Hi Connie, Wish I had known you were there; I was in the library from 10-1 cataloging some new books. Went early so could have a look see before my library duties. Lovely booths with lots and lots of lovely things. Bought 2 bearded iris from the Iris Society (a tall and a border) and spotted lilacs in the Louis Ginter Tent so bought one for my sister for the NY house. I considered myself very good and very disciplined today LOL but lots of temptations were to be seen. Jim

OK, so my 'Louis Philippe' from RVR has started blooming again, and the squirrels are too busy burying food to notice (and eat) the flower buds before they open. While certainly not single, they're not (yet?) quite like the pictures I've seen of 'Louis Philippe'. I am thinking that this is due to it being young, but I definitely notice a white eye at the center. The shape of the flowers is cupped, and on the outside does look just like 'Louis Philippe' on HelpMeFind, but it's as though someone ripped out the very center. I'm seeing two or three rows of petals on the outside, and I smell something that reminds me of Cherry Nibs (the short pieces of red "licorice" put out by Twizzlers). I DO think I PROBABLY got the right rose, being as none of the other red Chinas sold by RVR look to be a better match, but I'm wondering if anyone growing 'Louis Philippe' could "dissect" a flower and tell me if the large outer two or three rows of petals have white bases. Perhaps you can't see them on fully-double flowers, but are they there nonetheless? I'll have to take pics in the next couple of days. I notice white centers on Jardineratx's pic, and that the center seems "missing", and this is sort of how my rose looks -- except on mine, the petals it has do maintain the cupped shape found on 'Louis Philippe'. I think that Jeri's pics of 'Louis Philippe' offer a good base for how mine look -- just imagine removing the inward-folding petals, keep the outer three rows of petals, and keep the cupped shape. And when you peek into the "cup", you can see that the petals have white bases, forming a white "eye" that is mostly obscured by the cup-shape of the outer petals. That's how mine look. Is that just 'Louis Philippe' as a baby? :-) ~Christopher

Thanks so much, guys. Do remember that this is very selective photography, only showing the beds that are starting to come back again. And only in about 1/3 of my yard. The rest is a MESS. Honestly! But it will get there, too, eventually, if I just keep plugging away at it. I'm glad you like the blue. I wanted an accent color to repeat throughout, thinking it would help my somewhat messy cottage style of gardening look a bit more cohesive. I saw an article in a mag with a blue bench and I took it in to HD and had them match the color. The shed was on the property when we bought it, and it had a bright red door, which I hated. So that was the first thing I painted, followed by the bench, then the roofs of each birdhouse, etc. Now I look for blue gazing balls and other stuff for out there. It gives the yard color, even when things aren't blooming, and I like that. I should post pictures of what the backyard looked like when we moved in. It would help ME remember that I HAVE gotten a lot done, in comparison. Here's one of the shed. Notice there is NO bed of any kind nearby, and that the chain link fence is completely open to the neighbor's house. It is now a stockade fence with bamboo inside. Very private. If you compare that with this next picture, you can see that we have done quite a bit in some areas. Marcia

Thanks for the nice comments. I hope your Peace rose gives you pleasure, Gary. I have some leafless roses (some David Austin varieties) that don't care for the south. I think the China and Tea roses (not hybrid teas) don't mind the heat and humidity as much. Silvia, you're right. This is pretty much a carefree rose for me. I fertilize a few times a year (we're snowbirds, so I'm not here year round to care for it). It probably could use a pruning but it would have too much competition and shade if it were short. DG, I received this rose as a rooting cutting from another gardener on the forum. I picked it up from her on one of our trips south. I guess it is a pass along plant. I'm grateful to have it and that I haven't killed it. SJN, I haven't tried rooting one myself. Maybe someday! Marcia