Hello everyone,

Well, I decided that this is it. We were surveying the
back forties today and I was overwhelmed by the
amount of work is waiting for me as soon as the
sun makes a pass over Portland.

Since a wonderful rosarian friend was generous above
measure and sent me some cuttings of :

Bengale D'Automne
Anna de Diesbach
Henry IV
Mme Jules Gravereaux
Marjory Palmer

and I remember from days gone by that I had a
nasty time with Henry and Anna getting them to
take root, I decided I needed the liquid hormone
to give them a push, so with the idea of just getting
some other little things at The Portland Nursery
we embarked in this innocent journey. There has
never been a problem there, because their choice
of roses has always been towards the modern HT
and a few Austins.

We meandered through, got some of Monty's Joy
Juice - last night ordered another 40 lb. of Mill's
Magic and with my Alaskan Fish Emulsion and
the Alfalfa mixed with the iron chelate and so forth
I am sure they will look like roses on steroids by
the time we are there, but I digress - some real
great new food we have not seen there before,
and in one of those "I only want to look at what
is out already " which at TPN is the kiss of death
because they have the most glorious plants in the
planet, I went out actually to get some ideas of
what I want to plant inside the window boxes.

I nearly fainted. The normal amount of rose
space has now turned out to be 8 times what it
was last year. Every Austin in creation is there.
Some old beauties (all of theirs we already have)
and while I was still recovering from the shock
I nearly stumbled over one of the biggest,
hunkiest roses I have ever come across in my years
of gardening. And then I really nearly fainted.
Cyril Fletcher! It wasn't in bloom at the Huntington
and neither at The Gardens of the Rose the last time
I was there. But I was fascinated by the description:
"a modern HT with the look of an ogr, intense
fragrance, it has silk like petals" (this description
from then in England) " The petals seem to be made
of tissue paper - and there may be its single flaw"
(this one from Arena's now)

Or as our friend Phil would say " A Kimberly and
Clark floribunda" So I have posted a link to the
photo of the baby (!) and I don't know about you
my fellow rosarians, but in all of my years of
growing roses I have never encounter anything
this size in a 3-gallon pot before. You judge and
the link is below.

So, with the order coming some time soon from
Pickerings and the hopes of striking roots with
the above mentioned cuttings, we are officially
out of place. So much so, that we have decided
to literally tear the Roman stone patio and make it
a passage way to the arbor so there is more space
to put in potted roses inside those bathtubs from
Leonard's. A friend, after hearing me talk about
plans to remove the patio sent me this applying
it to rose growing:

"There is a fine line between [this] hobby and
mental illness."--Dave Barry

Amen.

Allegra

www.bluesky.com/allegra/cyrilfletcher.jpg

Mmmmm....healthy!

Don't feel bad, Allegra. Nurseries 'round here stink when it comes to
roses. So I just have shipments coming in every other day instead. g

I believe I would have came home with that particular rose as well. Looks
like it might split those fat canes with it's desire to grow.

Mike

"Mike" wrote

Mmmmm....healthy!

Don't feel bad, Allegra. Nurseries 'round here stink when it comes to
roses. So I just have shipments coming in every other day instead. g

I believe I would have came home with that particular rose as well. Looks
like it might split those fat canes with it's desire to grow.

Mike

Hello Mike,

Can you believe that hunk of a rose?
I swear I have never had a rose fresh out of a nursery
with a trunk like that. Both BH and I were looking at
the basals and just couldn't believe it. I have a thing
for white roses, and this one is actually ivory and
here is a photo that came with it, and next to Kaiserina
Augusta Viktoria with The Prince and The bad boy
flanking them is going to be fragrance heaven.
Where the heck is Spring?

What are you planting these days?

Allegra

http://www.bluesky.com/allegra/fragrantcyril.jpg

On Sat, 15 Mar 2003, "Allegra" wrote:

Where the heck is Spring?

It's in Texas right now. Headin' your way shortly.

What are you planting these days?

