Yay!

That's wonderful Ingrid!

I just looked up Lauren, what a lovely rose! Also International Herald Tribune ! And I'm glad you could find the roses you really wanted the most, YP and Aunt Margy! Very happy for you and I hope they all do great!

This all sounds wonderful, Ingrid. Rain is such great news!

Yes, there's a storm front over a large part of California, traveling from north to south, so I hope some of you will also benefit from it.

Ingrid this is SO exciting! We totally get it...and, of course, you have to share with us...no one else would really understand. I'm so happy for you!!!!!!!!

Roses are wonderful, but rosy friends are the best thing ever!!!!

Ingrid: Still remember the gorgeous pics. of your Aunt Margy's rose.

I bought "Lauren" from Burlington back in 2012, but it turned out to be Baby Faurax with deep purple color and best scent ever (grape and spice), also the leaves were so pale in my alkaline clay. It was really tiny and I prefer Baby Faurax scent over Barcelona (also a tiny plant).

straw, from what I can gather Lauren is a larger, taller plant than Baby Faurax and other purplish polyanthas (I've had Lavender Mist and Violet Hood) and seems to be an excellent rose in every way. As always it has to be grown in one's own conditions to make a final judgment. When I look at my Rose Book (a notebook that's falling apart now) I'm actually appalled at how many roses I bought and often quickly discarded because for quite some time I didn't really understand that roses need at least three years to show their true character. I was also wild to try as many roses as possible because there was always another rose that just might be more interesting, more beautiful or better in some nebulous way. I had serious "rose fever" for many years!

I'm so thrilled for you Ingrid. It's almost like I'm ordering them myself! I'm afraid I also chucked dozens of roses without giving them time. A frightening amount. It's lovely to have you back on the forum.

Congratulations Ingrid, on taking steps toward restoring your garden and your joy!

If you don't have "Grandmother's Hat," I hope you will add her to your garden. She's a tough ol' lady and she handles drought better than most.

titian, what a joy to see your name here! Old friends and old roses, what could be better.

Jeri, I've definitely thought about Grandmother's Hat. The only caveat for me at this time is the matter of space, since GH is such a big girl. Should this project of mine actually succeed, that rose is definitely on my short list of desirables.

Good luck rebuilding your garden!

Here is my Lauren, which has grown like topsy (the original idea was that it would stay small around the standard rose of Peach Drift, as the other "small" polyanthas I planted around it did). We do have our gardener cut it back periodically, but it is determined to be TALL.

Jackie

Oh, Jackie!!! The beauty of your yard is staggering!!

I love that It's also playing with honeywort so well, Jackie.

Oh dear, I was expecting it to be a tidy little bush. On the other hand everything in your garden seems to be on steroids, Jackie.

Yes, almost everything in our garden seems to have "bigger is better" genes. That's why I get so excited when some roses (like Little White Pet and a few others, stay under 3 feet). The honeywort was planted once, and comes back in profusion every Spring. We cut it back when it starts to block the path to our front steps, and do nothing else to it.

Jackie