Well, the party line answer is clearly both, and obviously for me too, there is enjoyment of the process and the results. I think that must be true for any gardener who is involved in the making of their own garden space and who isn't getting paid for doing it. But I find that as I get older and farther down the garden path, I would like to enjoy the results more, and I find that the process itself can sometimes be tedious, expensive, require too much patience, and overwhelming. So I am going to be brutally honest here -- while I enjoy the work of gardening to some extent, if I could hire more people to do more things for me and just enjoy the results myself, I would do it. The problem is that, for the most part, if you are a real plant geek like I am (and a whole lot of others who responded above), you can't really hire people to arrange plants for you in the way you want them. So there is a certain amount that you have to be involved with yourself. Being involved again in the creation of a new garden, and having left a mature one, I have to say that so far, I enjoyed the mature one more. The last few years I spent there I did work a lot in the garden still, of course, but the proportion of time spent just enjoying the garden was greater. That doesn't mean that I was sitting when I enjoyed it. It doesn't mean that I didn't pull a weed or two when I walked with a glass of wine in the evening. But after 20 years working on that space, the garden felt "finished" to a great extent. That doesn't mean that there would never be anything new. But the garden had a certain cohesiveness that is certainly lacking in my new garden. It also had as much seasonal interest as I could pack into 2/3 acre in my rotten climate. So, weather permitting, the garden always had moments of great beauty and enjoyment for me. But then again, I know that one of the reasons the garden meant so much to me is that I had spent 20 years making it. I had watched the trees, shrubs, perennials that I had planted get moved from one place to anohter (NAY he says, "I MOVED them from one place to another"...) until they finally found a place that they (and I) liked. Still garden making takes patience, and it is hard in the early stages not to want more results, with less work at garden making. I think that's one reason why, relatively speaking, I did not take many pictures of the new garden this year -- in the last year I was at my old place I took over a thousand, this year less than 100. A reflection that the garden was more about process than results, so far. One of the greatest times of garden enjoyment I ever remember in my old garden was after a big garden tour. The weeds were all pulled, the plants all relatively pristine (it was mid-June), the crowds were gone, my family and the dog were gone, the walks and drives all neat and clean, no cars or other distractions to be seen. Then I walked through and enjoyed my own garden, for a couple of hours, nobody but me and the hummingbirds and butterflies. One of the best times of garden enjoyment I ever had, along with very early foggy mornings and late summer evenings. Give me more of those, and less back-breaking work, any day....

It is expensive for me plus shipping from one west coast to East coast. Besides, I can only admire the roses and it is highly not recommended in multiflora here. It won't last long . So, I will be passing it up with certainty but pls post pics which I would love to see and admire :) jin

There is something about the aura and mystery of many of these roses that have been around much longer than my lifetime and may have originated in faraway places that makes them worth so much more than what a local store or nursery may carry. They are very precious parts of my garden experience. My increasing tiredness makes it difficult for me to get out much now, and being able to receive roses in the mail is a necessity now as much as a luxury. Of course I shouldn't be buying more roses at all, but Zalud House and President de Carnot are following me into my dreams. I want to say that knowing that the people who care for these wonderful roses at this nursery are also being cared for makes me very happy. We're all in this together, and this by no means easy work deserves adequate compensation.

Susan, I just read an article about southern Oregon and the cartels Pot growers used to be locals who cared about the water and environment. Then we had to Mexican cartels and the danger level soared. Now, we have Chinese and Baltic country cartels taking over. Basically using slave labor and threatening anyone who tries to leave and following through, these are not nice people. They are everywhere, taking over land and water and these are ruthless greedy cartels Why does it continue? Not nearly enough agents to clear them out and it is like playing Whac a mole. There seems to be no end in sight to the illegal drug trade and trust me, pot is only one of many drugs travelling in to our valley. If I was younger I would move somewhere else but at this age starting all over sounds top daunting.