Well, I went a little climber-crazy this year. I've got my Celestial (your
suggestion) planted to climb up the fireplace. If you remember, I was
considering MAC for that spot, but decided MAC might appreciate an entire
wall to itself after seeing a lovely specimen on the side of someone's
house out by the lake. Russelliana is going to climb over the mailbox with
some wildflowers underneath (echinacea, blanket flower, flax, poppy,
bluebonnet, primrose, coreopsis, indian paintbrush, wallflower, and some
blue grama grass underneath to add nitrogen.) I've got a new Sombreuil (not
a new rose for me - but a real fave) for the trellis along the front
walkway. Don Juan is new on the opposite side. Clematis durandii grows with
the roses there. And despite all the warnings and teary-eyed pleas to not
even go there, I stubbornly went ahead and planted Mermaid to climb up a
clump of 3 live oak trees on the south side. I'll have to post pics of my
bleeding hands as it grows and I attempt to train it up the trunks. It's
already showing some of those infamous thorns and they are impressive.

Even though I told myself I had enough Austins to keep me busy, I broke
down and ordered L.D. Braithwaite (can't have enough good reds, can ya?)
and Golden Celebration. Then rounding out what's already arrived and in the
ground are Gruss An Aachen, Livin' Easy, Marchessa Boccella and Souvenir de
la Malmaison.

Today, I received what I believe to be a "mystery rose." It was supposed to
be a Mutabilis. The rose I received was a bare root graft - Mutabilis was
supposed to be a three gallon own root. The rose I received has big wide
black thorns. I have a Mutabilis on one corner of the house already and
that's not even close. I will plant it and we'll see what grows. Maybe it
will be a happy surprise. It will go in the "test garden" though. I took
over an old vegetable garden no one was interested in and have turned it
into a testing garden for roses I'm not sure of. If I'm pushing the zone,
or if the rose is known to be difficult to grow, etc - it goes there
first. If it flourishes, I move it or start taking cuttings if I like the
placement of the original rose. If it doesn't, well, that's what shovels
are for. It works out pretty well. I get what looks like a lovely rose
garden instead of a untended patch of dirt in the back forty and no one
notices the failures back there. It backs up against a fence and I have a
row of Abraham Darby growing as climbers in the back as permanent citizens
and that really helps create the illusion of "I meant to do that."
Deceptive, no? g

I think I may have to buy the empty lot next door.

Mike

"Allegra" writes:

Well, I decided that this is it. We were surveying the
back forties today and I was overwhelmed by the
amount of work is waiting for me as soon as the
sun makes a pass over Portland.


Sorry, Allegra, I normally believe anything you say about roses, but not this
time.

"There is a fine line between [this] hobby and
mental illness."--Dave Barry

This is an illness called addiction. It is obvious you are afflicted, as am I.
If we were to follow the 12 steps, perhaps it could be controlled, but that is
still in question, as no one has ever managed to complete the 12 steps.


Cyril Fletcher! It wasn't in bloom at the Huntington
and neither at The Gardens of the Rose the last time
I was there. But I was fascinated by the description:
"a modern HT with the look of an ogr, intense
fragrance, it has silk like petals" (this description
from then in England) " The petals seem to be made
of tissue paper - and there may be its single flaw"
(this one from Arena's now)

I liked this description, perhaps so much so that after seeing the photo, I,
*the no more HTs person* might well have succombed to this
temptation.....addiction, it is an addiction.

"Unique Too" wrote

Sorry, Allegra, I normally believe anything you say about roses,
but not this time.

And here I am trying to convince myself! No wonder it
doesn't work! G

"There is a fine line between [this] hobby and
mental illness."--Dave Barry

This is an illness called addiction. It is obvious you are
afflicted, as am I.
If we were to follow the 12 steps, perhaps it could be
controlled, but that is still in question, as no one has ever
managed to complete the 12 steps.

Oh dear, how true! This is more than an obsession, or
and addiction. It has to be the definition of madness, and
if there were 12 steps the only ones I would complete would
be the ones from the car to the nearest rose at the nursery.

I liked this description, perhaps so much so that after seeing
the photo, I, *the no more HTs person* might well have
succumbed to this temptation.....addiction, it is an addiction.

What is really hilarious about this is that I don't even care
for HT as a whole. I bought Taboo because BH loves that
rose, other than that, but for a few modern climbers like Albertine
and the all of the Austins, I never even consider minis or
micros (Oriental Simplex being the only exception because
she fills the planter behind Kuan-Yin in the upper patio) or
HTs. So what gets to me at TPN? a modern HT. But I grant
you that it does not look like a modern HT. I think the people
at Bees in the UK were experimenting at the same time Austin
was doing his crossings. At any rate, now he sits ever so happy
in the upper patio waiting for the weather to decide if - mark
the if here - Spring is really coming.

