A co-worker who wanted only cutting roses gave me Trumpeter years back. I got Little Artist at a local nursery quite a while ago, also. Little lady bug is on older bloom of Hot Romance. Pure Poetry has always been a favorite. I took cuttings and also have it in a big pot. Luckily, that is, as the in ground one seems to be declining this year. I wouldn't ever want to be without this rose. Thanks for the nice comments! Kathy

Wow! Our DSL was down last night so I couldn't get online. Florence - thanks! I love that DR DEBAT too. He's gotta be one of my best purchases from Vintage Gardens so far! Niecey - thanks for asking. I been busy busy busy! Drip system installations, moving my kid to SoCal, dealing with my elderly parents, working.... I hardly have time to to do anything! Diane - thanks for the tip on the drip stuff. I kinda knew that, but like I remember to take hot water out there!! LOL Anyway, it's been warm enough out there that the hoses are easier to put on lately. Plus I wear those tight grippy neoprene-coated knit gloves and that helps alot. So LADY X is more lavender for you, huh? I kinda like the pics I've seen where she's more pinkish. Guess I'll pass on that one. Cormac - THE CHESHIRE REGIMENT is one I got from Pickering many many yrs ago. It's a Fryer rose. It's always a great performer, altho this yr it seems to have bloomed a bit less. The blooms are beautiful, but they do blow a bit fast. The color is a sort of apricot, pink and cream blend. I'll have to check scent, as I don't remember if it has any. Cziga - florist roses are roses grown for the florist industry. They are usually hybrid teas, with little to no scent, and are bred to last a long time in the vase. Many of them are becoming more and more popular with us crazy rose growers. And we used to have a great source for the plants, but they closed up for some reason. Some of the florist roses do not look the same in your garden as they do from the florist. Many of them are grown in greenhouses, and some change color when grown out of doors. If you ask your florist, they often do know the names of the roses. Our Safeway market carries them in dozens, with name labels on them. I have tried to root some florist roses, but haven't had much luck. I know many people on the forum have been successful tho. Harry - Thanks!! Carla - I work at an Ace Hardware store, so I'm building my own system. We carry several different brands of parts. We just have them in bins, in bulk, and ya pick whatever ya want to make up the system. I'd love to have the timers wired-in, but that'll be something for later down the road. Right now I'm using battery-operated timers. And boy, let me tell ya... ya gotta be careful with this stuff. I had a ton of stuff off one hose bibb, with 4 different lines running. I could only run two at a time because the pressure was way too low, so I thought I'd take the pressure reducer off and run them all at once. NOT!!! As soon as I shut the timer off, the pressure blew the timer right off the bibb! What a dope! Our water normally runs at 150 psi, but with the reducer it's at 45 psi. So, just remember that. You can't take the pressure reducer off!! Jean - I'm tellin' ya, I have had so much luck with the spray I've been using. I don't understand why it's not working for you. The damn deer come into my yard, but as long as I spray every 10-14 days, they don't touch my roses! Or anything else I spray it on.

Yes, I think it does. Promotes too much green growth too quickly. I had another look at your roses!! Amazing!!! Gasp!! Carol

Bliss arrived from Roses Unlimited 5 weeks ago at 10" tall & wide. (Wanted a pair, but Pat only had one.) Repotted into a 3-gallon, it's grown well in that short time. Just went out to measure & it's now 16" x 16". Semi-glossy leaves healthy no spray through hot days of mid to high 90's, overnights cooling to 70, high humidity & frequent rain. After a week, a terminal bud began to develop & opened 10 days later (noted on my calendar, lol). Creamy pink infused with apricot, that first 2" flower held fresh for 9 days. Pretty amazing, considering how often I nose nuzzled the many baby petals to sample its perfume, catching new nuances of complexity each time. A mixture of ripe non-citrus fruits with a touch of vanilla cream, similar to fruit nougat, in a soft swirl of floral minibursts my memory associates with ylang ylang. More than a sensory delight - a spiritual uplift. This rose is well named. Back to earth - began pinching for structure after that bloom indulgence & the baby rose responded with new branching. Allowed only one of those side shoots a single bloom (so I could bliss out again). Snapped off at the peduncle base as the sepals descended, that bud went into a small blue bottle vase & accompanied me from desk to night table for several days, till it dried in perfect form in the air conditioning. Even dried, it retained the ghost of its perfume. That bloom opened to 3", more petal & fragrance packed than the first. Dutifully nipped several more buds to direct the rose's energy into root & branch growth. Measuring Bliss' current stature a few minutes ago, spied a new bud just beginning to form along a side branch. Compelled to let that one bloom, too. Having only spent 38 days with Bliss as of today, have to say I'm besotten. Sue