Thank you for the wonderful invitation. I was looking at the website in the wee hours of the morning but sadly, the website is down. I hope to be able to see it after I return from work this evening. What a great opportunity. Thank you for posting this and inviting all of us to it via the web.

Hmm, don't know what the problem with the website was last nite, but we're back up now. Thanks for letting us know, mustbnuts.

Kathy

Thought you would like to see pics of the two roses up for the naming rights auction next Sunday. Both are gorgeous new mini's, one a soft pink with lighter reverse by Whit Wells, and the other a stripey by Dave Bang.

And just for kicks, if you like them, give a suggestion or two for names (even if not bidding) -- that can always be interesting.

Whit Wells naming rights rose:

Dave Bang naming rights rose:

Kathy

I received a question from a forum member and I thought that others might be interested, so am posting my response here.

Question:

Do you have any hardy repeat bloomers for zone 5-6?

Answer:

Since I know zippo about growing roses anywhere other than SoCal, I sent the question along to someone who has grown many roses in Michigan. According to him, 90% of the roses listed would be suitable for zones 5-6, most probably. Almost everything we sell is "own root," because we grow most of them from cuttings. Thus, even if something dies back to the ground, it is likely to return true to variety -- no graft dieback to worry about. He would especially recommend Miracle on the Hudson or anything bred by Ping Lim. (I went through the list for Ping Lim's roses, and came up with four: Forty Heroes, Head Over Heels, Salmon Impressionist and The Finest.)

And my own comment -- for the same reason that Ping Lim's roses would be good in cold zones (i.e., that's where Ping's test fields are) applies equally to Paul Jerabek's roses, which should be good to zone 4 (Paw Maw, Wee Butterflies and Zenaitta).

Further, if any zone 6 or cooler forum members have experience with any of the auction roses, please chime in.

So, what's the average starting bid amount? I bid on some last yr and didn't win any. Obviously my bids were too low. But I'm just curious what they mostly start out at.

Generally at $5 for the silent part and $10 for the live. But there are a couple of exceptions. One is that where we have paid for the plant to be budded (i.e., if we know that a particularly rare variety won't grow as an own root, which is true of a couple of roses), then sometimes we send budwood to either Steve Singer or Burling Leong to bud for us, and then we start bidding at whatever we paid for that. Another is that if we go half the auction without getting a bid, then we put it down to $3. That's why it's fun to be there for the auction -- you can run around and see what else is happening -- and you can "bottom shop," i.e., try to get the roses that you have researched, but which don't seem to be getting any traction from anyone else. I usually do end up with a couple of $3 roses, but you can never tell in advance which those will be. But never for a striped rose -- those usually are in high demand.

I have a name for one of your two striking and lovely minis...how how about Simsalabitty for the second one? Another bad joke from an old lady (me). I couldn't resist. Diane

Reminder -- if you are going to bid, please remember we need them no later than noon on Friday, tomorrow, the 6th. Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the heads-up & the timely reminder to get bids in pronto, Kathy! Wish I could join fellow rose lovers for the education & the fun. Well done!

I'm so glad your group allows people to bid without actually being there. It would be such fun to be there and watch the auction, listen to the speakers, take part in the whole party, but I'm happy that I at least have a chance to buy some roses long distance! Thank you!

So how did the auction go? Did you have good sales? The list of speakers was impressive. I would love to attend some year.

And we would love to have you come. The whole reason we set this up as an entire weekend event was to give out of town rosers the incentive to make the trip. And we have proven (to ourselves, at least) that it works, because we do get a really good out of town contingent, and all who come always tell us what fun they had. So the organizing work is worth it and the rare roses get broader distribution -- not just SoCal. So put something on your calendar for next year for the first or second weekend in November (we haven't yet set the exact date -- we try to avoid date conflicts with other local rosey events like the Santa Clarita show that got moved to our weekend this time after our dates were set, oh well).

DO COME! As the sign in my friend's garden says, "our roses would like to meet you."

Kathy

I will put October 2016 on my calendar, so I can make the resort rate deadline. To stay at a resort, hear brilliant speakers and bid on wonderful roses is definitely a great time. I will be counting down the days. Thanks :-)