On Thu, 3 Apr 2003 12:33:23 -0500 (EST), "Shiva"
wrote:

I really like this style of business traveling. Do you plan your route per
where the rose stops are? G If so, you are a goner.

Yep - I'm toast. When I go to central Florida, I have too much
work-related material to fit in a single carry-on bag. So if I fly, I
have to check in at the ticket counter first, which can take two hours
all by itself at the Atlanta airport. Driving to the airport, parking
(the nearest available parking space is in Greenville, SC) and walking
to the terminal, checking my bags, going through security (last time
even the snap on my jeans was enough to set off the metal detectors),
etc, etc, takes longer than simply driving.

So I drive. And this time I hit the web site for Nelson's Florida
Roses and got addresses for a bunch of retailers that carry their
roses. I hit five nurseries and bought stuff at three of them. A
couple of them were pretty good - I'll be going back to those when I
go back to that part of Florida in late summer.


The first Derby bloom is now open. Absolutely gorgeous,
classic red bloom on a nice bushy plant, but alas only a mild
fragrance. Bummer.

It is, but give it some time. It may be worth growing anyway. I have few
roses that have no scent--but the ones I have are terrific. In trying to
think of what I have, it seems only Tineke and Tropical Sunset are left--
and a worn-out old cankered Touch of Class that is in a pot because I
don't have the heart to off it. Sentimental reasons.

Oh, the Kentucky Derby is certainly worth growing. I can see that
much already. And the fragrance is quite pleasant. It's just that
you have to bury your face in it to smell it.

I took a few pics of its first bloom. Now I'll just have to figure
out how to get the pics on the web...


Paul Zimmerman is a class act. I buy from him every year. Your grafted
roses will probably be on fortuniata [sp?] root stock, which is really
different looking, if you get bare roots. There are lots more roots and
they are very hard and woody looking.


Yep, he and Pat at Roses Unlimited are both terrific. I plan on
making at least two trips up there this year. As soon as I finish
preparing the new beds, I'm picking up Snowbird, Red Planet, and
Coquette des Blanches from Ashdown at the very least. And if Pat has
any Milestone or Mirandy left, I'll be raiding Roses Unlimited on the
way home !

One rose I planned to get at Ashdown was "Darlow's Enigma", but it has
vanished from the web site. I'll have to ask Paul what happened to
that one. It sounded great for partial shade, and I was thinking
about getting a carload of them around September to border the
azaleas.

It looks like he'll have Double Delight available soon, so if you make
the trip, you can see it in bloom. (And if it doesn't fit the bill,
Red Planet will be right there as a fragrant red alternative.)