Hi Susan, might you have any suckers of Dr. Huey sprouting from under any of your roses? Or, might you have some long whips of any other climbing or bush rose you're going to prune off anyway? The two things you want to practice before tackling the "good stuff" are lifting the bark from the cambium layer without going through it into the pith and removing the growth buds with cambium on them without a slice of pith. If you grab your budding knife, razor blade or whatever you're going to use and then start performing surgery on rubbish to practice, it'll help you determine when the sap is sufficiently flowing so the bark slips (separates) from the pith easily and how to do the operations without destroying the cambium. That's the bright green, juicy layer between the bark and the pith. It's the circulatory system of the plant and the tissue that differentiates, calluses and either becomes roots when rooting or knits the bud to the stock. I don't know of any which are more successful being budded, but if you start with larger buds, they're generally easier to hold on to. You want to match the width of the bud to the width of the stock. Putting a large HT bud on an eyebrow pencil gauge stock won't work. The curve of the bud has to fit the curve of the stock for best results. With practice, you'll find you can do all the things everyone tells you won't work, but to start out, doing those which are most likely to succeed will feed your confidence until you feel comfortable experimenting. I always try to stack the deck in favor of success first so you'll gain that confidence quickly and begin doing all the "Dr. Moreau" stuff when you feel ready. If your cuttings are thinner, look around for canes of those you might want to replicate and see what you can find that pretty much matches the same gauge or thickness. You'll be surprised how small a bud you can use and have it work. You can also try grafting pieces of stem to them as that also works. That's how mini trees are made as they have such small buds, using a piece of stem with buds is much faster, easier and has greater chances of success. Sequoia used to graft the stem pieces to the stocks then root them under mist so all the operations were accomplished at one time and all growth and knitting occurred simultaneously. It was fascinating to a newbie as I was when Ralph showed that to me. Feel free to play with Purple Buttons if you'd like. I'm glad she's working for you. I love the scent and color of that one. Thanks. Kim

"I did excise it last week. So far so good. Still working on those pics." Continue to pick off any leaves or eyes that are not what you want and good luck.

Many old roses produce both double and semi-double blooms. Since there are pics on HMF of both bloom forms, I would guess that this is normal for this rose. Color varying to the degree your pics show is even more normal for old roses - I have one (Anna Olivier) which normally produces pale yellow, pale pink, and buff with a reddish reverse blooms. All of them are normal for that rose - it varies with the weather. That's one of my favorite things about old roses! Jackie

Glyphosate will kill it to the roots and not risk spreading the infection to other plants. Digging it up may leave some small bit of root that will stay alive for years. Planting in the area could spread to any hosta you may plant in that location. Yes, I'm aware of the claim by the UN that it causes cancer. This is accepted by no country and by no state except California. It was postulated by the UN based on massive overdoses and no clinical testing or historical evidence by users, zero. Peanut oil was said to be probably cancerous based on the same unscientific testing. About 3 thousand other things are are listed as "probably carcinogenic" by the UN and accepted by California as such. This is why you see caution labels stating this as being specified by California only. It would certainly not be continued to be sold by Monsanto and others if there was any science behind the cancer assertion. Follow the directions and it is perfectly safe. ............and all herbicides are banned in Canada for home use not just Glyphosate. There is zero scientific (clinical) evidence that it causes cancer as it has been intensively studied for over 50 years looking at workers in the factories where it is made and farmers heavily exposed to it for many decades. The following is the list of chemicals and exposures including Coffee Mate, red meat, hot beverages, high temperature frying, glass containers etc., etc. considered by the UN as probable carcinogenics. The list is useless scientifically and not accepted by any country, state or agency except California as probable carcinogenics. Oh, and the caution about using it near water, ponds..... is because it kills the plant life and therefor all the aquatic life. Of course the directions: no exposure by kids and pets until it dries, wear gloves when applying.............. should be followed. I would suggest looking at the facts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_2A_Agents_-_Probably_carcinogenic_to_humans