Oh, I think I did manage to join them! I'm so hoping that many old friends will still be present on one or both sites. It's been much too long, I'm afraid.

I am so glad to hear this happy news, Ingrid. It will be great to hear any news of yours. I am hoping for a good rose year here. My photos got jumbled on my photo feature which drives me nuts. I think I deleted one or two years of photos by mistake.

Here is hoping for a great year for you. All your friends are still here for the most part.

My dear Sheila, I've often thought of you, and how lovely to have your response as the first. My husband and I are doing well, although I'm considerably weaker now and am pretty well housebound. No matter though, life has been good for us and it will be much better if my new roses consent to grow and bloom. I'm fortunate to have a wonderful gardener who can and will do everything I need and can no longer do. I can't tell you how excited I am about having roses again, and the only difficult part will be waiting until I can score a few blooms, although for this year it may only be my Wild Edric. So much of it is the joy of anticipation and that I have in spades. I hope you're keeping well and can fully enjoy your incredible garden of roses.

Welcome back, Ingrid. So nice to see your post. I'm sorry to hear that you're practically housebound. I was thinking of you a couple of days ago, wondering how you were - and that tubby family of ground squirrels? you and your husband have adopted. Good to hear that Wild Edric has managed to survive, and that you have a wonderful gardener. My fingers are crossed for your new roses.

I've ordered 20 new bareroot roses that will be arriving July/August. I got quite a number last year as well. I'm getting rid of the Teas, as I no longer have the energy to deal with them and am getting modern roses that are much smaller. We'll see how this works out!

Trish

Ingrid,

Your return has refreshed my soul. I will write more, ASAP, gotta' get to sleep. Grocery shopping tomorrow.

Moses.

SOOOOO glad to see you posting, Ingrid. You have been missed. You will always be welcome here, with or without roses. But I'm pulling for you and your new rose babies.

John

Ingrid, I never posted on this forum while you were active before but I always enjoyed reading yours. You have been often mentioned by other members here, & sorely missed so I hope you will keep us posted on your roses & share your thoughts here again.

Trish, Moses and John, it's sooo delightful to hear from you. Trish, twenty new roses is very exciting. So many of the modern roses have a more romantic look now, and I'd love to know what you're getting. Moses, I always think of Aloha and Dixieland Linda when I see your name. John, thank you for the warm welcome. I wish now I'd begun this new trial sooner, but much better now than never. My family of tubby ground squirrels is long gone and there are now very few ground squirrels around which is why I'm feeling brave enough to attempt roses again. They're all in cages just to be safe (the roses, not the ground squirrels). Climate change has taken its toll on the creatures here (although not the coyotes!), but perhaps that may work to my advantage.

Soozie, we must have posted at the same time; thank you kindly for your sweet words. I sincerely hope that soon I'll have some rose thoughts to share!

Ingrid, I had Aloha briefly and saw one bloom. It was a glorious mix of colours.

With your squirrel family gone you should have a real chance of success.

The more romantic of my new roses are

Candlelight (Tantau)

Dolly's Rose (Tantau)

Tallulah (Kordes)

Ashram (Tantau)

Violina (Tantau)

Forget Me Not (Meilland) a second one

Lioness (Kordes) also a second one. The blooms are romantic, but not the shrub.

Of the ones I got last year, you might like

Chippendale (Tantau)

Dream Chaser (Harkness) though doesn't seem to be available in the US

Bliss (Kordes)

Princess Charlene of Monaco

Mme Delbard

Munstead Wood (DA)

Sespe Sunrise (Kordes)

I have definitely gone a bit overboard! There will be no chance of getting round them. Oh well, probably some won't be BS resistant enough......

Trish

Hi, Ingrid! It's so nice to hear from you! I'm sorry that you can't get out much, but glad that you have a great gardener, have gotten rid of those squirrels for the most part, and are up for trying roses again.

It does suck when one's physique just won't let one do as one would wish. I'm going through another bad patch myself-my left hip has failed, too, only 7 years after my right hip was replaced . I bet all the chemo and radiotherapy I had to do, plus the on-going routine check-ups hastened along the process of decline. The thing is that this happened very suddenly in November, AFTER I had put out many potted roses, a few bare-roots, and trees,plus moved several other roses, in an attempt to re-organize the garden and make it more ...well, compact? so the roses would be grouped only in certain areas,to make it easier to maintain. But now-how will I be able to care for these plants in their first year? Hopefully I will be able to find a helper, but watering for me is SO complicated,since I have to bring the water in a small tank in my car, transfer it to the garden tanks, and only then water the plants.. The hip operation is scheduled for May,and it will be at least a month before I'll be able to drive again, which is terrible timing, but the pain is so great that I must focua on being grateful that they could fit me in so quickly.

