Jan, 'Belinda's Dream' will be a little harder to find. You may have to mail order that one, but it is worth it! (Try Sequoia Nursery in CA, they have it.) Good luck with your search for the perfect pink rose. It is very special that you are planning a memorial garden! :o) Queen Elizabeth Here is a link that might be useful: Belinda's Dream at HMF