I'd guess she prefers a warm climate, then, 'cause I've had mine for about 8 years and have no complaints. I do have a weakness for red/yellow blends, though, as evidenced by 2 Rio Sambas and 3 Autumn Splendor in one bed. The first JG I saw was some 6ft wide by about 3.5 ft tall. Mine has never gotten that wide probably due to tree roots.

Hey Kathleen and the rest, My ponds are doing well. Most everything is up and blooming. My raised pond is getting clearer thanks to h2o2. Magic stuff, that. We still have some fish so the herons and grackles haven't taken all of them. The toads have shut up their caterwauling, though I did practically stumble over two of the biggest toads I've seen. They were on the walk in a tight clinch, they should have been paying more attention. They're goners now. This afternoon there was a humongous dragonfly laying eggs in the ponds. It was one of those green ones and I have never seen such a large one. Gorgeous! Here's a not very good pic of one of the ponds. The sun was burning out all the color. That's Albert Greenberg standing high in the back. Here's a closer pic of Albert.

Hi everyone! I've not had a chance to visit the forum here for almost a month now.....feeding about 300 cats and working my "real" job almost 60 hours/week! My husband got word that he will be permanently layed-off from his job very soon, so my plans to go to Texas are cancelled :( I just want to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone that has supported my book and website. It's not easy for a first-time author to get people to take notice, but y'all have been a HUGE help to me!!! You're the BEST! ~ Judy

Thanks for the look at these new ones. I also have some of the same questions others have raised about whether these will be sold here in the US. Additionally, I am wondering about the Judy Dench rose and its pretty apricot color. It appears to be similar to another apricot one that I have, Port Sunlight. It also gets close to Carding Mill when it is quite apricot. My Port Sunlight has been a rather dismal failure in my garden. When it bothers to bloom, the flowers are quite small and very few in number. The color is beautiful, the glowing apricot. Carding Mill, on the other hand, has been quite a stellar performer. I have two of them. How would Judy Dench perform? Will we ever know? How close is Vanessa Bell to Claire Austin in some of her more yellowish moments? Vanessa looks really pretty. Will her flowers last longer than Claire Austin's who shatters rather quickly? Time will tell I suppose. As for the James L. Austin, how similar is it to Sir Edward Elgar, another great performer for me that can get quite tall? The colors of both appear to be hot pinks, on the order of another rose we know as the HT Electron. David Austin and his people have put out a lot of pink roses of one kind or another. Do we need another one? Admittedly, this one looks quite nice in the picture, but I wonder what its growth habit would be in a warm climate. Will it stay short, or will it get quite large also? I hope we would get the opportunity to find out. Just my thoughts from this corner of the peanut gallery.