The lilac sport of Mr Lincoln...

I really need to check out Sterling Silver. I was fond of Lagerfeld when I grew it; but the thrips were even more fond of it. I'm impressed with the foliage on your Sterling Silver. How is the fragrance?

Steve - Sterling Silver is to die for.. highly fragrant, not as blue as, say, BlueGirl or Blue Bayou. I absolutely love it. It definitely has a lot of pinkish overtones, not very thorny at all. Lighter in color than either Neptune or Enchanted Evening. If you're wanting more of a blue, the Blue Bayou / BlueGirl. If you're looking towards the white spectrum, then Stainless Steel is definitely in order. All of the following are HIGHLY fragrant. :)

Sterling Silver:


Stainless Steel (it spots funny):


Blue Bayou:


BlueGirl (bad representation):


Enchanted Evening:


Neptune (did not survive zone 5, but I'm trying it one more time this year):


Lagerfeld (did not survive being transplanted, have to get another one):


I also have Singin' the Blues, Blueberry Hill, Angel Face, Stephen's Big Purple, Blue Skies, Barbara Streisand, Intrigue, Heirloom, Clair de Lune, Silver Star, Outta the Blue, Wild Blue Yonder, Purple Passion, Scentsational, Winter Magic, Vista, Sweet Arlene... and I think a couple of more that I can't think of off the top of my head.

Toni, how neat that you and John and Conan started a business. Is this something new?

It's a great collection of lilac and purple roses. I need to figure out how to squeeze some into the garden.

Conan looks happy to be running the show. Looks like he prefers Apple flavored mice.

DH is going to college (again) and, in his Business Communications class he's taking this semester, one of the things he had to do was get personal business cards made so he can learn to be more out-going & introduce himself to people. However, he hasn't a creative bone in his body.. he has enough problems matching his white socks together. So, I created a 'company' so I could make legitimate business cards and get him out of his shell. And it's kinda snowballed into a real-life business! We're incorporating next week (getting our business license, etc). And Cats on Keyboards seemed the most logical name.. it's cute, it's catchy, and anyone who's ever had a cat & a computer can relate.

Conan DOES run the show in my house.. he's my boy. And everyone knows it, too. At home, I have a really cute picture of him in front of another computer, but my desk (I'm a PC, DH is a Mac) is always trashed out and I had just cleaned DH's desk, so that's why it's in front of his Mac.

Sometimes peoples' ideas for how to get us to change simply amaze me. Who'd have thought business cards would make a person more outgoing? Good luck with the enterprise.

Just got notification that my roses (2 Rhapsody in Blue, 1 White Licorice) are on their way! Yay!

Sounds like you are well on your way to having an enviable collection of blue roses. What's on your list?

From everyone? I'll create a new thread in Daily Chat & link it here once I'm done

http://cubits.org/roses/thread...

OK. It's months later and the roses I received this spring have begun to show what they can do. While I was a little less than completely impressed with the amount of moisture that seemed to be in the canes of roses received from Garden Valley Ranch, I now find that the roses all did well. Yes, most are materially less developed than all the roses from Palatine, but unlike the roses from Edmunds they all remain alive. So I guess that the care they received at GVR is actually pretty effective at preserving the health of the rose.

There is some variability among the roses from GVR. As seems to be true among several retail suppliers, the roses raised by Weeks seemed the weakest. By contrast, one or two of the David Austin roses rivaled Palatine roses. Still, I am happy to be growing Showbiz and Brass Band. I can imagine ordering from them again.

Speaking of hydration, I received a Compassion from DA roses a year and a half ago and it appeared to have been soaked to a crispy crunch. A light touch would snap off a piece of root or a bit of cane. The rose quickly died despite the fact that I kept it carefully watered. Has anyone ever encountered a rose that was over-hydrated and died because of it?

I'm still up in the air about GVR. All 3 of my roses I got from them (2 Rhapsody in Blue & White Licorice) were extremely dry. I soaked them for about 2 days in water with a little bit of that stuff that Alan suggested and planted them. 2 of them are blooming right now (1 Rhapsody & White Licorice) but the other Rhapsody is still extremely puny and just not going that strong. However, they're far more impressive than the roses I got from Edmunds.. they've lost me as a customer. I will *not* order from them again. They came in so dried out, charged out the wazoo for shipping for three roses and shipped them USPS? Nut-uh, wrongo. Plus the 3 I ordered from Edmunds are pathetic. 2 survived (Purple Splash climber & Koko Loko), 1 did not (Royal Amethyst). Purple Splash is a whole whopping 6" tall (yes, six INCHES) and Koko is one of the smallest roses I have in my yard.. about 10" tall total. Only reason why I put in the order is that I wanted Koko Loko as I could have gotten RA & PS locally. Oh well, live & learn.

Well my first order with them is still not the best. My roses arrived some what on the dry cane side as well. Out of my two Sister Elizabeth roses one completely died and the other is just now coming around. My Eden rose is just OK. Very slow to start and the Disneyland rose that I gave to my friend as a gift is still very iffy. All of the other roses I received this year in the spring and planted have doubled in size. These are very slow to grow. Not sure but I'm still on the fence with GVR.
Arlene