THANK YOU to you all for taking the time to respond to my post. I am delighted that I was able to still get some nice photos here and there to keep the beauty alive for months to come. Even thought the majority of blooms were lost, there were still some little 'miracles' in the garden, for which I am grateful. roseberri....First of all, thank you for your kind comment. Geshwind's Orden truly wants to be a climber, but I don't have climbing space where 'he' is so I have him pegged down in a circular fountain-shape which seems to agree with him so far. But he isn't a small shrub and grows very lanky and up, up, and away. There is only one bloom in June, but it is prolific. It will get some blackspot later in the season without spraying, but during its bloom time it is quite healthy. (I don't spray my old roses). I like how the inner petals are a deeper pink than the outer ones. Its quite pretty. sherry....Leda IS one cool chick. I love how her white flower emerges from a blood-red bud, showing just a trace of red on the petal edges. I don't know if she would be happy in FL or not since she actually seems to enjoy my cold weather. Anybody else know? aliska....My Madame Plantier has never repeated. She is strictly once-blooming here. I didn't know she could repeat. But then a lot of roses that supposedly repeat, don't always here (too short a growing season perhaps?). Of my roses listed above, the only repeaters are Paul Neyron, Mrs. John Laing and Louise Odier. I have heard it said that John Hopper 'can' repeat, but mine hasn't so far. To All.... Today it was (gasp!)...SUNNY! All day long, nothing but blue above and warm sun shining down. The old roses are mostly done for and the deer returned again last night to munch yet again, and I saw the first japanese beetle today...but it was SUNNY!!!! YAY! It doesn't take much to make me happy. Celeste

If we are talking about H.T.s, I would say, that because 1867 was the first year that the roses we now call Hybrid Tea roses (then called Hybrid Perpetual) were introduced to commerce, there are only c. a dozen or so Hybrid Tea roses that I would call classic, because they had a Tea rose parent, that are still available in commerce today, I'd add another dozen or two for being Pernetianas. Classic H.T.s La France" 1867, one of several H.T's released in that year. Mrs. Herbert Stevens' an early H.T. from the early 1900's. I'd include all the Pernetiana H.T.s (because of the genetic influence of a wild rose in their breeding) that were bred from 1900 (the year the first flame colored modern roses were introcued to commerce, to c. 1930's. the first and most famous, 'Soleil d'Or'(1900) others include: 'Autumn' 'Gruss an Coberg' 'President Herbert Hoover' a spectabular rose with an intense fragrance. any H.T. released after 1930, in my h. opinion, would be thoroughly modern, unless it had an H.P. or Tea parent. Luxrosa (visiting from the antique rose forum)

If I didn't pay the membership to HMF every year I'd feel terribly guilty because I also use it constantly. It's a small price to pay for what you get. Thank you for the info, vmr423. It will be interesting to view other rose sites. Ingrid

The good thing about buying an older home is that there is usually plenty to keep you & your pocketbook busy before you get to hardcore decor. (walls, insulations, potty, as you say!) I think you're going to find plenty to love enough to live with if you do a bit of kitsch research. Do you have any original lighting? I notice Rejuvenation is now up to 1960 with period reproduction lighting! By the time you've decided whether to go with carpeting-you-can-rake, there should be plenty of businesses treating your "period" house with respect! A few years back our home was on a historical tour and a woman stopped by who was the granddaughter of the woman who built the house. "Ms. Manners" was beside herself going from room to room and finally threw her hands up in the inglenook squawking "I can't believe you even have that horrible ugly furniture!" referring to the original mission pieces we'd lucked into at that point. Well, I'm sure the woman had no idea why we bought the home, let alone why 1500 people plunked down hard cash that weekend to take off their shoes and tiptoe about, but I learned that sometimes a little distance helps with the appreciation! So I guess this is a longwinded way of saying "Gee, I don't know how to get there, but I hope you'll send me postcards along the way!" I entered adolescence in the 60s and my mind was evidently not on domestic decor...