Melissa, I can just see the combination in my mind. I truly hope the bloom times coincide. It sounds lovely. You know I grow a *lot* of ramblers and climbers. I'd never heard of Rose-Marie Viaud, but now I have to search out a source. With my luck, only Rogue Valley will have it and I might not get the correct rose, lol.

Melissa, you have such an ability to conjure up beautiful vistas that make my heart happy. You seem to have all sorts of lesser-known roses that sound so very interesting. I remember seeing Russelliana in a small nursery in the California gold country years ago and I've never forgotten that rose.

It does indeed sound wonderful.and I totally agree with Jackie,and share the love of wildness in a garden. It is SO difficult to work out placement though! Getting the bloom times to coincide,getting the colour combinations right-at least with the ones that you know for sure will become huge you don't have to dither too much about size-at-maturity and spacing as well, which is what I'm trying to plan now in my "floribunda" areas (three particular spots near the entrance to the garden in which I am attempting to grow a mix of floribundas ,non-huge old roses and modern ,modest climbers).

About Russeliana-when in rose season does this bloom? I've been wanting this rose for some time now, but I want to avoid ones that only begin to bloom late in rose season when it gets too hot to enjoy them...

Mine is in full bloom now, bart, and has been flowering for some time. It comes with the once-flowering old roses--I know that's vague--not as late as the latest ramblers, and not as early as the warm climate roses.

I'm all for shade, that's for sure. I've been shearing grass and weeds from around the roses down in the newer part of the old garden, and there are just a couple of places where the hedges backing them up--that is, that's the plan--have grown above head height and offer some protection from the sun. It needs a lot more though.

Jackie, John, Ingrid, good to hear from you. I think not too many people are willing to give room to once-flowering roses with a wildish air, some of them large. For me, they're among the most beautiful roses, which is why I grow them, along with their frugality. I wonder whether many places in the U.S. offer conditions for them to thrive, too. After all, their origins are European and Mediterranean, and the humid hot summers of much of the U.S., and the lack of reliable winter chill in the deep South, may not suit them. I have discovered, though, that there are a lot of beautiful and healthy roses that don't seem to be much known, and yet they're as good as more famous varieties.

John, there are so many beautiful ramblers! I hope to have more in my garden as the years pass; the Wichurianas do pretty well here, and I love them. Good luck in your search.

P.S. Here is a recent photo, of 'Paul Ricault' and 'Suaveolens', looking somewhat the way I think roses should look:

It worked!

BEAUTIFUL!! Purple/wine and white are a favorite combo of mine, and your successfully executed color weaving is stunning! You deserve to savor this moment after all your hard work and determination. I’m glad you have a camera to record it. Well done! Carol

Melissa, I love your Paul Ricault. The combination with Suaveolens is gorgeous. You appear to have the real thing. What I bought as PR is much lighter, and I've tentatively identified it as Paul Perras, thanks to an entry that Greg Lowery made on HMF under PR. It seems almost all the plants sold here are incorrect. Mine came from High Country Roses years ago, and Rogue Valley has the wrong one as well. Evidently Vintage had the correct rose, but unless I can find someone who bought it from them, I'll never have the real thing, which I reallllly wanted, lol.

Does your PR repeat? It supposedly does. My "maybe-Paul Perras" doesn't.

bart bart - Re Russeliana - mine (20+ yr old plant) blooms as Mellissa said - not the first of the old once bloomers, but before the late or modern ones. This year everyone's bloom time was goofed up by the non-stop storms we had in Jan through the first half of April, so it bloomed a little bit later, and is just finishing now - started blooming at the beginning of May.

Melissa - your photo of Paul Ricault & friend DOES look just like I prefer roses to look also! Every time I see a photo you have posted, I get excited, as it is so nice to see illustrations of your elegant writing about your garden.

Jackie

Carol and Jackie, thanks! Carol, the actual color is strong cool pink perhaps tending slightly toward purple. It may be the contrast with the white flowers, plus the bright light, that makes it look nearer purple in the photo than it actually is.

John, for what it's worth, my PR came from Petrovic in Serbia. I must utter a dark secret: 'Paul Ricault' is actually not a huge favorite of mine. It's a matter of personal taste: for me it's too coarse, and too hybrid in appearance--also the reason I don't care much for Bourbons, or the more Tea-influenced Hybrid Perpetuals. BUT when it's in bloom like now, who could not love it? Marvel at it? Enjoy it to the hilt? I've gotten a lot of pleasure from Paul this year. The flowers are huge, but in scale with the growth of the plant, very fragrant and a good color; the plant is healthy and has a good form, wide-branching and full, and it gets quite large. The flowers are good for cutting, I forgot that. I've never seen any rebloom on mine. Anyway, it's worth growing as long as you don't mind the lack of rebloom, and if you have room for a grandly bouncing rose. P.S. About 'Rose-Marie Viaud', she has started to bloom, and reminded me that I ought to warn you that she mildews, at least here she does. A word to the wise. The color is great, though.