Thank you, thank you all. Well Tradescant and Prospero are out, way out, Michael,rangy and not cane hardy clinched it. I knew if I shared my search with you all I'd get "THE" best possible choices. They are all beautiful. Powdery mildew was a nightmare last season so The Prince would not be happy here, thanks for the heads up Jerijen . The space could not take one that suckers so Indigo would not work. Reine des Violettes is not violet enough. Rhapsody in Blue is gorgeous, really purple, smallish and possible no spray. YEAH! I have been looking for so long. I found that Regan Nursery has it. Lucretial, is that where you got yours? I will have to baby her in my zone but I am more then glad to.Thanks again everyone. Elizabeth

Unfortunately what we have are the Japanese Giant Hornets. I've never seen something so big in my life! Hubby went to a neighbors and said that I was complaining about the hornets. I couldn't hang laundry or move about the yard without them buzzing me. The fellow told him that it was the Japanese Hornet. Hubby killed one with the freezing bug spray brought it in and compared it to the pictures online. Definite match. Normally, in the past two years, we've had a couple flying around and no problem. This year we are surrounded with them and there is a strange absence of honey bees and the standard wasp (those brown skinny ones). I didn't notice anything funny other than it seemed like everywhere I turned around it seemed there was a hornet buzzing me. There is construction going on a couple of acres away. Over in a heavily wooded area. You hear bull dozers and stuff going on every day now. Well, when I went to try and pick pears I realized that we are polluted with them and then looked up at the eave of the shed next to the pear tree and they are all up there too. These suckers look like they belong in a horror movie. We got a bug zapper last night from a neighbor and they went to it like crazy but a lot of them would get stuck in the grid and fry. Some managed to crawl up through the bottom. I saw a lot of maimed ones laying on the ground today. Evidently, they got partially zapped and now they can't do much and a couple are on their backs kicking. I'm hoping the chickens were able to peck them. Hubby is not much afraid of any of these suckers, but after reading about them online he has become super cautious. Neither one of us could outrun them if they decided to become angry. He has a bad heart and I have bad knees. Besides, I don't know if a human can run 25 miles an hour.

This is really interesting! I'm a lapsed biologist (taking a break raising my kids - and I'm an animal biologist, not plant), but I've lately become obsessed with gardening in general and roses in particular. In any case, I've been bouncing around Google scholar trying to find probable explanations for this phenomenon. I didn't find anything definitive in my short search but lots of papers indicating that stress can affect the biochemistry of a plant and that in turn will affect the genetic expression of pigments. Soil composition and pH, of course, also affects the biochemistry and hence the colour. Since these guys have been in the same soil over time, and since the flowers have not been consistently orange, soil alone can't account for the change. But, given the history you describe, it seems likely that the acute stress inflicted by disease(s) may have acted in concert with the soil composition in this case to temporarily affect the biochemistry of the plant such that it expresses this orange colour, with less of the 'blue'. Because the disease stress is temporary, subsequent flushes revert to the more 'normal' plummy tones. Just a guess. The effect could also be intensified given the youth of these particular plants - younger roses tend to be more susceptible to disease. It will be interesting to note your observations in the future! I have to thank you - I get lost in being 'Mommy' sometimes - it's nice to have a brain puzzle! Karen

You might have better blue selections as TXBluebonnet11 suggested, but in the Custom brand regular tile grout full sample deck, there is a dark blue grout that is more of a navy, called Admiral Blue, #92. Link below to their full color chart. This is available in sanded or unsanded grout with caulk to match I believe like their other 48 colors. The big box stores typically carry just the most popular and best selling colors so your color choices are limited there. The link below is their full brochure explaining the different grout types and choices and has the color chart at the end. It is way off for the blues (that typically have trouble reproducing the actual color in print). The Admiral blue from my grout sample deck is more navy and not almost black. And the Ocean Blue is more mid value grey blue and not a bright cobalt blue as the printed chart shows and the Artic Blue is a pale blue grey and not just pale grey as the chart shows. On their website, go to the "Where to Buy" or the "Distributors" tab to find where to buy in your area. The blues will most likely not be a stock color but they can order it. They should also have a sample deck or even just individual 'sticks' to give or sell to you so you can check a more accurate color with your tile. And their main number is 800.272.8786. Good luck and let us know of your progress. Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Polyblend grout brochure