Years ago I planted this grouping of own root China Roses in the semi-shady front yard of a long time north Tampa landscape client who loved her eclectic collection of own-root Tea Roses plus 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' in her sunny back yard. As I recall, these China Roses were four years old when I took the photo. But this was way back when there were no watering restrictions in Tampa. I think I will pay her and her roses a visit to see if both are still thriving. She was quite elderly even then, an immigrant from Holland with a thick accent...her first name was "Jopie", pronounced "Yo-pee", and she had a colorfully cranky yet warm personality indeed. If she has passed, I will be curious to see if the new owners kept her roses as she especially loved her hyper-vigorous 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' and 'Duchesse de Brabant' and 'Lady Hillingdon' and 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' and the 'Souvenir de Mme Leonie Viennot' that back then High Country Roses sold as 'Gloire de Dijon' and that had consumed the east side of her home. Her landscape once again demonstrated that own-root China Roses can perform luxuriantly in less than the full sun they prefer. None of her roses were diseased as I relied on NOT spraying and instead adding beneficial microbes and macro-organisms to control bugs, fungi and pathogenic bacteria. It would be so cool if I can locate her yard and find her AND her roses stalwart as ever! John
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