John Cabot, always reliably full of blooms early in the season. It's a very vigorous grower, and has plenty of thorns as well. I love how I can see it from far away, the color is very impactful. Bees love it, and it does make some hips but not tons of them. Very winter hardy.

Isabella Skinner, a very winter hardy rose with very few thorns. A good spring bloom so far, very vigorous growth but a bit floppy (I think I'll tie mine to the deck). Flowers always look a bit tousled but I think it's charming. It's growing into quite a beast and this is only year 3 from a band.

High Country Banshee, growing huge and suckering too. Thorny but not overwhelmingly so. Beautiful fragrant flowers that make hips reliably, and gorgeous spring foliage. I love this rose. Hardy to the tips every time.

Magpie, your garden is looking lush. I love your High Country Banshee. What a delectable rose. I'm very envious of all those iris too.

I love your roses, Magpie. Thank God for the Canadians and High Country Roses. Your Isabella Skinner looks better than mine. I grew her in Alaska too and I think she prefers colder climes.

Absolutely gorgeous, Magpie!

Wow, beautiful!

I've always wondered what High Country Banshee looked like in a real garden. That's impressive.

Just gorgeous. your isabella Skinner looks so much better than mine. i do wonder what makes her happy.

Magpie - incredible roses...so vigorous and lovely. My favorite is your John Cabot! I love how the color screams out...my kind of rose!

Thank you for your kind words, everyone! I'm glad to see the roses doing well this year, we've been lucky with spring rains so far to which I'm very grateful. Today my very small, slow growing City of York has bloomed. It is growing at glacial pace but I can be patient for it, because the flowers are so pretty. They look so clean and crisp while still being flouncy, plus they'll make pretty hips as well. It sits next to a baby Emilia Plater clematis.

That is an extremely charming bloom, Magpie! I love it the small curly petals in the interior.

Oohhwww, Magpie, looking good! High Country Banshee is fabulous! what a yummy pink.

I’m with you, nose, on liking those curly little petals around the stamens in the center of City of York. Very charming indeed! Cardinal Hume has the same little petals in the middle and I appreciate that rose a lot. Magpie, I am so happy to have you back to posting again! I missed you.

Magpie - that's a lovely, lovely rose with darling flowers!! I love how yellow the center is from the stamens. :) I missed you too...how did your tattoos turn out? That was a while ago, right? :)

Nice to see Isabel Skinner doing so well. I put one in last year on your recommendation and it has come in very nicely.

Ruby Voodoo was a new band that I put in last year at the end of summer. It's floppy so far. I'm not crazy about this bloom form I suppose, but it does have suuuuch a nice, strong fragrance. I haven't tested it in the vase yet.

Paul Ricault year 3? Sprawling out, quite thorny. Beautiful flowers with amazing fragrance, but the blooms are very heavy and the stems aren't holding them up very well so far.

Forgive me, these photos are taken at a bad time of day, lighting wise. The flowers are not really so hot pink. But the color is definitely louder this year,I'm not sure exactly what caused that. Blooms often have white edges or white stripes. It's sprawly so far for sure. Oh, it's called Himmelsauge. No fragrance:(

JoAn's Pink Perpetual, smells lovely and has pretty large,petal packed blooms that remind me of frosting. Just a baby so far.

The first blooms of Blush Hip, this is year 2!

Erinnerung an Brod, a lovely kind of purple. I love this rose. And so does my puppy, she always goes straight to laying underneath it when I let her into the garden. This rose is getting big in year 4. It's very entertwined with neighboring Guirland d'Amour and some President clematis.

Lovely roses, Magpie and your pup has such a sweet face.

I love that color, Magpie!

Magpie,

What extraordinary-heavenly blooms on your healthy rose bushes! I love them. Beautiful varieties of roses. Difficult for me to pick a favorite.

Errinerung-gorgeous purple lush blooms & sweet pooch!

JoAns PP-petal packed-excellent blooms!

Sweet -lovely Blush Hip.

Himmelsuage-fuschia enticing blooms!

Paul Ricault-Maybe my fave! Amazing cupped-petal packed blooms-Mmmm!

So many blooms for a vase!!

Ruby Voodoo-Nice hot pink & love her shape! Nice contrast to other roses.

City of York-Nice to have English history of York in there! Lovely delicate special rose!

Banshee-Lovely light pink cupped roses!

Isabella S. -A beautiful beast! Nice delicate blooms!

John Cabot-A stiking fuschia delicate profuse bloomer!

What a gorgeous garden you now have! Love the natural shaped and hardy roses! Yours are already in full bloom too! Wowza! Congratulations! All your planning and work is now coming to fruition! Lovely to have you back, too! Hope to see more of your gardens. Great thread! Thank you for sharing.

Magpie, your puppy beneath Erinnerung an Brod is just the sweetest. Beautiful rose.

Oh my gosh, Magpie, you have the most glorious roses!!!! We must have similar tastes because I love them all, and I also love how you grow them with abandon, nothing overly structured or controlled here. Your sweet puppy has such kind eyes; he must be a wonderful companion. Please do continue to show us your roses (and puppy too); this posting really made my day.

I love them too, Magpie! Your garden looks fantastic and your dog is adorable.

Thank you everyone! I appreciate it. I've been waiting many years for my bands to grow up into this, I'm sure you guys can relate to the loooong wait for a vision to hopefully come together. After several years, this is where this part of the garden is at. It's finally in a sort of mature state (although I'm sure everything will continue to gain size). Sadly, I see a few things that I don't LOVE and now I have to decide what to do, if anything.

Sidonie doing it's thing, sadly I can't get close to it right now but I'm happy to see it so big and happy this year. She's a thorny one for sure, but I love the way the spent blooms fade to a lavender color.

Laguna is having the best year it's ever had by far, size and bloom wise. I think this is year 4. The very unfortunate part is that even after all these years of maturing and plenty of water, the blooms still burn as soon as we get to 80°+. It's the only one that has such a big problem with burning. I don't understand why, and I am so sad to consider having to remove it after so long of hoping it would grow up nicely.

I can't get close to Alchemist right now, but you can see it tangling with Guirland d'Amour and a nearby clematis. The blooms are so gorgeous, I wish I could get a close up!

First ever blooms of a baby band of Great Western, this rose was a gift and I'm very happy to see it bloom. I like the color.

Oh and thank you all about my new puppy, she was part of a surprise litter of 8 pups! So I gave her a home. She's incredibly cute and also a being of chaos and destruction, as puppies often are. Her name is Lila, she's about 5 months old now? 4 or 5. And my Great Pyr mix is being the best nanny dog ever and I couldn't ask for a better helper.

Your photos are lovely, Magpie. I don't take out roses that burn here. I figure to each his own and every year is different. I guess I am not aiming for perfection.