Diane: I could never be bored looking at your gorgeous roses... I can’t get enough of your roses.

Thank you, Ann. That is so nice of you to say that. Right now, I'm pruning and it's an awful job, but the payoff will arrive before long (I keep telling myself that). Diane

So in addition to.....The Prince, Tradescant, MW, and The Black Prince, I've got Souvenir du Docteur Jamain and Souvenir d'Alphonse Lavallee coming. But of course I want more--really considering Gloire de Ducher and Eugene de Beauharnais. Does anyone have any experience with either?

Aaron, I cant believe that you found sources for all of those fabulous reds.

That is going to look spectacular!!

I have E de B, Aaron. Mine is own root and beautiful here, but small. Jeri recommends grafting this one.

What about a contrasting size and shape? Cardinal Hume is apt to show some stamens and is a bit smaller. Very prolific and a great repeater.

What is that lime green stuff growing beside your rose, Sheila? Is it euphorbia?

I have grown all of the roses on your list except for EdB. The Doctor was stingy!!!, however that could have been a result of where I had it planted. Brindabella Purple Prince (although it is a modern rose) has stunning Fall blooms. One downfall is the blooms kind of hot pink out during the heat of Summer.

Gloire de Ducher is a beauty that I am surprised is not more widely grown. (I grew it at my previous garden). My last GdD was a potted plant that succumbed to snowmageddon... :(

@Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country thank you for the guidance! Yeah that hot pink in summer is what I'm trying to avoid and I'll probably still have plenty of it given what I've ordered :p I'm sorry to hear you lost GdD. Rogue Valley has it in stock!

@erasmus_gw I love the pointed/folded petals on Cardinal Hume! Do the pictures on HMF track with your experience?

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR I'll have to find a grafted version somewhere; or just try grafting it myself--that'll create a whole new obsession! Gorgeous pictures :)

I guess I could always go with a gallica or something? I'm usually not one for stripes (or non-repeaters) but Belle Doria aka Commandant Beaurepaire--at its darkest--has been on my mind, as has Tuscany Superb.

Really appreciate everyone's advice and pictures!!

Yes,erasmus, euphorbia.

That euphorbia is striking looking with the red rose. I transplanted some euphorbia once but it started taking over. Some of them are very interesting looking, maybe kind of Martian.

I just added a couple of pics of Cardinal Hume to hmf. My pics are similar to others. It ranges from a somewhat brighter red to pretty dark burgundy. It's very vigorous. Mr. Kim Rupert says it can be grown as a climber, which I hadn't thought of. I think it would be pretty on an arch.

Yes, euphorbia really loves it here. I have to deadhead it to keep it from taking over. It is very mediterranian, so I have to have it since I have gone Italian.

Aaron - ha! In for a penny, huh? It sounds like you made a lot of great choices. Your garden will be lovely! I’m such a huge fan of reds...especially those deep, rich reds. You’ll have to share pics of any bouquets you put together!

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) If you're still after Black Prince I saw it as available now at Freedom Gardens. I think that means it would come to you by late autumn. Thank you @Diane Brakefield for providing inspiration!!

Aaron, thanks for the current into about Black Prince. I'm going to finally check it out. Have you ever considered Rouge Royale? It's my most strongly scented dark red. It starts out a little lighter in a vase than the others above, and within hours it's darkened to the point that I can't tell the difference between RR, MW, The Prince, or Ascot. RR outlasts the others by far, though. I can't wait to see all your reds a together in a vase. Diane

Well, my photos didn't post. I'll try again. These are bouquets from late July until late November 2021. They are a mix of several dark reds and they all have a long bloom period, obviously. Diane

@Diane Brakefield I can never find it in stock :( I love your RR pictures and it inspired two purchases from Edwards....unfortunately neither bareroot made it--I'll have to just keep looking wistfully at your pictures of them :p

Which has been your best rose overall for vase life? Those bouquets are stunning--I'm a big fan of the tiny cupped rose in the first picture and whatever's on the top right of the third. Thanks for posting!

Any other colors you think would offset the dark reds nicely? I've been considering delphiniums or something really light bluish purple like siberian irises. I feel like lime green might add fun to it as well--corkscrew rush or Bells of Ireland could add nice structure and pizzazz :)

How have your holidays been? Delightful, I hope! I'm just champing at the bit right now to do something since testing positive for COVID yesterday despite a booster two weeks ago. Did you see the hopflower oregano in my other post? I'm obsessed and thought immediately of you! I hope you're well and can't wait to see more of your exquisite bouquets.

