Kitty -- I'm wishing you all the best for your upcoming move. The historical details in the home you've posted would suit your artistic sensibilities perfectly, though I'm sure you could beautify any home and make it your own. You'd asked about overwintering roses indoors. Yes, I'm able to get my roses through the winter indoors. I've learned I need to pull back on watering and also be especially vigilant about spider mites, which thrive in the dry heat of a heated apartment. I'm afraid I play whack-a-mole with the mites rather than following a strict regimen, but I suspect each of my roses gets sprayed maybe every three weeks or so. I use a neem solution.

Otterbon -- That mislabeled rose is really pretty and looks like one that will blend beautifully with your bouquets! I agree it doesn't feel like Only Teardrops, at least based on the photos. Those $10 roses are incredible.

Jim -- It's good to see Gracie looking so well. I wish I'd been smart enough to get a harness like that when our previous dog had vestibular disease and other mobility issues. We tried to just use her regular leash plus a sling to hold her in, and it didn't work very well and killed my back. Now I know there are better options, seeing what you got!

Carol -- Anni is just gorgeous! You've really been having a great summer of roses. The Rue Saint-Honore you posted a while back was utterly beautiful, as well. The Rue Saint-Honore I got seems to be failing, though I'm not sure why. Some roses just detest being indoors! But I'm very grateful my other A&A rose, Velours de Nuit, is very happy. So, I think I'm going to cut my losses and replace Rue Saint-Honore with an Ambridge Rose from Ma Cherie Roses. I hadn't realized previously that Ambridge Rose is considered quite a compact rose, and I've always been on the hunt for a peachy rose that will do well for me... Oh, we'd chatted about hardy hibiscus a while back. I may have been a bit imprecise in calling them "late summer bloomers." Maybe it would be more accurate to say they bloom in the second half of summer, and I noticed their bloom periods vary quite a bit, with some starting in July and others starting later in August. So, maybe there is a variety out there that would bloom for you before your frosts begin.

Diane -- Your Tamora looks incredible, and I wouldn't have even thought she'd been subjected to any heat. Ashley is a stunner, as well. I love when she gets those double swirls in the center. I think you described them as owl eyes once. You posted the most sumptuous pictures of your Jude a while back! I noticed that DA is very wisely offering Jude this year; maybe they did last year, too, though perhaps quantities were limited. Well, I don't have sumptuous Jude blooms to offer, but I did get my first baby Jude bloom, and the scent was out of this world, even from a tiny bloom! The plant has been sleepy since I got it in the spring, but it is finally waking up and sending out significant new growth.

Martha before she pops.

Fully open.

Black Dragon hibiscus. Unfortunately experiencing pretty bad chlorosis of its leaves, I think due to overwatering and/or underfeeding. I've addressed this and am seeing more normally colored leaves emerge. I can't let this thing die, especially now that it's almost doubled in price since I bought it!

Treasure Trail

Its neighbor, the Tiger Lily abutilon.

Little Grey Pearl

I went to the NY Botanical Garden during my mom's recent visit. The rose garden was in a wonderful flush, but I didn't manage to get any pics. I couldn't subject my mom to my obsessive photo-taking! I only got this one pic of the water gardens, which are one of the most wonderful late-summer delights.

TEST TEST TESTING my cell phone VS my camera... Differences....lol

Camera.........

CELL PHONE......

CAMERA....

CELL PHONE.....

Those red plastic flowers in pic above is how I figure what to add... I only had red... But I'm thinking of adding some real blue flowers somewhere next year...

Diane, I'll have to scroll back up later to see your Orange Dude that windowsill raves about. I've only read from what appears today. Lovely photo of YL. That last photo of Tamora is ethereal.

Carol, I got that poem too. My parents smoked too, probably as a result of WWII when cigarettes were doled out free to Service men and women. My husband was in the Australian Air Force, and he used to say "Hat, coat, matches tobacco, undercarriage" when we got in the car. I've felt bad about the roses that I've got rid off too, but I counter it with thinking that I'm keeping the growers in funds.

Kitty, i don't understand about the teaser photo. I've clearly missed something. Is this a different house from the one you showed us earlier? Pretty bouquet. I had a lovely first bloom of the season on PCdM, but a possum nipped it off. Also ate the first bud of Candlelight, which was about to open. I'd been watching it for a month. And my first Showpiece Berry. I haven't had possums for years, and can only think it's because there's no dog patrolling the area now. My son's dog is too stiff to go down unless my son carries him. I've put his poo under the roses though and so far (only three days), no roses have been eaten since then. Fingers crossed.

kentucky, I like your POH and WOH.

