This is a heartening report, Rick. The bloom will be glorious! We had a good rainy Winter here so joy can break out all over, at least in the garden.

I too enjoyed your report and should dearly love to visit the gardens there! Your description of them makes me almost see them in my own mind, and your photo of Claire Rose gives me great hope for my own young plant in my garden. Such an old fashioned beauty!

Welcome back, Rick, glad to see your enthusiasm bound, and that the weather has been favorable for an exceptional spring bloom. Keep us posted. Your photo of Clare Rose is certainly surreal...why we grow roses!

Moses.

Thank you so much for being a caretaker of uncommon roses and a promoter of those roses at so many heritage rose gardens! You are building a legacy for the future as well as enjoying the beauty yourself. Do keep up the good work and spread around the roses to keep them from fading away. Thanks for posting the photo - I didn't realize Clare was so beautiful! She's on my list now...

Cynthia

Thanks for the kind responses all. Cynthia, our sping plant sale is coming up here in the Okanagan on May 3 and 4th and we will have 25 1st year bare root rose plants.for sale, propogated from mother plants in the gardens. Included will be early English Roses such as Molyneux, Lilian Austin, Golden Celebration and Gertrude Jeykyl. They are very popular every year and go usually in the first hour. We make a large portion of our budget from the two plant sales we hold each year. So the collection helps support our work.

It pleases me to think that these roses are getting homes in the South Okanagan and we are sharing them with home gardeners. My one regret is that I cannot share them with all of your true enthusiasts on the forums. But at least the mother plants are here, now being curated in a public garden that is more than one hundred years young.

Cheers, Rick

I am so glad you will be growing the beautiful Clare Rose and the glorious Prospero. That is so generous of John to make these lovely donations. Diane

It's lovely to hear from you, Rick, and I so admire what you've accomplished in preserving old and uncommon rose varieties. When I lived in BC I once traveled through the Okanagan area in the summer and it was hot! I imagine it might be even hotter now. I hope you'll have time when the roses are blooming to visit here with more gorgeous photos.

Sheila, a special thank you for your stong support for John, Jason's and my efforts to get these roses planted in a safe, secure, public garden, albeit in Canada. you are a true believer in curating and protecting garden worthy plants, in the same ilk as Graham Stuart Thomas, David Austin Senior, John P. and Peter Schneider who is keen to support the curation to garden worthy roses from days gone by. This is anathema to the modern psyche, newest is best world view. At the very least, the mother plants we curate here in Summerland, will keep on keep'in on for many years to come and be ready to provide cuttings in the future if and when they are once more sought after.

Thanks again and Namaste,

Cheers, Rick

Thank you so much Rick.

I am always happy to hear of these roses being preserved, and especially under your climate conditions.