I mention all of this because I just saw the surgeon yesterday, and then today, I go on this forum, and -WOW! there you are finally posting again! and it seems like some sort of message to me-to take inspiration from your own graceful acceptance of adversity. I will try to organize things as much as I can in advance (set up drip watering,set up shade cloth structures,etc.) to enable someone else to at least assist my garden a little bit during my abscence,but I know that unless I totally luck out with the weather that the chances of success with this project are pretty small. But you remind me of the fact that some things you just can't change, and need to accept them with serenity and dignity. Thank you for posting!!!!!

Oh Ingrid! Welcome back from me too. I’m not an old timer here either but I have been here long enough to remember when you used to post and I have missed you and your photos and posts. I’m rooting for you and your garden! Ah Ben, how sweet of you to offer Aunt Margie’s Rose to Ingrid! But you’re right, that rose is somehow almost synonymous with Ingrid’s garden. I have often thought of getting one just because of her lovely plant of it.

Welcome back to the community of roses, and may they surround you with beauty!!!

Dear bart, my health problems seem like nothing compared to yours, and constant pain is so difficult to bear. I wish you all the best with your upcoming surgery and the continued existence of your garden. Many (include me!) would have quailed at the difficulties of maintaining your roses while having to transport water in such an onerous fashion. I can't tell you how much I admire your grit and persistence.

Dear Ben, thanks so much for your very kind offer. Looking at my garden space, I don't think I really have a spot for AMR. I loved that rose because it was trained against a wall, which allowed it to grow much taller than is usually a case, and I don't have a wall in the area that I'm allocating for my roses. I also seem to be concentrating on roses with large flowers at present, but please know how much I appreciate your generosity.

Trish, you have some really gorgeous roses in your present group and I wish you a huge success with all of them. Some of them are actually offered by the Antique Rose Emporium, but it never fails, almost against my best judgment, I always gravitate toward the old roses or roses with old rose ancestry. The one exception is Plum Perfect because I just can't resist that "plum" color. My other picks are Coles Settlement, Spice, Mlle. Franziska Krueger, La Vicomtesse and Star of the Republic. I never intended to order more roses but being back here with all of you has made me think that it really must be okay to go a little crazy!

Ingrid how absolutely delightful to see you posting again! I know what you mean about being too heartsick to post or read here on GW Roses after rose adversity - I had a hiatus after losing all my roses to RRD but the warmth and support of all the posters here drew me back. I'm now back to ridiculous numbers of roses and loving this community. We weren't the same without you and relish your kindness and generosity of spirit. Those things aren't bound by physical limitations that you are facing with your typical positive outlook.

Your list of "keeper" roses is yet another indication of your expertise as all of them are prolific, beautiful, and tenacious in facing a variety of weather conditions (and critters). I'm so glad you have someone you trust to care for your new babies and roses can be enjoyed from the window with the backdrop of your exquisite long-range scenery. You can enjoy the roses up close when they are brought in for display in your amazing oriental porcelain collections.

We are blessed to have you back and wish you continued serenity and positive spirits in facing your physical and health situations.

Cynthia

Thank you so much, Judi, Jeri and Cynthia, am feeling a little moist-eyed at your so very kind words and sentiments. Cannot tell you at all how very good it feels to have returned here.

After more ruminating (lots more) I've now settled on Plum Perfect, La Vicomtesse, Spice, Cole's Settlement and Xenna. I'm very intrigued by Xenna, which must be a new introduction at ARE. I think I had two gorgeous blooms of Cole's Settlement before the entire plant vanished into the maws of the ground squirrels, and I fondly remember Spice and Plum Perfect, who were here briefly before the final debacle. That's all in the past now, and I'm so fortunate to be given another chance and, equally important, to be able to reconnect with all of you. Yowza!

Ingrid, I'm wishing Plum Perfect had been on my radar when I was choosing. I see an Australian says it's 'one of the best ever roses'.

Trish, thanks for the valuable and encouraging comment. That makes me all the more eager to have it in my little rose plot. You never know, you might find a bit of space for it somewhere, and that color assorts so well with many other roses. I'm a sucker for purple and already have Quicksilver, although that's actually more of a lilac. Unfortunately, I must not have realized that it's a climber which in my case has turned out to consist of one very long branch and not a whole lot else. If only I could be more patient....

Ingrid, I'm ringing the supplier on Monday to add it to my order. Who knows where it will go! But I can't resist a rose that's bullet proof and flowers all season. And what beautiful blooms. Trish

Welcome back, Ingrid! It's so good to see you posting again. I'm looking forward to hearing about your rosy experiences this year!