Jim, nice to see Gracie soldiering on, and her little companion. Your OSO Easy Double Red is wonderfully healthy and vigorous. The Knockouts have just reached these shores. No Oso Easies yet.

windowsill, you've inspired me to try an abutilon inside. I could only get a red one that was small growing. It's tubestock size, so will take a while to look anything. All those photos are beautiful. I can't get over that you get such beautiful blooms inside. I now pronounce you King of the Windowsill.

Rose Paris, in my arid climate, rotting is one of the least of my worries. I’m in zone 8a as far as how cold it gets. Obviously, most of the climate stress my plants face comes from dry heat and wind, not cold. Burying the graft union has brought no trouble at all for me and I feel it has brought only good. I get a good amount of basal breaks from below the soil line this way and not once has Dr Huey come to light. The only rootstock to show its face in my garden here is Fortuniana. I received a Prospero rose from K&M roses that was supposed to be own root, but in the spring it threw up a beautiful shoot of Fortuniana. I hadn’t noticed it was grafted when I planted it and therefore had not buried it deeper.

Hortico, Caroline. I just love her.

"The new Abe., created by replacing its parent Yellow Cushion floribunda with Graham Thomas can have similar blooms like my short shrub Evelyn, but Abe. has taller & lanky growth & rounder & darker green leaves and less prickles on leaves. The confusion between the new Abe."

Please provide a citation that verifies that a "new" Abraham Darby was created using a different parent. I frankly do not believe a word of this. There is no evidence whatsoever that a "new Abe" has been bred and substituted for the original variety. You need to prove that this has happened or it's just conjecture.

They were probably cooked in shipment and went into shock and died. That's why I will not order any roses during the summer. Heirloom will sell anyone any rose during the summer. They know at least 75% of the costumors will not complane. That is easy$$$ in their pocket. The other 25%, they will tell them it was their fault. Another 75% of them will give up. More easy $$$ in their pockets. The few that are left, will either get new roses (that will probably die), or a refund. Heirloom has made their $$$.

Hi all, I have not posted for the last few weeks as my roses are languishing in the recurrent heatwaves. Moreover, with the ongoing hosepipe ban, I've been watering only with the grey water from the kitchen, which is obviously inadequate. I'm really thinking of downsizing the potted roses.

Those in the ground are faring better, though they haven't had any substantial rain for the past 8 weeks.

Here are a few photos taken today:

Red Abundance

Our Beth

Thomas a Beckett

Emma Bridgewater

Lady Emma Hamilton

I daresay that the veggies - chillies, tomatoes, cucumber, runner beans, aubergines etc. are doing okay.

Grapes are doing okay, though they are smaller than usual. Apples and pears have been dropping, most of them scorched/cooked in the hot sun. Hoping for more rains and a better growing season next year.

My last picture post for this year, and I shall be away, so maybe see you again next Spring.. here or somewhere else perhaps.. my garden has been depleted with the drought and despite thunderstorms up country, very little here so far, just an odd shower.

'Forever Royal' such a wonderful rose for me, disease free, gorgeous foliage, scented flowers of clove, and blooming well without any irrigation all summer. A simply amazing floribunda, a seedling of 'International Herald Tribune' but I bet it's better than that one.

..take care and all the best for now xx

La Bourbonnaise - despite being a random ’wild card’ purchase and not really to my taste, is strangely growing on me! I’m still not convinced by the pink fade but it’s a healthy, cheerful little rose popular with pollinators. I will keep it as a pot pet for now and see how I feel about it next season..

William Shakespeare is the only one of my Austins giving me full-sized and fully fragrant blooms at the moment:

In contrast with Darcy Bussell’s pathetic efforts:

I forgot to mention, every three or four weeks I gently pull the pots out of their holes and gently put them back. This way any roots that might come out of the drain holes don't have a chance to get established in the soil. When I pull them out for the winter, I set them on a good thick layor of oak tree foliage. I keep everything watered good as long as it isn't below a hard freeze. In the spring, I make sure my planting hole is plenty large enough and the soil in the bottom of the hole is loosened up real good. I gently remove my rose from it's pot ant set it gently in the hole. This way any roots that do come through the drain holes aren't ripped up and the bush USUALLY takes off like nothing has ever happened. Yes, it's a little bit of work, but I'm not getting any younger (like 79, pushing 80 REAL hard). I can't take a chance on messing up a rose I really want and and having to start all over again. It's taken a few years to get this method down for where it actually works for me. I havent lost a single rose over the past several years with this method. Every garden is different, so you might have to adjust a little in your own garden.

Enough said, Ben! Where's my shovel?

Moses.

Ben, I know I heard that story before, but to read it again was frustrating and funny all over again. I think you need to dub it the Velcro rose, since it looks like you’re stuck with always having one. ;)