I think you've let the people who bash Stark to promote their favorite mail order company to get into your head and convince you that you did wrong. Stark is a perfectly reputable company. You letting them getting into your head is keeping you from being clear. First it's budding from the bud union, now it has buds close to the bud union on up. You paid for pruning but call that pruning you paid for "no branches to speak of". Is the tree even growing yet? If not, stop worrying about it. If it sends out a branch, not leaves, in a place you don't want a branch you can either rub it off before it gets big or you can let it go and prune it when it's dormant. But if you wrap it those buds will probably stay dormant because they won't get light. If it should happen to do anything FROM the graft union or BELOW remove it. The only way you're getting a cherry bush is if you train it to be a cherry bush.

Drought + heat The difference between this summer and the summer I lost 2% of my roses was the two percent year I kept all the roses well watered. This year we didn't because the well hasn't been happy pumping too many gal per hour. James Galway is in the most watered part of the garden, FWIW. I have already cut the big sick cane back three feet and will take it off at ground level tomorrow when I can find the right saw to cut through a three and a half inch diameter cane (sob!). And one cane next to the sick one was also wrong, but it was only a year old so an easy removal. What made me react faster was the weather forecast for stronger winds out of the south tomorrow (many roses are north of James Galway) and the birds cavorting in that rose. Can birds be vectors for mites? probably. But that's almost unproveable. Here is a link that might be useful: An old related thread on ARF here on GW

I agree with most of things written about Scepter'd Isle (above), so I'll just show you a picture of her when she is "looser." Scepter'd Isle I grew Mayflower for a number of years. It was a dependable bloomer (always the first of the season) and rebloomer, and it has one decided advantage over Scepter'd Isle--Mayflower has excellent bs resistance, whereas Scepter'd Isle is periodically susceptible to BS (but not a disease magnet). My problem with Mayflower is that while the bloom is pretty, it awakens no song in my heart--whereas the blooms of Scepter'd Isle do. Mayflower I don't remember problems with thorns on either of them. I've never grown the third rose you mention. Kate

This is the first I've seen this thread and it makes me so excited that I already have this rose. When Lilyfinch was moving away I bought from her several of her roses that she had received in the early spring, but realized didn't need to be planted before she left. Poor JG was a nub and hadn't had an easy time of his early life--I think she threw him in the batch I bought from her for her for free. I planted him at the base of my beautiful limestone chimney and it wasn't until late in the summer he seemed to make a recovery a got going. He should start with a few blooms this spring--we'll see. This thread sure has gotten my hopes up!! dianela7bnorthal I'll let you know how he does on disease resistance. I'm just north of you and I suspect we have similar disease pressure.