groober wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

: Woo- hoo! I went to the nursery that's just a 5 minute drive from my house
: to look for a b-day gift for my Dad and they have OGR's this year! They
had
: Belinda's Dream, Cecile Brunner, Cherokee Rose, Albertine, Lady Banks,
: Fortune's Double Yellow, Old Blush, Dortmund, Ballerina, Buff Beauty,
: Francis Dubreuil, Monsieur Tiller - and lots more! They were all very
: healthy looking grade 1. This is very cool because I use to have to drive
: into Austin to find OGR's.

Hey, Mike, would you buy Belinda's Dream and beta test it for me? I
*think* I want it bad.

I bought a Climbing Old Blush in January, and it has already earned a
place in the ground. I love the mauvey pink, and it grows like corn.

Fortune's Double Yellow is not for the faint of heart, viciously
thorny. But the spring flowers are unlike anything else. And it can
take shade, lots of it. Of course, before you buy it, you should see
this: http://members.cruzio.com/~perry/BeautGlaz.jpg

I recommend Buff Beauty. I'm in Austin (Oak Hill), so we probably have
similar climate. First year I had it, I had only a handful of blooms, and
it looked pretty scraggly, compared to several other OGRs from ARE I planted
at the same time. That winter, it kept growing when others slowed down and
the second year it was the largest by far, with tons of lovely and fragrant
blooms in the spring. I was just out looking at it (third year) and each
cane has about 7-10 clusters of five buds. There has to be 500 buds on the
bush! No blooms yet, but it's going to be something special next week.
After the spring show, it has blooms all year, but never more than a few at
a time. Still, blooms both in August and at Christmas is enough for me.

I keep hearing how great it is in other gardens. Rats! The fall flush
is really good.