Best picture: Fame (blossoms stay on the bush for weeks and even if faded they add color to the garden) Best actor in a leading role: Mellow Yellow (planted front and center, always blooming, "look at me" kind of bush) Best actress in a leading role: Julia Child (love those bright yellow blooms, bushy bush) Best actress in a supporting role: Betty Boop (blooms and blooms, never has any issues with mildew, no need to deadhead) Best actor in a supporting role: Christopher Marlowe (just a small bush, blooms regularly, trouble free) Best visual effects: Gourmet Popcorn (a mini which really does look like popcorn) Best foreign language: Yves Piaget (love the blooms on this bush, but sadly, a tree is shading it and it suffers mildew but blooms on) Best visual effects: Dark Lady (love the blooms, but another mildew magnet) Lifetime achievement: Snowfire (has been in place well over 30 years in a difficult, hot location. It carries on year after year.)

Thank you everyone! Jeri I love those found roses, especially De la Vina Mystery and Pulich Children--color is amazing! Wish they were cultivated for sale somewhere... Thank you for the encouragement Romogen, Boncrow and Virginia! I have been trying to be selective in the varieties I want to order. Asking questions on this forum and perusing great blogs like Hoovb's (a plus that her garden is near my zone) and other amazing blogs! BUT I do have zone envy. And being a beginner it's hard to gauge how bad all the negatives of a rose not-well-suited to my zone might be. I've never experienced rust, I have seen powdery mildew as tiny white smudges on a few leaves once this whole year, I DO know what black spot looks like on a HT that was planted by a previous owner of the house. But it only occurs on that one rose and doesn't cause defoliation. The roses I have chosen so far based on many positive reviews from this forum (Munstead Wood and Jubilee Celebration) have been great! Firefighter is just now starting to produce flowers that look as they should but the fragrance has been beautiful and last until the petals fall as Hoovb said. I think it's my inexperience that keeps me dreaming and wishing. And gosh darn it those blogs with amazingly beautiful photos of countless roses; especially some from Japan. I remember reading one of Ingrid's posts where she asked about a rose variety and after finding out it was not well-suited for her hot garden, she moved on (reminded me of a scene from Finding Nemo, when Marlin and Dory snap-out of the trance of the Anglerfish). At this point I am timid to try roses that may do poorly or eek out a few flowers annually. Though I am very very curious to try out roses on Romogen's list. I will have to ask at Roger's about Lavender Lady does well here... Thank you everyone for your guidance, advice, sharing and encouragement. It's really a wonderful experience to receive such help. Hopefully one day I can post some photos of my rose garden...and some advice from my own trials!

I do like the desert, and I find it a nice change of scenery to go to Palm Springs from Los Angeles. The Pacific Ocean is always too cold for me to swim in without a wetsuit, and so I like having a pool in Cathedral City that is warm half the year - and I can heat it to 87° during the cooler months. I might have been happy with just a larger house in L.A. with a large pool, but then I do like the change of pace when going to the desert. Since I cannot afford a place on the Italian Riviera, I will have to content myself with visiting Italy when I can. It's going to be a couple of years before I will be able to return, however. I wish my sister would buy property there, but then she does not speak Italian, and so that would be unlikely. Her husband was offered a job in Rome, and I was mad at him for not taking it, but it would have meant that my sister would have to relocate her law practice, learn Italian, and then have to get re-certified in Italy, which might not have been easy. She is not the housewife type, and so that would not be an option for her.

Thank you straw and everyone for your photos and detailed info. I used to participate regularly here on this forum years ago, and then got rid of a lot of my roses. I have a lot of shade and I had a lot of jobs and no time and so I gave up on roses. I've found myself venturing over to this forum very hesitantly lol, lest I get sucked back in! But seriously I am thinking of adding a rose or 12 back to my garden, and I really appreciate some of the honest descriptions here (as well as the laughs - sitting here alone laughing out loud at some of them!). I know some of it is subjective, some depends on the zone or even the particular garden, but it's a starting point. Your photos are all gorgeous and Tina your garden is absolutely lovely! Thank you all for sharing! :) Dee Edited to say, I meant to thank Straw (and everyone who participated) for ALL the posts you've had recently, not just this one - so very much great info! Own root, roses for the vase, roses for your climate, in ground vs. in pot, etc. THANK YOU!!