I had a feeling the HD sale was how Parks was moving their stock this year. Oh well. The only thing that's bugging at me is that with all this rain, this would have been a surprisingly good time to plant bareroots.

Did you have some specific roses in mind? Or were you just anxious to see what they had?

I was sorry I'd passed up Livin' Easy at the HD sale, so that was on my list. Otherwise, I thought I might find more Buck roses. I love the ones I acquired from them in past years.

Or something new. I never would have gone out looking for Scarlet Meidiland, but the two I bought from the Parks sale are covered with buds and blooms as I write this.

That's funny because I lamented not buying Livin' Easy, too. I just did not want to create any more beds this year. I think you're going to love Scarlet Meidiland. It's a pretty plant! Next time they have a sale, you should try sevilliana. I think you'd like it.

Scarlet Meidiland and Sevilliana have bloomed and grown more than any other roses I have. They came from the bare root sale they had in 2006, along with Linda Thompson and several others. They got moved out of the rose garden because they got too big, and the colors clashed with all my pastel Austins. They deserve a bed of their own, anyway. The HD roses are already blooming, and while it seems like too many when I'm planting, once they bloom I always regret not buying more! Of course, this year we've had incredible rains and cooler temps, so even the body bag roses have flourished. I think the Wayside Buy 1 get 2 free sale was the clearance sale. I bought several, and one got cancelled for some reason, but the rest have not been shipped yet! They were supposed to go out today, but who knows... They are J&P stock instead of wayside. My very best performers are the ones I bought bare root. The potted bushes from local nurseries start out as bare roots from Weeks or J&P and are grown out in cool greenhouses, and they take forever to adjust to the garden. The bare roots either make it or don't fairly quickly. When Wayside/Parks posts clearance roses, I buy types I wouldn't normally look at like minis and ogr's and rugosas, and I've been really happy with all I've tried. I'm also more likely to buy in multiples on the sales. I'm beginning to understand the design principle of planting in groups. My group of Julia Child is awesome, and so is my row of Fourth of July, and today I saw the first buds on my hedge of Carefree Wonder. I'm hoping it looks like Pappu's someday. All were clearance roses! Anyway, if there is a late sale this year, I sure hope someone posts it! I'm still looking for Disneyland Rose, Laura Bush, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sweeet Promise, Catalina, Bishop's Castle, Chihuly, Happy Chappy. That's my fantasy, finding all those for 2.69 each with free shipping, haha.
cindi

Interesting what you say about planting in groups, Cindi. I've always planted perennials in groups of three, but never considered doing this with roses. I guess I've been thinking like a collector . . . always wanting to leave room for different ones. For that reason I ignored the Wayside sale. But I'll bet the effect of planting in groups is wonderful.

I have my red roses in a separate bed, with the exception of Champlain. It was one of my first roses, and the plant is very small and pest-prone. A less sentimental gardener would have shovel-pruned it a long time ago, although it puts out a flush in late fall that makes me forgive (or at least forget) its sins.

Alisande,
I put my red roses in their own area also. I underplanted with purple Homestead verbena, which is usually hardy here. I decided to do a family bed and put red roses that were related to Charlotte Armstrong and Chrysler Imperial together, then a grouping of Mr. Lincoln together. Once I started looking at Help me find's lineage page, it was easy to choose a group that I liked. Scarlet Meidilland and Sevilliana are so "out-there" in color that they clash with anything else. My mother in law is an artist and she suggested planting them with a deep purple rose. That would be wild! If I can get Burgundy Iceberg cheap, I might do that. I agree about collecting one of everything...i love to try anything new. My emphasis changed when I saw Pappu's photo of the Carefree Wonder hedge, and his Easy Going row. I never knew roses could look so lush! I don't want it to look like a commercial planting, but there is something very soothing about a swath of one color.
This is silly, I know, but it's even hard for me to shovel-prune a rootstock of Dr. Huey when the main plant has died! I feel obligated to transplant it someplace since it goes to all the trouble to bloom...
On perennials, I buy one because I can usually propagate another if I like it. I have a 300 foot long shrub row with 50 different shrubs because I thought I would pick the best, take cuttings, and convert it to a row with 1 kind. nope. It looks like a crazy quilt, and I can't pick just one. My favorite is whatever is blooming today!

Ha! I know what you mean about shovel-pruning. I have a tendency to anthromophosize, too. Or however you spell it.

Your gardens sound lush and beautiful!

I have Crimson Sky and Robusta planted with Scarlet Meidiland. They're all that intense red without a hint of pink. Here's Crimson Sky. I got it from the Park's sale last year.

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