Aaron, I'm sorry to read you have tested positive. I hope you are asymptomatic, or at least have a very light case. Idaho is experiencing a gigantic wave of Omicron, and I'm back to being a hermit. Two years off and on. I did see your pretty hopflower and commented on your other thread. Our hops are plain--ha. That's awful that your RR bare roots didn't survive. I would say that it stays nice the longest of all my roses in a vase. I think the first rose you asked about is an opening bud of RR. I'm not sure about what the really dark bud is in the third vase, but possibly Munstead Wood. The big, blackish bloom in the last photo is Munstead Wood. That rose bloomed continuously last year, through a hideously hot summer, and then into early really cold temps, still hanging onto its blooms after many freezes. RR was nearly as good. Aaron, those bouquets are just plonks and photographed on the run, but thank you for the nice comment. I like the idea of Bells of Ireland with the reds, and some tall snapdragons would be nice, too. You'll do a much better job than I do on bouquets. Diane

I showed this on the other thread. But snaps that are purplish look good with the purplish Munstead Wood.

Munstead Wood, the last rose blooming (not now, of course).

Wow that rose is nearly black! So pretty; the super dark ones tend to be less hardy but I'm hopeful for Louis XIV. I snagged black caviar with the whole palatine bank run, and am hoping biedermeier will make for nice bouquets with eden. We'll see if I ever get around to them. How do you choose which roses to cut? I have a hard time not leaving them on the bush; do they just wind up with stems in the air? I'm scared even to prune my roses and it's starting to make things look a bit off :p

Aaron, Munstead W gets darker as it gets colder. It runs the gamut of shades, starting at wine red to almost black, which I love. Its bloom season is loong, so you get a good look at lots of different color. Black Caviar (Astrid Grafin von Hardenberg) is a wonderful Tantau rose. If I had room, I'd try to get that one. Some roses of mine never get cut because I know they just won't last, or they may have stems too short. The stems get cut off with the rose bloom. Get yourself (if you don't have them already), some goatskin gloves with cowhide gauntlets. I use them when pruning the really bad ones. Diane

I think color depends in part on soil. I had MW for years, 2 zones colder that Diane and I never got her colors. Minr were always magenta, every time.

Thanks Diane! I haven't pruned MW yet but I've heard horror stories. I need to SP New Dawn before it gets too big to do anything about as well. Do you have any you're a big fan of? I have MUD gauntlet gloves that I got from ARE but still get poked. I've heard others mention apiculture gloves are great as well but would love to get your take first.

Is Evelyn a "leave on the bush" rose? My two are so small I've only ever left them, but the scent was magnificent! I'm really sad my RRs died because the raspberry red looks so unlike any other reds you commonly see. Do you have any of the lighter purples? I'm hoping to find a good contrast that'll last longer in the vase; on the "best roses for the vase" thread the only one I've ever seen mentioned is Poseidon and that's supposedly scentless. I appreciate all your advice!!

My first goatskin gloves, which I wore out, were from our botanical garden, and great quality. My second, which I currently use, I ordered on Amazon. They protect well, and the leather is good quality, but the sewing isn't so good. The right glove fits a bit funny because of the wonky sewing. The left one is fine. I should have sent them back and tried another brand or pair at least. You could give Amazon a try, and if you're not pleased, they are easily returned if you keep the packaging and don't put any wear on the gloves. Evelyn makes nice blooms for vases, though some stems are a little short. Give her lots of water and fertilizer. Does she have dieback in winter? Give her a trim this spring and see if that helps. I grow two Love Song plants, which I like very much, but they have little scent. They do well in bouquets. I grow Angel Face, which has a wonderful scent, but I rarely cut her blooms because she's one of my smallest plants and so doesn't have a huge number of blooms. If you have a black spot problem, Angel Face is probably not for you. I don't know about Love Song. We don't have fungal diseases here, so I am not the one to give advice on that. Give Love Song a try, but you might give her some winter protection. She's good in heat, and her blooms are big and ruffly (so are Angel Face blooms).

Magpie, my Munsteads show the color in your second photo at times, particularly when it's really hot. You could try doing some soil amending and see if that changes the color some (if you decide to grow Munstead again). She is a fantastic rose. Diane

In the first set of three, the first two pics are Angel Face, and the third is Love Song. In the second group, the first two pics are Love Song, and the third is Angel Face. Diane

Aaron, I get goatskin gloves from Amazon as well. I use the bionic woman gloves. They have the bionic for men as well. These are my favorite gloves, I have tried others, but these are for me. I have arthritic hands, and these are made for people with arthritis. These used to last a year, but they don't last as they should, but they are still my favorite. I think I am just hard on gloves. I feel no pokes with these at all, and I rip up black berries with them all the time and train my thorny Rose's. I have tried other goat skin gloves on Amazon, they were thrown proof, but didn't work as well on my hands because of arthritis. I also bought these ones exemplary garden and fir tree and they were both good, just not my bionic gloves, which I love.

I just read through the entire thread...such beautiful pictures!! I have no roses to suggest in this color palette...so I'm just along for the ride on this one. :) :)

Aaron - so sorry to hear you had COVID...like Diane said...I hope you're mostly asymptomatic.

Alana - do you have small hands? Someone on the 2022 Seasonal thread has small hands and is searching for gloves to protect her hands from thorns.

I don't but they have small sizes in the bionic glove!

