Hi Beth, I'm up the coast by LAX. My biggest problem year-round is mildew and I've been culling, er, 'losing through attrition' the ones that are the worst. Rust is annoying because it defoliates, but mildew, in my experience anyway, eventually kills roses. I fear many of yours will have a problem with it so I'd start thinking what to do about it now. Speaking for myself, side from the environmental concerns I have finally admitted that I am not disciplined enough to spray. Now I've gotten into OGRs, fwiw. Of the ones you have... Disneyland - bullet proof, great little rose Gemini - pretty blooms which make me keep it (for now) but really struggles with mildew Olympiad - very disease resistant in the ground, HOWEVER, others didn't like being in a pot where they struggled and died from mildew. Love - had it a long time ago, may mildew Voodoo - loved it a lot, twice. If you're jonesing for orange, you might try Perfect Moment, mildews a bit but doesn't mind too much. Marmalade Skies is not as dark as Voodoo and a flori, but 'bout bullet proof. I think there are some other new oranges. I'd sure ask here so you won't be disappointed if you want orange or lavender colors. Henry Fonda - not on your list, but the most glorious *non-fading* bright yellow with frilly petals, the DH's favorite. Traviata - mine is the little engine that can. Some folks don't care for it because it doesn't smell, but I like the blooms and admire greatly it's complete resistance to mildew & rust. It did get defoliated by anthracnose a couple of months ago but you wouldn't know it today. Very upright. Lastly, you need to look up Grandmother's Hat (hybrid perpetual, Jeri's favorite, divine smell) and Golden Celebration (yellow Austin, also great smell) using the search engine here and on the Antique forum. You absolutely can't do wrong with either, I think you'll love the pics but will swoon over the fragrances.

I am pretty well convinced that it is The President, although several look a lot like it. I took a closer look at the center and it is more white than yellow and although the tips looked purple, even in person, looking very closely they are a very dark red. The flower color varies quite a bit in intesity. The larger/older ones are lighter and the smaller/newer ones are a distincly deeper purple. There are faint white "stripes" on the large petals towards the middle. I am not sure if the color fades over time or from exposure to the sun, or if the difference in shades is only related to the size of a particular bloom. There is no pink on any of the flowers. My biggest remaining question is how you all seemed to know it was a variety requiring light pruning without knowing for sure which one it was. My other remaining question is if there is any way to encourage fullness. I want one of those clematis that bloom from the ground to top of the mailbox and envelopes the entire mailbox, like others I have seen. Thank you to everyone who looked, took time to reply and spent thier time trying to identify this for me. I appreciate what a generous gift your time is, especially when you give it to a stranger. You are all the best! Sue

Best I can guess at; First one is not a S. trifastiata. Looks like juvenile leaves of Sans. Fischeri Singalaris. At least that's how mine look right now. They will put out some long skinny heavy leaves. Gets big. Larger ones still growing. Next picture looks like a S. trifasciata species. Maybe a futura. That one leaf with some yellow may be a fluke. Don't see it in upcoming leaves. (shame). Possible it could start showing more variegation. That pattern of variegation is not common in any of the sans I have seen. Check leaf edges. If browish edge, may be not in the trifasciata family. ID's are some times the hardest things to do.

You can have engineered or solid wood in the kitchen without problem with adequate care. I had that and am definitively not the most tidy cook and never had problems. This said, you could also put tiles in the part in red (not wood like tile) and it could look good (it all depends of the tile and the general style of the house). I know it is not something people like here, but there was a Sara Richardson's show on DIY where she was doing her house and she did just that and it really look great. You can see that in the last 30 sec of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ4X_4b_n_o