Fanastic! Thank you so much for the quick response.

Just to clarify, I only placed them in my larger outdoor pots while I was outside. Somehow, they found their own way into my smaller- & medium-sized pots all on their own. Which happened while my plants were outdoors. I didn't even know that they were there until I went to soak my pots. And even then, there were only a few of them. All of which were a fraction of the size of the outdoor earthworms. No bigger than the ones in iamhopscotch's photos. They have been there for at least two years now and not once have they ever negatively affected the health of any of my plants. So I pretty much leave them alone. I don't use them to aerate my already fast-draining soil. And even if they "break down" the soil, "Earthworms leave behind excrement or castings containing from 5 to 11 times the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they have ingested." All of which the plants can use.I repot my plants long before the soil gets depleted, and the old soil gets tossed out into the remote corners of my yard, along which whatever's inhabiting it. Even if my new, fresh potting soil were to somehow gain newer earthworms, I wouldn't go out of my way to try and rid them from my pots. People want to try and grow their plants in sterile environments, dousing their plants with fungicides and insecticides, and nature doesn't work like that. I'm not advocating putting earthworms in your indoor pots. I was simply stating that I found them in my indoor plants and never once have I encountered any problems from them being there. Sure, I placed them in my large, outdoor pots. But that was because those pots stay outdoors year-round. The smaller earthworms found their own way into my smaller pots, while those pots were outdoors. People claim that they can't survive living in containers, but the small ones in mine seem to do just fine. Even if they were to die, their remains end up breaking down into enriched nutrients that the plants can use.

I am pretty certain that after a little more research and a few more visits to observe the blooms as they mature, that I have identified this rose. I believe it to be the early Austin English Rose - Bibi Meizoon", 1989 release. Some more images of blooms from today that are fully open now. I kept looking at the blooms and they reminded me very much of The Reeve. Sure enough, when I looked up the parentage, it is "The Reeve X Chaucer".. This rose has a lot of Gallica/Hybrid China close up in its pedigree through Chaucer and Constance Spry. Interestingly, it would seem that if is had been bred 150 years ago, it's genetics would probably qualify it as a Hybrid Perpetual. This is a rare one. I have never seen a live plant before and never known anyone who has grown it. So I will watch it with interest for the remainder of the season to see how it performs. Right now all three plants are covereed in huge globular gorgeous pink blooms. We did have a pretty good rain two days ago and a few of the blooms were a bit balled, but most opened fine. I suspect that this one would ball badly in a wet climate. But she very much likes the Okanagan Valley with our dry warm climate.. Cheers, Rick

Thanks, Steve_M - I looked at pics of EVH on HMF, and my mystery rose does not ever have the dark/bright/saturated colors that pics of EVH have. It blooms a very pale pink, which on the old plant changes into a lovely pale buff color. I just went out and looked both at my ancient plant growing inside of a hedge, and the relatively new plant from a rooted cutting of the first one. Even in the middle of the coldest winter we have had for years (temps actually got below freezing - unheard of here for 20+ years), both plants are beginning to set buds. When the new one is (hopefully) in full bloom a couple of months from now, I will post pics on here of the entire thing. I have a secret fear that it is really 'Awakening', and that the pale buff blooms I love on the old old plant are only the result of it growing inside a tangle of Japanese quince, a flowering crab apple tree, pittosporum, and other roses - not a situation I can replicate in another part of the garden! Nervously waiting - both plants are leafing out right now, and look healthy. Jackie