Hi Brandy, Louis Philippe is still in a pot, but sure needs to get planted! He is totally clean and very happy as long as the pot is in full baking sun with lots of watering. When I put the pot in an area that gets sun from noon until sunset I started to get some cruddy leaves. Whether or not this would have resulted in a significant amount of cruddy leaves, I don't know. I moved the pot back so it could bake and he is happy as long as I feed his drinking habit. On the other hand, Cramoisi is happier in a spot that gets some shade in the morning, with full sun the rest of the day. He sulked in full all day sun. Go figure! Tamora and The Prince have been almost totally clean. The other Austins that have been doing great are Abraham Darby, Jude the Obscure, The Dark lady, Molineux, Sharifa Asma, Pretty Jessica, and Chaucer. Sophy's Rose (own root) has also been very healthy with half day of direct sun, is new this year, and amount of bloom is steady but not any degree of wow factor yet. May or may not keep her. She's young so I need to give her a chance. She may also want to be moved into full all day sun. I may do that this fall. The other Austins I have bloom extremely well, even in this heat, but with the exception of Molineux, who is on his own roots, the others are on fortuniana. This may make a difference, I don't know. I'm glad I got what I did on fortuniana when Ken Muncy was still alive. I don't know of any others who are authorized "dealers", who graft on fortuniana. I quit spraying, and these have stayed wonderful with no chemicals so far. I'd have to get through another summer with them to be sure, but most of my hybrid teas are now shovel-pruned, and the Austins have stayed healthy. I don't plan on doing much spraying again, perhaps only after pruning, and now and again for some extenuating circumstance, so I'm only keeping roses that can handle that. All of my Archduke Charles are exceptional. Souvenir de la Malmaison, Dainty Bess, Cramoisi Superieur, Prosperity, Mlle Franziska Kruger, Archduke Joseph, Aunt Belle's Tea, Gloire de Dijon, Niles Cochet, Crepuscule, Nachitoches Noisette, Mrs. BR Cant (I have several), Lady Hillingdon, Maggie, and La Biche have stayed very clean with the exception of a few yellowed or crud leaves here and there. I just pick them off if I happen to be walking by. They have stayed attractive and foliated, and most are blooming very well despite the heat. I noticed they are resting a bit between flushes. Most of the above were planted within the past year. Maggie and Lady Hillingdon have been in the ground almost a couple of years. Maitland White and Anna Olivia (I think I have the Bermuda form), absolutely do not need to be sprayed. Spice is also awesome, but suffers heavily from thrips here. Anna gets thrips once in awhile, but she is a keeper anyway. I feel the key is adequate spacing between bushes. I follow the guidelines that the Antique Rose Emporium advises. For example, if they say the best kept size for a rose is between 4 and 6 feet, I figure in Florida they will want to be the 6 feet and add an extra foot. So I would space that rose 7 feet from its' neighbor. I know teas can get larger than that, but Mike Shoupe feels they bloom better and are more attractive if pruned by about a third off each year (or twice a year). I also personally do not want unkept monsters that are so large I need a ladder to tend them. I figure Mike knows what he's talking about. I feel,as he does,that plants need some degree of rejuvination, but in very small doses, otherwise they'll sulk. I tend to prune only in the spring, as I don't enjoy pruning in the heat. I'd much rather just do the puttering type of work, like deadheading now and then, when it is hot out. The heat is no fun down here unless you're in a swimming pool. I also irrigate every day in the heat, and try to do some regular feeding and composting. What is nice about these old roses is that when it is hot out, I am not about to kill myself with feeding them and they do fine anyway. I just make sure they get some slow release at the onset of hot weather, and I make them wait till it cools off foir additional feedings. I'm hoping I can stand to do a feeding within the next few weeks. Sometimes they get a liquid food treat. I used to kill myself out there. Not anymore! Hope this helps. Oh, some of my bands that I potted up have stayed very healthy too. Sandy

Adrienne, I hear you, I would take a Gruss rose in any color that it comes in, including white! Michelle, after about three years in my garden, my SdlM showed that it is really a mid-sized rose rather than a small rose in this climate. Mine wants to be about 5 ft or maybe even 6 ft tall by 6 ft wide, if I would allow it. It would be the happiest if I would let it get that big, but I planted it in the wrong place to let it get that big, so I prune the crud out of it, and it has been okay with that. But, like I said, it doesn't get that big until after perhaps four years. It just seems super-happy here for some reason. No other rose that I grow handles the summer heat as well (as long as you keep it watered). Randy

Some forms may be a bit tender, as was seen with dying back after a recent winter. Otherwise, I agree about the slug protection - while more common types of anemone clematis don't seem to have a particular problem, I have found slugs to be murder at least once when trying to grow a less usual cultivar of this species. I chose it for having assertively fragrant flowers, wonder if there is a connection between that trait and slug susceptibility - like the genetic link between pink bract color, leaf spot and twig blight of Kousa dogwood.

I think there is definitely a fine line between country and cottage. I also think beadboard has now crossed over and is traditional, country, cottage, vintage, etc. I guess beadboard could be considered timeless and looks good in almost any design scheme, except super modern. When I think cottage, I see images of more pastel colors than with country. I also see more delicate flowers and painted furnishings. Now mind you, this is in my mind, it's nothing scientific. LOL In my new house I'm seeing traditional country for living area, country with modern accents for master bed and bath, old New Orleans for guest bath, cottage for guest bedroom, traditional for kitchen, vintage/traditional for foyer and traditional for office. In realizing my confusion for design and need to have all designs in one house, I suppose I won't be winning any design awards anytime soon. LOL In a year we can look back and see if I was able to pull all of this off in one house. HA!