How exciting! I'm not familiar with those varieties... do you have a color theme in mind? Or an extended season of bloom?

I might plant some more rosa rugosa "Alba" roses this summer, but that's pretty dull stuff compared to your project.

I have the Ambridge rose and Jude the Obscure. Ambridge has been much more generous. Both suffer from blackspot. Jude produced one (!) bloom last year. It was fabulous. It was a new rose, a grafted bush planted in the fall of 2004.

Carol:

My woman friend likes yellow and we are planning for her to move here this Summer. So, I purchased some yellows at Chamblees. (See the link below.) I also wanted to try some Old English roses or Austins. I already have Tamora which reminds me of a carnation when it opens.

The Firefighter is a nice red and supposed to be fragrant.

Big Purple is supposed to be a very fragrant mauve. I have about 8 other mauves now that I like.

Julia Child and Amber Queen are two yellow floribundas.

http://www.edmundsroses.com/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?page=item&cat=8&item=254

Aromatherapy (pink), Bella'Roma (combination of yellow and pink), and Tahitian Sunset (yellow, pink) were either ones I wanted from last year or I just liked this year.

http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?superitem=30977&category_sel=79

I try to place similar colors together. I did OK with that last year. This year is going to be a little bit difficult due to the yellows and sizes of the plants. Some yellows may be close to reds and mauves this year. I'm not sure yet.

wolfe:

I bought the Ambridge and Jude at Chamblees.

http://www.chambleeroses.com/shop/index.cfm?Action=ViewCategory&Category=3

I was not familiar with Ambridge but the photo just looked so good--it was a gentler size too. I really wanted Golden Celebration but did not want another potentially very large one.

I have heard reports about Jude being a problem with others. However, i have heard so many good things. Chamblees ships "own-root" roses in 1-gallon pots. I am hoping that gives it a bit of a start over a bare-root.

I spray every 10 days or so. Last year I didn't have any black spot.

I am a very lazy rose gardener. I spray lime oil about this time of year, and again in early spring, and that is about it. Most of my roses have blackspot to some degree, but the real killer here is canker. Of course, it is more destructive in some roses than in others.

I will loose roses that appear to come out of winter completely well, until that black plague starts spreading down the canes. I amputate, but I'd say, once it starts I loose one out of five plants.

How sweet of you to plant a special garden to welcome your lady friend! That's a lovely thing to do.

Why don't you come on over to the Rose Forum and the Antique Rose Forum

Lots of nice helpful people---Come on over!!

Florence

wolfe:

I checked for canker this morning and did not see any yet. Maybe it is due to my spraying. I will cut everything back in March and get a better look then. Then I will give them a good spraying with Bayer.

I'm getting itchy about ordering my soil and filling my latest rose terrace. I will wait for another 3 weeks though.

Carol:

We have been trying to get her here for a couple of years now. Last year, we delayed it because my 86-year old Mother moved in. It took my Mother all year to get adjusted. My friend visited in November and my Mother loved her. Now, we hope for my friend to move this Summer. If she makes it, a 57 year-old bachelor will become a groom. Good things take some aging I guess.

Zeffy:

I do post on the Roses forum. Are you the one with a Zephirine Drouhin? I remember someone talking about theirs and I thought it was you.

Bob,
Do you have any pics you can post of your hillside? I have a very steep hill here that I was thinking of doing the same thing with...except using stone instead of lumber. Would love to have a visual to help me get an idea of how it will look.

Thanks in advance
Gillian

Bob ,

I do have several Zephirine Drouhin bushes.

While I'm waiting for spring I gathered up a few pictures and posted them over on the Antique Rose Gallery .

Please take a peek.

Florence

Gillian:

I will post some photos this weekend. My entire back is a steep hill. In back of that are woods. I have 5 terraces, the largest 100' wide and the smallest 18' wide. I have two on one side and three on the other side of my deck which is in the middle of the house. I have them at two different levels. The highest one is 6' tall.

The 6" by 6" by 8' treated lumber is about 55 percent of the cost of the stone. I used the wood because of the costs and because they face the woods. I stained all the wood with a nice cedar color. My shrubs and roses are planted all along them. I will plant another 50 shrubs this year and have 10 roses to plant.

Hi Bob---Your back yard sounds wonderful with all those terraces.Can you post some pictures?

You said your lady friend likes yellow----Have you checked out "Carefree Sunshine" it seems to thrive on very little care

{{gwi:1107644}}

good luck with your roses

Florence