Hi Ingrid, i still enjoy the books from you. Thanks again. And, yes, aging has lessened our ability to tend and plant. This year, I have now ordered starts, one gallon, two gallon, and, finally a bunch of grafted. I had sworn off grafted, however, that was what I could find for those whose time here was gone and I was replacing. It’s interesting how we fall in love with a particular rose. I do enjoy watching a start come into a full fledged rose and hope I do suceed in doing so. Similar hopes for your new ventures

With care, Nancylee

Trish, my fingers are crossed that Plum Perfect will come your way. That would be really exciting!

Belle, how delightful to find you here again. In addition to (hopefully) watching my roses grow I'm equally excited to know what everyone else is up to with theirs. It will be such fun.

Nancy, it sounds as though you're still quite energetic if you can contemplate having tiny rose plants in addition the the various larger sizes. I'd be so interested to find out what varieties you've ordered. Choosing and actually finding the roses we most long for is much of the excitement, although I'm finding that ordering them so late has rather limited my choices. There's always a fly in the ointment, but that is a good way to stay humble!

Ingrid, good to see you back, and I wish you luck with your gardening! Certainly, having a good gardener is wonderful (meaning partly, miraculous). I wanted to say, is your possible 'Mme. Caroline Testout' the climbing form? Because that's one of the toughest roses in my garden, really admirable. I hope your tiny unlabelled rose grows and grows, and turns out to be the Madame, because, if so, it has a good chance of surviving and bringing you many moments of happiness.

I'm sorry about your and your DH's health problems, but it's good you're figuring out how to live with them. Take care, and I hope we here on the forum get to hear from you again, and soon, and with good news.

If your rose is indeed Cl. Caroline Testout, and if it does survive, I think you will eventually find it to be a vigorous and thorny rose, stunningly beautiful in maturity. I would suggest doing what is suggested for Annie Laurie McDowell, that is, remove all flowering buds for at least the first two years to favor root development. Three years might be even better. Hard to do, but well worth the wait.

Ingrid, this photo of Plum Perfect is for you. I was gathering flowers for a bouquet and laid these down on my bench while I snipped a few others and when I tuned around to get them, I realized they looked nice right where they were. You are right: not many roses have this shade of purple. I have an older widow friend I visit every Tuesday and she lives when I bring her bouquets made with Plum Perfect, Twilight Zone and Love Song with some white Orlaya and a few snips of Chartreuse greenery.

Ingrid,

It takes me two days to grocery shop, one day for shopping, the following day to recover. Being a combat shopper has its bennies, but not for the grocery store! The produce dept. needs an hour's straightening up time after I go through it. 😁

My Lady Ashe, if you may recall me posting about it, is no more. She contracted RRV, and had to be removed. It will be 3 yrs. now, and she is greatly missed. What a workhorse of a rose. I know your Aloha will amaze you with its vigor, flower beauty, durability and fragrance. The blooms last forever and the petals are almost plastic like, amazing.

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer has one incredibly beautiful, well organized bloom, petal wise (for a hybrid rugosa), and smells wonderfully...among the best for fragrance. However, the petals are gossamer thin, and the bloom is short lived. Then there are the thorns! Zillions of them! If it is placed carefully it should be safe.

Ingrid, you know Quicksilver's flower is very much the same in durability as Aloha. It's a wonderful rose. Mine gives me much joy.

Ingrid, regardless of the considerable health issues you face, the Lord has a bright future for you, still. So look to the future and see what wonders He will do for you, just trust Him. I have had three major surgeries in the last five years, a diagnosis of advanced metastatic prostate cancer that nearly destroyed my hope, 24 radiation treatments, injections, pills...and crippling CMT Disease. Yet in all this my faith held fast, often just by a thread, or should I say more correctly He held my faith for me. If He can do it for me, He can do it for anyone. Look to your future.

Moses.

BTW: Although Lady Ashe is a climbing sport of Aloha, its bloom color is predominantly apricot with subtle/subdued yellow and pink shading. Aloha's blooms are a self, medium pink color, as you know (unless some further color mutation has just popped up).

There were a number of mature Aloha bushes in a local public garden here near me. They were exceptional in every way, except for some black spot susceptibility, not to the defoliation stage, just to the unsightly stage. Aloha's vigor kept it forging ahead.

What a beautiful photo of your Aloha you provided, below in your post. I hope our Roses Forum viewers can see/visualize the vigor and substantial flower presence Aloha has. Also, not forgetting to mention the necks of Aloha are like rebar!

Coming back to this thread the following morning is like a joyful, ongoing party with now Melissa and Rosefolly joining in, and Judi's phenomenal bouquet of Plum Perfect (thank you!) and Moses again. Moses, I had to look on helpmefind to recall that Lady Ashe (the name I prefer) and Dixieland Linda were the same rose. I'm so sorry you've lost her, that big, beautiful girl must leave quite an empty space. I'm thrilled to have Aloha again with those incredibly large and sumptuous blooms.

