Hi Erasmus: I learn from what you wrote above, thank you. Forget-me-nots like clay soil and cool wet spring. Kim is right that it can be invasive, it spreads to a HUGE patch in my Mom's 5-acres land. She also has a peppermint and spearmint patch the size of a master bedroom. Mint is super-invasive. Below are the invasive plant which I tortured myself with before I discovered fragrant roses: 1) Mint - 5 hours to kill. I gave to my neighbor: they spent the entire Saturday killing those idiots. 2) Zebra Grass, or Ribbon-grass. It took 3 people to dig up the super-deep-root clump, and 1/2 hour per clump. 3) English Ivy ground-cover. This should be banned from the planet earth. They are known to destroy mansions, choke large trees to death.... if you plant too close to the window, they can crawl inside and choke you to death while you are sleeping (just kidding). I spent 40+ hours and 1 year killing them, plus spraying Round-up into my house foundation to get rid of the roots. I was cursed eternally when I bought English Ivy for $10 from HomeDepo. 4) Pink Yarrow - I was shocked when I saw HomeDepo selling this. My Mom gave me 1 branch, it spread even to my lawn. I spent 1 year and 50+ hours killing them. They spread both by roots and by seeds. 5) Gout weed - this makes a stinky ground cover. 10+ hours killing them. Purple and white alyssum are the best ground cover, since they are annuals, and don't spread to one's lawn. 6) Italian Parsley - 1 hour killing them. Now I sink a plastic bucket 6" into the soil, both ends cut off, to keep mint and parsley inside. 7) Dr. Huey's roots - I spent 1/2 hour digging them up when I killed Knock-outs, that's why I like own-root roses. We have cool and rainy weather for the past 2 days, now Lynnie is red like Knock-out, very much like Jeri's picture in HMF. Lynnie is far prettier than Knock-out both bush-shape and flower-appeal. Annie prefers acidic soil and water for best growth. She was stunt from my alkaline soil and water, and NOT from the frost. Ever since I gave her acid-fertilizer high in nitrogen she grows like crazy: She was super-tiny in June, after 1 month with acidifying the water with used lemon rinds, she doubled in size. This pic. is taken this morning:

I put mine in monthly rose society raffles. Some rose societies also have a lending library. You can also give them to rose novices who still have that spark of all-things-roses excitement. Your generosity can mean a great deal to the person just getting into rose growing. I still wish all these rose pictures had a scratch & sniff feature.

So it’s Spring here in my Michigan Zone 6b garden and I’ve been reading this thread about this stunning Amazing Grace rose. I grew this rose a a few years ago and was one who provided a review on Heirloom. I have been seriously pining after this rose since removing it due to black spot. I just ordered two more from Heirloom to give it another go. I see couple of you are from Murrieta where my mother had an abundance of roses surrounding a full concrete patio and they loved the heat and had no disease…can’t say that for Michigan. Wish me luck!!

I wish I could try Summer Song here. A lot of roses that are doing well in my yard are ones others said wouldn't, when I was initially going to get them. All the many Austins I have are doing well so far with the exception of A Shropshire Lad. He is actually looking great so green and healthy and growing huge...however no flowers yet lol. I had Carding Mill die as a tiny band but I don't think it was because it was an Austin. I've had a few small bands die that weren't Austins as well lol. I think its dumb that Austin would pull Summer Song based on 'someone's' US climate because the US has sooo many different growing conditions. I have lived and gardened in several different US States and I had to practically relearn how to grow a lot of stuff. Soil was different, temperatures were different, wind was different, humidity or lack thereof was different, elevation makes a huge difference in terms of sun exposure and leaf burn. The whole seasons are 'backwards' in places like south Florida and Arizona, parts of California, and other places, because people plant their vegetable gardens in the winter rather than the summer. I could go on all day lol. On another note, I just ordered William Shakespeare 2000. I hope it likes it here :) I heard it is not going to be sold in the US from the Austin website next year. I had to get it before it was gone lol. Supposed to be here Thursday so I'm excited!