How are your roses doing? Anything I should take responsibility
for in any orders I have yet to hear about? BG

Allegra

"Mike" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 15 Mar 2003, "Allegra" wrote:

Where the heck is Spring?

It's in Texas right now. Headin' your way shortly.

- snip some wonderful stuff about our mutual passion -

I think I may have to buy the empty lot next door.

Mike


Oh, Mike! it sounds gorgeous. If I go half with you can I have half
of the lot next door? What wouldn't I give for a lot next door...
We keep on taking down things, moving plants, we decided that
both Duddley (L.D. Braithwhite) and The Baron (de l'Ain) need
to go to the other end. Too much sun and they burn, last year
was a good example of how the climate has changed here in Oregon.

The deep reds took a turn to the brown and it didn't matter how
much the soaking hoses ran day and night, there was just not
making them happy. So there is a sheltered area at the end of
one of the beds on the east side and there they will be moved
shortly. Our Abbe has become one of our favorites and again
for reasons that escape me, it seems to be happier here than
in California according to other people who tried to grow him
there.

You are going to love Celestial! it is such a gorgeous rose.
We just bought something called an English Garden Outdoor
gazebo (as if there are any indoor ones) made of black iron
and the top is made of Sunbrella fabric in a cafe au lait color.
It is either 10 by 10 or 12 by 12, I don't remember, but the
corners are quite elaborate and perfect to have roses climbing
up and around them.So, I am putting Celestial in one side
and St. Swithum in the other. The combination of the pinks
and the black and light brown is going to be quite attractive
I think, and Celestial's fragrance is enough to make you
want to linger by for some time. She is so beautiful, you
are never going to regret having her around.

We are waiting for Pickering's to get over the snow
and ice and send the rest of the order. I am afraid all of the
new roses will have to be inside Leonard's bathtubs. We
truly are out of space and BH won't let me get rid of the
garage. Now this one I truly don't understand, it may be
a guy sort of thing, don't you think? Don't answer that.

Allegra

"Allegra" wrote:
"Unique Too" wrote

Sorry, Allegra, I normally believe anything you say about roses,
but not this time.

And here I am trying to convince myself! No wonder it
doesn't work! G

"There is a fine line between [this] hobby and
mental illness."--Dave Barry

This is an illness called addiction. It is obvious you are
afflicted, as am I.
If we were to follow the 12 steps, perhaps it could be
controlled, but that is still in question, as no one has ever
managed to complete the 12 steps.

Oh dear, how true! This is more than an obsession, or
and addiction. It has to be the definition of madness, and
if there were 12 steps the only ones I would complete would
be the ones from the car to the nearest rose at the nursery.


This is so funny! (And so true.)

I liked this description, perhaps so much so that after seeing
the photo, I, *the no more HTs person* might well have
succumbed to this temptation.....addiction, it is an addiction.

What is really hilarious about this is that I don't even care
for HT as a whole. I bought Taboo because BH loves that
rose, other than that, but for a few modern climbers like Albertine
and the all of the Austins, I never even consider minis or
micros (Oriental Simplex being the only exception because
she fills the planter behind Kuan-Yin in the upper patio) or
HTs. So what gets to me at TPN? a modern HT. But I grant
you that it does not look like a modern HT. I think the people
at Bees in the UK were experimenting at the same time Austin
was doing his crossings. At any rate, now he sits ever so happy
in the upper patio waiting for the weather to decide if - mark
the if here - Spring is really coming.


I really understand how you feel about the HTs. There is only one
reason I have any at all, the DH really likes them, so to increase my
garden space I must buy one occasionally. So HTs have a place in my
garden, even if it only for bribery. (Umm, that fits along with the
"madness" of this hobby doesn't it.)
Spring is coming your way. Of that I'm certain. And what a glorious
spring it should be, all the roses bursting out in bloom, all the
greens making the days so much brighter. Spring will arrive but in
her own time.

How are your roses doing? Anything I should take responsibility
for in any orders I have yet to hear about? BG


No more new roses here. Cuttings rooting in pots don't count, do
they? Besides there are only six (different varieties, I know
multiples of the same rose don't count!)