Lux, I also have Mlle. Jeanne Philippe, my only apricot, but it's still too early for me to really comment on it, as it is only about a year and a half old. So far, I like it very much. It's really graceful and pretty to look at even when it's not blooming, and last spring/summer/fall it really didn't bloom much. This year, however, it is starting out with enthusiasm - it's right outside my window as I sit at the computer, and I can count seven buds, one of which is starting to open. I'm glad to read in your post that it's a very floriferous rose (though I would keep it even if it were not). Can you tell me anything about how big it will get? Vintage described it as being small, which is what I need (all of my few roses are in pots and must remain so), but Vintage didn't sound entirely sure about ultimate size. Thanks for any info you can give me. Laura

I tallied up all the favorite Teas listed here on this thread. Here are the results so far. 6 votes -- Lady Hillingdon 5 votes -- Duchesse de Brabant Etoille de Lyon 4 votes-- G. Nabonnand 3 votes -- Clementina Carbonieri Francis Dubreuil Le Pactole Le Vesuve Mme. Berkeley Mrs Dudley Cross Mrs. B.R. Cant 2 votes -- Devoniensis Marie Van Houtte Mme Joseph Schwartz Mons Tillier Rosette Delizy William R. Smith Honorable Mention  every Tea on earth! Alliance Franco-Russe Angels Camp Tea Anna Olivier Cels Multiflora Comtesse Emmeline de Guigne Georgetown Tea Ley's Perpetual Madame Antoine Mari Madame Antoine Rebe Madame Lombard Marie d'Orleans Miss Atwood Mlle. de Sombreuil Niles Cochet Puerto Rico Safrano Souv. de Pierre Notting Souv.de Claudious Denoyal Susan Louise brought to you by Karen, a rose newbie who is learning!! (using my sonÂs gardenweb name)

I have H.F. Young - which is a light prune Group 2 and I always hard prune her every year. This year which is now her 3rd year - she has come up with sooo many stems - I couldnt believe it! Anyways I do think that with some varieties of light prune like for instance Proteus - you would definately have to light prune because if you do not you would miss out on the double flower it produces in the first bloom of the year. But I would think with Ramona - you should be fine. Worse come to worse - you would cut her down hard and find out for sure what will happen this year - then next year you will know for sure! I also have Ramona and have always treated her as a light prune - until last year when she got hit with wilt - then she was cut to the ground. So this year she is starting to show her head once again. Lynn

Here's some info on pruning. It was written by venu209 on that DG site (hush, we can't say the actual site name here lol). So I am officially giving them the credit for this article. Maybe it'll help: I saw some crocus blooming today. What a wonderful sight after a long and snowy winter. Living in the USA this winter seemed to mean living Under Snow Advisory. So with the perky crocus blooms ushering in spring, thoughts of pruning ran round my mind. Just how had my clematis fared through the cold blustery winter? After a few initial inspections, I smiled and headed to the garden shed to..get....my .....PRUNERS. Feared by some and loved by others ( I fall into the latter group) it was tme to wake the pruners from their winter slumber. So you may have heard about the group 1, group 2, group 3 pruning techniques. Some would like to befuddle us more by referring to it as groups A,B,C. I'll stick with 1,2,3. I remember reading about pruning when I first started growing clematis. The advice was to prune to the first set of buds. Okay, great, but what did that really mean? Flower buds? There were no flower buds in March! The first set of buds? Did that mean the first set from the outermost end of the stems or closest to the ground?? The advice should be written as such: Cut just above the first set of leaf buds closest to the ground. That sentence sums up group 3 pruning. When your clem breaks dormancy, live that sentence. You may ask, how do I know when my clems break dormancy? Well, that can be determined by those leaf buds. You will see small, fat, fuzzy things on your vine, similar to pussy willow. That's the sign that your clem is waking from plant hibernation. Now, you may notice that during this pruning process you will be cutting away many leaf buds growing along the stems. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. REALLY!! So there you have it folks, group 3 pruning. But wait, what about groups 1 and 2 ?!? I thought I was done, shame on me. So let's talk about group 1. This won't take long......don't prune it. That was easy! Too easy perhaps? No, it's true. If your group 1 clem gets large and unwieldly, then prune it judiciously for shape and to keep it contained. Otherwise, leave it be. This can be done anytime during the growing season. So that leads us to group 2. I didn't do that in order, did I? Group 2 is pruned after it's initial and most stupendous bloom period. In my experience, I find myself pruning the group 2 clems in midsummer. They seem to enter a semi-doormant period in the height of summer. That's when I prune them by about a third or half. I also take out any stems that have browned out due to wilt or heat. Those I take to the ground and send out with the garbage rather than the compost bin. So now I'm done...well almost. Just a couple of tips and tricks. Not sure what Clematis you're growing or what group it falls into? Watch it for a growing season and record it's bloom time and flower type. If it flowers early with a large bloom, it's probably a group 2. If it blooms later in the season, it's most likely a group 3. If it seems to bloom whenever it feels like it, but not big blooms, it might be a group 1. But we know all about group 1, don't we? In any case, even if you use the inappropiate pruning technique for your particular clem, the chances are slim to none that you'll kill it, you just might have to wait a bit longer for blooms. If patience is a virtue, then gardeners are incredibly virtuous. Here's another scenario you might have thought about. The Clematis growing through your shrub. Yes, sounds nice. The weigelia that puts out an awe inspiring spring bloom but is just another green shrub the rest of the season would be beautiful with a clem blooming in it. And it will be, but, and this is a big but, make sure the shrub is mature and large. If you plant a 2 year old shrub with a 2 year old clem, the clem will outpace the shrub 10 to 1. Trust me on that one ;) A group 3 clem might best suit that circumstance as you can prune and yank it before your shrub has leafed out. Okay, I'm really done. I hope I have helped anyone that was stuck knee deep in the clematis pruning quagmire, Oh and by the way, if your Clems are babies, throw out all the group 1 and 2 pruning. Just do group 3 pruning for the first year or three. You will be rewarded. Remember that virtue thing. Can't remember the 1, 2, 3 ? Here's a little poem: One, for the pruners, means no, nada, none Two, for the pruners, means only cut some Three, for the pruners, means lots to be done