Thanks! I copied your info and pasted it in the Seasonal 2022 thread. :) :)

@Diane Brakefield thank you for those beautiful pictures! I am inclined towards Love Song and will probably spring for that one at some point. Have you managed to stave off COVID so far? I'm back to testing negative so I seem to have weathered this storm--hopefully we'll be through COVID variants before we get through with greek letters.

I really appreciate everyone's kind words and wish everyone good health in the coming year. I'm so excited to see things spring back into bloom! Only.....5ish more months til that happens here :p

Aaron, thank you. And I have staved off Covid so far, but I'm a little pessimistic this time since the wave here is huge. I've had three vacs. I know so many more people have come down with this last variant--mainly young people. Some are sick, some not. I'm glad you are testing negative. Stay safe, if possible. It's darn hard to do that, I know. Diane

So grateful not to have contracted Covid here, too. Also triple vaccinated.

So glad you made it Aaron.

We have snowdrops and daffodils starting here. I also am going to started manure spreading etc tomorrow. Like Kristine said, the weeds are terrible.

Sheila, arent the weeds crazy this year? Boy, I have my work cut out for me

I may have to swollow my pride and ask for help.

Aaron so glad that you are on the mend. This variant is so contagious but darn it, I refuse to get it and so hunkered again, forever hunkered down.

Aaron, you might also look in to Purple Lodge rose. I dont have any pictures yet but noy has it taken off and bloomed like crazy

My next chore will be to put down Rose Tone (I usually get Plant Tone because it's often cheaper), which was well priced on Amazon for a change. I won't do this until about the end of February. Compost which has chicken manure in it was put down in October. It's too cold, muddy, and icy to work outside, and I'm quite happy about that. Keep hunkering everyone. Diane

A long time ago I saw a stunningly beautiful arrangement in a David Austin catalog with dark red roses and some sprays of blackberries. I think any kind of dark berry would be pretty.

As far as hunkering goes, we're expecting between 8 and 15" of snow Sunday...that's a lot for us in this part of NC. There will also be some stiff winds. Maybe it's going to be a blizzard! I got a hen to make chicken and dumplings with Sunday...need some comfort food.

Erasmus...that's a lot of snow! Like you said...time to hunker down.

Prayers y'all don't lose power Linda! That's alot of snow. Did you get my last email? I was worried, I never got a reply. Chicken and Dumplings sound yummy!

Thanks! Hope we don't lose power. I think I'll gather some wood for the wood stove tomorrow just in case. I don't like to use it anymore for several reasons but number one is that I was reading about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and it said the number one cause is smoking and number two cause is having a fire in your house as in wood stove or fireplace. But it could be used in an emergency. Idon't think I got an email from you just lately, Alana..will check. Are you expecting snow too? Haven't made chicken and dumplings in ages due to high carbs. But it is a treat and we love it. I make it like my MIL made it...uses a hen, and the old fashioned rolled out dumplings.

Hoping my little plants do ok in the snow. I am not planning to move them. Snow insulates.

I sent the emails a few weeks ago maybe. That's exactly how I make my chicken ad dumplings, though we don't have them often for the same reason. I agree , snow insulates ,they should be fine. :)

Yummy chicken and dumplings. Although I use Bisquick it is still great comfort food.

Erasmus, better get your flashlights ready as well

When I lived in Seattle many years ago, we lost power for a week. We had electric heat so no heat or lights. I went to bed as soon as it got dark , which was around 5. It was so cold and miserable. It sure gave me an appreciation for electricity.

Hope you stay warm and cozy.

Kristine - I can't imagine losing power for a WEEK!!! That's insane!!

We lost power for three weeks, from a hurricane like 4 years ago or so. Can't recall exactly, but it was crazy!

Kristine, there have been a couple times it was bad like that I can remember.

One was the Inaugeral day windstorm of 92 and the other was maybe ten years later? That one I could be off a couple years either way-I was having kids left and right and it’s all a blur now🤣

Alana, I got an email from you a couple of weeks ago and replied...maybe it didn't go through.

We do have plenty of candles in case we lose power. Have three snuggly dogs that definitely help keep you warm. Can't imagine being without power for three weeks, Alana. Sometimes our hot water heater goes out after the ground gets saturated and it always seems like such a luxury when it is working again.

The hardest part of no power is no warm food.

I worked in a beautiful lakeside hotel/restaurant. It was fairly high priced so there was a certain clientele that came in but when power was down we had customers coming in in lookinig for coffee and hot food wearing 4 layers of clothes and looking so miserable . With no power, everyone looked homeless . We were blessed with a genetator at the Hotel so we were making hundreds of pots of coffee and giving it all away for free.

We ate a lot of tuna and cereal that week.

Oursteelers, I think that was the same outage as you remember.

Alana. I cant even imagine 3 weeks without power. Wss your home damaged ?

No home damage, thankfully. It was line damage, tree, and such, maybe some transformers . I think we were one of the last to get power back. It wasn't too cold when this happened, thank goodness, and we got by with a propane cooker.

We lost a bunch, of food, gave away some before it went bad, but because of that, we now have a generator.

Linda, it must have not gone through, can you resend it please?! Thank you so much!

Wow!! Tough times.