I dont mind [too much] waiting - I just want to be assured I get the roses I paid for in October and was promised shipment then, that never happened. I waited on another order from 2016 and got it last spring, after contacting him and getting excuses. Other companies ship. Why cant he? If he made more of an effort to make customers feel like they have not been forgotten or possibly cheated, it would be better. If he had said - I will start shipping in June, it would have made me feel like he actually had plans to do it. He does have wonderful roses - if he would just ship them. Hopefully he means well - I would really like the roses I ordered.

Kristine, that don't look like a rose ...it looks so too good to be eaten...lol. It ais so rich, deep, satin striking colour looks actually velvety. WOW!! I have to look at this new site . Thanks for the information :) jin

Well, I'm in zone 6 NJ, so quite different from Michigan, but for what its worth, here's my experience: Love Song is beautiful but sadly a wimp. Gets just tons of die-back for me, and then it never really recovers after the winter. I wouldn't personally recommend it. If you'd be ok with a climber, I'd guardedly suggest Quicksilver - I had 2 plants. The first got huge winter die-back and ultimately faded away, but I truly think it was just a bad plant. My second has been doing great, though I did plant it in a fairly sheltered spot. This spring will be its second in my garden and I have high hopes for it (it didn't bloom last year, but I wouldn't really expect it to, particularly as a climber. It did put on a lot of nice size). I'll be interested to hear other suggestions for hardy lavenders. Plenty of purples do well for me, but lavender is difficult. (I consider Rhapsody in Blue and even Blue for you more purple than lavender, though there's a spectrum of course). Many people recommend Poseidon, but I have to say that after seeing this rose in person, I find it too pale and almost gray colored for my taste.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments; it is such a pleasure to see all the familiar names. BHdS is a medium pink outside with a touch of coral. After some years in the ground the bloom is more of a deep cup shape than it was in former years, at least until it opens up completely. It's a chunky bush with large leaves, not what I would call beautiful, I'm afraid. Rosylady, I know it's a matter of personal taste but I'm not as fond of this William R. Smith as I was of the previous one I had which did not have the color changes from light to dark as this one does. One wonders which one is the genuine article and which the impostor. My physical condition continues to worsen but as long as I can stagger outside to feed the birds and critters it's all good.