I ordered this rose from Vintage in 2007. It's planted in a border of mixed roses along my front fence, in good soil with adequate water. It's okay, but not spectacular. It is an awkward grower, with canes that jut out at odd angles and are stiff from the get-go. Vintage's line drawing of it on their site perfectly depicts the rose in my garden. I don't know what the eventual size of it will be, but it doesn't seem to have the star power of Msr. Tillier, or Mrs. B R Cant, or Mme. Lombard, which are also big, stiff teas for me. In damp weather, the flowers get a bit spotty ... my "Reuter's China", another china/tea with a similar habit, does the same thing. Here's my two cents: if it intrigues you enough, and you have the space to grow it, go along with that little voice in your gut and buy it. I have rarely regretted roses I buy, and have many times regretted the ones I left behind. Here's some photos for you. Artsy shot of a partially open flower A half-open bud Fully open flower. Hope this helps, Connie

You're welcome, Lyna! Yes ma'am, each one HAS its own personality. It's observing them then determining what other "personalities" you want to mate them to that's part of the fun of breeding. If your cuttings are rotting, they're too wet. Whether that's due to too heavy soil, watering them too frequently or having too high humidity due to covering them, something is keeping them too wet, so they rot. If they shrivel, they're usually drying out. I'd not had success rooting roses in my new climate until I ran across the wrapping method, which I termed "Burrito Method" and detailed on my blog below. Like all the other methods, it requires tweaking to get it set just right for your specific conditions, but once you get the hang of it, the method works! A few months ago, I received bud wood of a rose I'd sought, from a lovely lady in Northern California. The wood was quite thin and I didn't know what exactly I could do with it. I had stocks rooted, so I tried budding it, then took what wasn't really suitable and tried a modified method of rooting. It was actively growing, and it was warm, so the wrapping method wouldn't work. I treated them as I would any cuttings, then planted them very deeply in seed starter mix, in gallon cans and placed them under other potted roses where they would have higher humidity, some filtered sun, but protection from the real heat and extreme sun. Most failed, but a few ARE rooted! Many of the buds also failed, but some are remaining green after a few months and appear to be successful. I figured by planting them deep, so most of the cutting length was immersed in cool, damp soil, they wouldn't dry out. It's what I do with callused cuttings out of the wraps, and it works perfectly with them. With only an inch or so of cutting poking out of the soil, and only a leaf or two remaining on them, they could provide some photosynthesis to help carry them along until roots formed. Once it begins raining, I will transplant them from their communal pots, lifting them to the level I want them to grow. Until then, I'll let them continue forming roots. The rains will help to harden them off so they won't be lost to being subjected to too high heat, too brilliant sun and too dry conditions too quickly. I'm also getting ready to break the tops of the root stocks so the foliage will remain attached to help keep them fed, but much of the sap flow will be interrupted so it is directed into the inserted buds, forcing them to begin growing. I use both the traditional "T" budding method and Burling's Chip Budding Method on several different root stocks so I hedge my bet with whatever I have and want to insure takes. Using several methods helps spread the risk of loss so chances of success improve dramatically. I use VI IXL, Cardinal Hume and Sequoia's Pink Clouds. I should also obtain some VI Dr. Huey and VI Ragged Robbin. I had the Ragged Robin VI from the Heritage Rose Garden, but lost it. I also have Dr. Manner's VI Fortuniana. It's finally put out enough thicker growth to provide some decent stocks next spring, so I'll probably start messing with budding to it then. If I have material I want to reproduce in the appropriate window here for rooting; I know it roots OK and grows OK own root; and it is of the appropriate condition for wrapping, I will wrap it. If it's summer, hence hotter (too hot for wrapping) and the material is actively growing, I'll try budding it. Whatever remains which isn't suitable for budding, I'll strike as cuttings to see if something works. But, if you wait until you have what you've been looking for, forever, to learn how to make the methods you want to use, work, you're guaranteed to fail. Murphy assures that. It's like waiting until the day before you take your world cruise to buy your new, elaborate camera you have absolutely no idea how to use. You're doomed. Rooting and budding are about equally as easy to learn. The hardest part is determining you are NOT going to allow it to overwhelm you. If it doesn't work, don't get frustrated. Put on your diagnostician's hat, figure out WHY it didn't so you can fix the problems, then get back on that horse to show it who's boss. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Wrapping cuttings

Just spray the entire plant with the systemic insecicide. Soak the leaves well and make sure you also get all the buds and flowers. Do not take off the scapes, just spray. About two weeks later, repeat. You will be surprised at how this clears up the problem. Insecticidal soap will not do any good as they are inside the buds.

Beachlily - Thanks for sharing your bud counts. It's interesting to see bud counts from someone in Florida. I guess I expected you all would have bud counts in 40-70s like Stamile. It's good to know Magnificent Hummingbird does well for somebody. It only has 8-12 buds per scape here. I'm thinking about moving it next year to a different location. The scapes are still very short and the flowers are much smaller than they should be. There may be tree roots interfering with mine. Nancy Graham and all - I happened to count the bud scars on My Melinda the other day. Surprise, surprise! She was building buds on theose impressive branches. She ended up having 36-38 buds per scape. That sends her to Number 2 on my Bud King list. An oldie but goodie in the bud count department! I didn't even photograph that one this season. In fact I have tried to give it away, but my huband has a fondness for it. Debra