I just copy and pasted and it came out ok... I Only highlight exactly what I wanted to put into the thread...I'm not sure why your having the ad issue... -------------------------------------------------- Saga of my Fortune's Double Yellow jacqueline9CA18 hours ago My poor Fortune's Double Yellow has had a lot of things to overcome in its life. I rooted it from a mature FDY growing in a park in a nearby town. Then, I planted it at the very base of an 80 foot tall Scarlet Oak tree in our front garden (the reason was that I hoped it would grow up the oak, which was big enough to handle it). Despite being in heavy shade from the deciduous oak 6 months of the year, and in light shade the rest of the year, in 5 years it had achieved about 7 feet of vertical growth up the trunk of the tree, and was producing blooms (albeit smaller than usual) every Spring. Then, there was a tragedy - the 80 year old oak got a fungus rot 20 feet up its main trunk, and we had to have it taken down (the arborists dug into the section that was rotten after they had cut it up, and it turned out that 3/4 of the diameter of the trunk was rot, so it was the correct decision). So, my DH dug up the FDY, and we cut it way down and moved it to a clearing in a basically wild part of our garden, near a mature privet tree and an old rose trellis which our original ancient Anna Olivier used to grow on before it died last year (we have two mature cloned offspring of that old AO). Hoping it will grow up the privet - it gets more light in the clearing than it did under the oak. Then, just as it was recuperating from being transplanted and was even putting out some new growth, a deer completely shredded it. So, I put a deer cage around it, and spoke to it softly. It has now recuperated again, and has put out another layer of new leaves. No new canes yet, but I'll bet we see some in the next few months. Below are pictures of its saga: Pic of the parent plant growing in the canopy of several trees & large bushes: Rooted cuttings (FDY is on the left) planted at the base of the oak tree: A few years later, FDY blooming one Spring: Stump of the oak tree - my DH is going to construct a large trellis thingy behind and above it, and yes, I am going to grow climbing roses over and on and around and above the stump. However, FDY is too large to do that with it here, so we moved it. Old trellis that used to have AO on it, next to the transplanted FDY (in deer cage to the left): Trunk of the mature privet next to the old trellis - you can see FDY in the foreground: In the background you can see the canopy of mature privet & bushes seen from the driveway - I have hopes of seeing it crowned with FDY in a few years: Last, my FDY taken from above today, growing roots and planning its takeover of this part of our garden: Sorry this post is so long, but having this rose in my garden has been such long held desire of mine, and now it might actually be able to grow to its full potential here - we will see. Jackei

I hope this helps you out Jackie. From Jackie, SoCal... My poor Fortune's Double Yellow has had a lot of things to overcome in its life. I rooted it from a mature FDY growing in a park in a nearby town. Then, I planted it at the very base of an 80 foot tall Scarlet Oak tree in our front garden (the reason was that I hoped it would grow up the oak, which was big enough to handle it). Despite being in heavy shade from the deciduous oak 6 months of the year, and in light shade the rest of the year, in 5 years it had achieved about 7 feet of vertical growth up the trunk of the tree, and was producing blooms (albeit smaller than usual) every Spring. Then, there was a tragedy - the 80 year old oak got a fungus rot 20 feet up its main trunk, and we had to have it taken down (the arborists dug into the section that was rotten after they had cut it up, and it turned out that 3/4 of the diameter of the trunk was rot, so it was the correct decision). So, my DH dug up the FDY, and we cut it way down and moved it to a clearing in a basically wild part of our garden, near a mature privet tree and an old rose trellis which our original ancient Anna Olivier used to grow on before it died last year (we have two mature cloned offspring of that old AO). Hoping it will grow up the privet - it gets more light in the clearing than it did under the oak. Then, just as it was recuperating from being transplanted and was even putting out some new growth, a deer completely shredded it. So, I put a deer cage around it, and spoke to it softly. It has now recuperated again, and has put out another layer of new leaves. No new canes yet, but I'll bet we see some in the next few months. Below are pictures of its saga: Pic of the parent plant growing in the canopy of several trees & large bushes: Rooted cuttings (FDY is on the left) planted at the base of the oak tree: A few years later, FDY blooming one Spring: Stump of the oak tree - my DH is going to construct a large trellis thingy behind and above it, and yes, I am going to grow climbing roses over and on and around and above the stump. However, FDY is too large to do that with it here, so we moved it. Old trellis that used to have AO on it, next to the transplanted FDY (in deer cage to the left): Trunk of the mature privet next to the old trellis - you can see FDY in the foreground: In the background you can see the canopy of mature privet & bushes seen from the driveway - I have hopes of seeing it crowned with FDY in a few years: Last, my FDY taken from above today, growing roots and planning its takeover of this part of our garden: Sorry this post is so long, but having this rose in my garden has been such long held desire of mine, and now it might actually be able to grow to its full potential here - we will see. Jackie

It has a light, sweet fragrance, not strong. It is a hybrid gigantica/china/old old rose. Was "discovered" in China in early 19th century. It has a long history here in Marin County, CA - evidently it arrived here from England in the mid 19th century. The old GIANT one was a seedling 30 years ago from a very old one found on the grounds of an old (for CA) estate. I talked to the man who planted it 30 years ago - he is still the entire Department of Public Works of the little Town of Ross, CA where it is growing. Jackie

Paul - I laughed when I read your comment that Pink Phoenix "has vigor!". Perhaps its parent FDY does not get huge in your climate, but in a warm climate (like mine) the unpruned clone from which I got the cutting that grew into my plant of FDY was very vigorous indeed! Here is a photo I took of it in full bloom. This is why I am slightly nervous about how big it is going to get in my garden. If you leave your plant of Pink Phoenix in a warm greenhouse for 2-4 years, you might find out exactly how big it can get - who knows how big that would be? At least then you could take that potential into consideration in your future breeding with it. Just a thought... Jackie Here is the FDY in our local tiny sort of "parklet" next to a bike path. It gets NO CARE whatever - that is all one plant, and as I recall it had traveled further to the right than would fit into this photo. It also went all the way to the top of the tree on the far left. The fat looking tree in the center right is over 20 feet tall.