They arrived today, SGMC and Darlow's Enigma. Wow! The three gallon SGMC is
loaded with flowers and buds and it's huge. I haven't seen that nice a plant
since Giles closed. One of the smaller canes had broken off, but I'm still
left with four or five very nice ones. There must be 50 buds on it. If it's a
slow starter, I can't imagine what it will be like in a few years!
Right out of the box, I had to smell this one. The flowers didn't have much
scent, but the ones left with only stamens....they really do smell of cloves.
I handed one to my neighbor and she was surprised, then DH got to sniff. His
reaction, "I can't smell anything"...then, "Wow, that's strong, doesn't smell
like a rose though."
I gave it a good watering and put it in a a area that won't get the hot
afternoon sun. We'll see how it does in the next few days. I have a spot all
picked out but I'd like for it to get used to our climate first.
Darlow's Enigma is much smaller, in their quart size pot. I took it out to
check the roots and put it in a larger pot right away. Lots and lots of nice
roots. I think this one will stay in a pot for the summer and give it time to
grow a little more. It could porbably go in the ground, but I feel better when
they're potted for a while.

The Ashdown sco

Roses - Excellent
Packaging - Average
Price vs Quality - Very good

Overall, I'm very happy with the roses and Ashdown.

Julie