I do have the climbing form of Caroline Testout, although you'd laugh if you saw the tiny pitiful plant she is. There really isn't any way that I could disbud her flowers for two or three years, you'd have to shoot me first. My skinny stalk of Grandmother's Hat has a bud at the top and I'm agonizing over whether I should or shouldn't yank it off. There seems to be such conflict over that practice.

I'm going to try to post a pic of my previous Aloha from the summer of 2020, a good antidote to this cloudy and gloomy day, with the hope that someday soon I'll see such beauty again.

Ingrid - welcome back to the rose forum and to growing roses again. I'm so glad that you've come back to us. :) :) I'm sorry about your being housebound. And I'm happy that you've decided to grow roses again with the help of your gardener. Seeing the beauty of what you grow around you will help with being housebound. My word!!! Look at the size of those Aloha blooms...they're HUGE!!! :) :)

Ingrid I am so excited to see you posting. I am looking forward to seeing your new babies grow and flourish. 🥰

Oh, how lovely to see you again, rosecanadian and dianela, and here I go tearing up again. It's just been too long and I'm so glad that so many of you are still here and no doubt growing wonderful roses. Now more than ever I cannot wait to be a part of this wonderful fraternity again. Thank you from the heart for your loving welcome.

Oh, Ingrid, {{{{{{hugs}}}}}} I'm so glad you're back. :) :)

Yep, it is good to have Ingrid back. Just LOOK at how great her thread is! I especially appreciate this after all the dreadful commercial/ social media oriented carp that a couple of people have been trying to insert into this virtual community. Now once again we are talking about the more spiritual side of roses and gardening,instead of just aquiring the latest blah-blah -blah and "yummy! woo-hoo!".Real people posting, no AI,nobody trying to "influence"others. It's encouraging to realize that social media need NOT be all about empty narcissisistic manipulation.

Judi that bouquet is indeed splendid and I love the idea of those bouquets you bring to your friend-to me they sound , well, just perfect. Plum P, TZ,Love Song, and lacy, delicate orlaya...What more could you ask? Sad to say, I'm afraid my own precious Plum P may be dead; it was own-root, and I think I should've kept it in it's pot longer.

Moses, I truly sympathize with you. As you may know, I've been through a lot, too, and really appreciate your reminding me of the importance of having faith and looking to the future. My own faith is far from strong, but it is so precious to me and I couldn't have gotten through what happened to me without help from Heaven. So, though I admit I'm feeling quite depressed right now,you remind me that hoping for the future is essential. Thank you. I send you my best wishes

Ingrid, that Aloha is beautiful indeed!!!

Bart Bart,

All we need is faith that's as big as a grain of mustard seed, with only that much we can move mountains.

Moses.

The love of roses that unites us here is I believe tied to a greater and deeper love of all of creation and the spiritual nature of the universe which underlies it all. We don't think of that every moment of the day but it governs our choices of what we believe and honor, and also what we stay away from.

The bud waving proudly on top of Grandmother's Hat single stalk is growing larger, and, no, I'm not pinching it off. When it opens, which is probably weeks away, it's going to give me a high better than anything else I can think of!

Welcome back ingrid !! its so lovely to see you here again . this spring ill have to post photos of the roses you entrusted me with . i didnt label much last year but ill be sure to take note this time . if you ever need help or are even up for a visit , let me know . ☺️

Ingrid is back?! Yippeee! You have been sorely missed. Im glad that you are back, with or without toses, wr care about you. I am excited to hear that you are planting again with a gardners help. Best wishes on a faboulous , healthy garden.

So nice to hear from you, Lilyfinch and Kristine, and thank you for the lovely welcome. I can't tell you how good it is to be back and to have roses again. Just in time for spring too, when I'm looking forward to seeing all your beautiful roses. Lilyfinch, I can't even remember what roses I gave you but when they bloom I'm sure we can figure it out together.

Hi Ingrid, it is great to see you post again. Good luck with your group of roses. Last fall, I finally obtained a couple of old hybrid teas I had wanted for years, La France and Snowbird. Snowbird has its first bud on it developing at the moment. I snapped a picture of the first flower from La France when it was opening last month. I remember you grew it at one time, and yes, the fragrance is wonderful. Here's La France for you.

I love Snowbird, though I don't grow it. I hope to see photos of your Snowbird. Diane

WildWhiteRose, thank you for your photo and for reminding me of my La France which I loved a lot. Snowbird is absolutely gorgeous, and I confess to a strong liking for the early hybrid teas which I see you share. It's so nice to know that they are still being grown.