Thanks again everyone, Carol, I've had a difficult time getting this one going, it's stayed small and I only get a handful of blooms every season. However, I used to have two that bloomed and bloomed, I'm not sure what the problem is with this one, could be the spot where I planted it. I would imagine it would do good in a pot. I would like to get another one to see if I can have better success again. I love the rose itself.

The advantages of having kids and grandkids! Well, well trained ones, if you can get them! Even a SO will do in a pinch! If I had lived there, I probably would have been able to finish everything the morning after the party. Also, I spent quite a bit of time the next day dealing with an issue that came up with my elderly father, whom I am quasi caring for at yet another place. How I long for the stability of one home and one town that I live in rather than endless packing and being on the road. I can say from my perspective, one of the reasons china and other dishes that need to be carefully washed and stored are not popular now days is because folks are so busy, many working two jobs and trying to care for children and/or elderly parents and also many folks single and not living near friends or family, also moving around a lot to follow work or on the road commuting long distances, so just not having the extra time or energy. I know folks worked a lot in the past, but the constant moving I think has always been an impediment to having lots of nice, fragile things, as well as having the time to entertain. Back when mom entertained a lot, she was not working, she stayed home and enjoyed doing those kinds of things. But still, yes it was fun while it lasted, lots of fun and I so wish that kind of experience was more available to me. It used to be when I just worked full time one job and lived and worked in one place, I used to have dinner parties quite often, as some old timers on here will remember.

Well the first few blooms haven't been very full so I'm hoping with time they get more petaled. I prefer them to be really full. I love the cupped ones too! Just so so many of them that are gorgeous. I think I have a favorite until I walk to the next bush!

Thanks again! The Charles De Gaulle I planted this spring is in a pot. It was loaded with blooms, but they were on the small side, but they were also its first blooms, so that is normal. Plus, we had a ridiculous amount of rain in April and that has not been a help to my roses, although they do seem to be recovering. The other one, which is where the beautiful photo is from was in the ground two seasons, it wasn't thriving, although I am not sure why, because last year it seemed to be doing a lot better, but I dug it up this spring, because it was pretty much done for! There have been several instances that I've had duplicates of the same rose and one would thrive and the other wouldn't, that's not uncommon for me. Of course location might play a factor in that too. Francis Meilland is somewhat stingy with its blooms, at least my established one is, that has somewhat improved though. The bush has been healthy, and I love FM a lot. Yeah, I wished it bloomed like Beverly, Grande Dame, Tiffany, Pink Peace or Liebeszauber, to name a few of my good blooming HT's, but it doesn't, so I'll deal with it and enjoy the blooms I do get. However, this was the first flush for my newly planted one, and it fared about the same as my other ones that I planted in the ground, which is about three or four blooms. Even though I can live with it not being prolific, I will be very happy if it is! I think my established FM is about 7 ft. at its tallest.