I am thinking about how I want to replant my roses and wishing that I had more purple and lavender roses. they seem to be such divas. (Yes, I mean you Mr. Lagerfeld).

I prefer own root roses, but may make an exception for especially cane hardy and/or floriferous roses.

I keep repeating my rose mantra "no more dead sticks" and this year's mantra "no new plants" because I have enough to dig up, keep alive and replant with this year's move.

However, Edmunds has two roses on special that may not be offered next year - Eyeconic Pink Lemonaide and Radler's Peppermint Pop. If you buy 6.....

(If I buy 6, I will need to enter roses anonymous. I am already going to get lots of grief for moving potted thorny plants taller than I am during summertime. You know the macho moving volunteers won't want to wear long sleeves.....)

Andi, I think Eyeconic Pink Lemonade and Peppermint Pop are here to stay in commerce for a few years, so this won't be your last chance to buy them.

I'm not going to give you any advice on hardiness because they're all hardy in my zone, so I have no experience with winterizing. I do want to say something in favor of Lagerfeld, however. I haven't experienced any problems with it whatsoever. It's been growing happily in my garden for years and is one of my least temperamental roses. It's only hardy to zone 7 and it doesn't grow well on its own roots, however, so that might be the reason people have problems with it.

When one of my friends comes over tomorrow, I might take some photos of her standing next to some of my grafted hybrid teas and grandifloras to show you how vigorous they are. I pruned them down to about 2 feet in January and February this year and they're already about 6-7 feet tall. Most of the own-root hybrid teas and grandifloras in my garden are never pruned because they never grow beyond 1-2 feet tall.

I think my tallest rose right now is about .. (not including climbers) 2.5' tall due to cutting back for winterkill. I think I got everyone in the front yard completely pruned down to green growth. The average height of my roses right now is probably between 8-12". It's gonna be a SLOW start to my season this year.

That being said, I can definitely tell you who's NOT hardy. Sterling Silver, Stainless Steel, Blue Girl, Lagerfeld. I've tried those many many many many MANY times and each time, croaksville. Which is a damned shame because those are my absolute favorites.

Who *does* survive well here in my zone 5 for the mauves? Blue Bayou, Intrigue, Heirloom, Perfume Melody, Singin' the Blues, Angel Face. I'm going to claim those as being #1 as far as extreme hardiness as they're not overly protected from the elements (especially Blue Bayou.. that one is in the middle of the yard with no protection from the winds/snow). Now, I have a bunch of blue roses in my pond area that I am going to say are a bit more protected as they're on the east side & don't get battered by the winds AS bad as some of the other areas of my yard. There is Midnight Blue, English Perfume, Tardi Gris, Poseidon, Neptune, Florence de Lattre, Barbra Streisand, Moody Blues, and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. They've all survived the winter here (multiple winters for most of them.. only Moody Blues, Neptune, & 1 other I can't remember is new 2012.) and are growing in nicely. Oh, Lavender Simplicity... I'll take a look at my back yard tomorrow & take note as to who's alive & who's not (I have to take stock of who survived this nasty spring anyways. I know I lost quite a few with that last cold snap we had :().

When I find a hybrid tea or grandflora that I can't live without, I'll have to try a grafted one from Pickering or Palantine. I walk right past the big box body bags. I check the potted varieties, but most are knock outs or obviously grafted. Poorly grafted roses on Dr. Huey are not for me. I wish that they would mark the floribundas as grafted or not so that I wouldn't have to dig around in the pots in the store to check.

It makes sense that the older varieties of hybrid teas would perform best grafted because most were grafted at that time.

I am busy wrestling my own root antiques and Austins right now. They come back bigger and more beautiful each year. They are huge this year. I had very little die back this winter (except for Tiffany and some minis). I cut a couple of inches from the ends of various plants. Good thing, I would need a step ladder to trim the tops of William Baffin and the larger Austins.

I need better markers. Assuming everyone survives the move, I am going to be playing "who is this rose" this summer and next spring. Last year I started painting the names of roses and perennials on rocks. They have held up well.

Veilchenblau (from melva) is about 8' tall. Last summer, I trained her around a Shepard's hook in a fountain shape. I thought that was a good compromise for a once blooming rose. I get a fabulous show of blooms in spring but it doesn't take up a lot of garden space. I am waiting to dig her up so that I can enjoy the blooms. It is my only purple rose. I have a white clematis growing with it.

I trained another prickly monster around a wooden post with a welcome sign in the front of the garden. The wood bees got the post, but the rose covered the damage. As I was wrestling with the monster, the welcome bracket popped off and the post slipped out of the rose. I now have a deformed monster with few leaves on the lower canes and deformed tops. the roots on this thing were so big that I had to cut them back to fit in this huge tree pot. I cut some of the top. I'll cut more in the morning. I never prune when I am angry. This monster better have gorgeous blooms, otherwise it may not be worth the bother. Of course, the label has faded.

I learned my lesson. I am only trying fancy maneuvers with thornless or nearly thornless roses. Mme. V is much easier to work with than the thorny monster whose name I forget. (It is a pink or white antique judging where I have her planted. that narrows it down - not)

Radler's Carefree Celebration is the rose that gets the most complements in my garden. Individual blooms aren't showy or fragrant, but the shrub stays healthy and covered in blooms all season. It is also one of the first to start and last to stop blooming. I don't have to worry about winter protection even though it is in the front of my rose garden, exposed to the strongest winds.

I haven't seen Peppermint Pop in person. There aren't many photos either. I thought it may look nice with my pink, white and burgundy roses and clematis. I am thinking of having a pink and white bed. (Flower bed, I switch my bedroom to pink and white for the summer.) I am waiting to hear about my rental application for this place that I like. It has a patio adjoining the bedroom. I envision pink and white flowers with the scent of roses and nicotiana wafting in the windows through my white lace curtains.

I like the eyeconic pink lemonade and the bullseye roses. They reminds me of Moore's persian autumn, peach, sunset, etc. roses. I was just getting into roses when Moore's business closed.

Do you grow Ebb Tide Toni? That one always catches my eye.

I added your hardiest purples to my list so that I can keep an eye out for them. Maybe I'll get lucky and find healthy ones.

In the meantime, I should be happy with the lavender and purple clematis and morning glories. (Star of Yelta purple morning glories were the first seeds I planted here. Grumpypants surprised me with trellises and seeds the first spring I lived here. I was in lots of pain from an auto accident and not able to do much gardening, but the purple morning glories come back every year. I popped some seedlings in a hanging pot to bring along. I have seeds saved as well.)

Recently, I have become interested in the Japanese morning glories - I. nil. They come in all sorts of wonderful colors.

I like dark purple accents with my warm pink/peach/coral roses. With yellow roses, I like blue and/or lavender and white.

I am looking forward to recombining my plants in new color groups. It makes digging everything up less of a chore.

My favorite current combo is Carefree Celebration and Johnson's Blue cranesbill geranium. I am keeping those together in my next garden.

A new combo that I am considering is bubblegum pink and golden yellow. I was inspired by my Tree peonies and Jens Munk. I like the golden yellow centers against the bright pink petals. There are tons of yellow annuals that could complement Jens Munk, William Baffin (with its trellis companion Rubromarginata clematis) and Roseberry Blanket (the only groundcover rose I have that behaves itself).