Thanks!

Over the years my bi-climate studies of own root roses, both Old and Modern, have been aided greatly by Mike Shoup of The Antique Rose Emporium, Heather Campbell at High Country Roses, Mark Chamblee at Chamblee's Roses, Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses, and Michael Marriot of David Austin Roses, all  generously donating plants to aid specific points of inquiry I was pursuing. This has helped me to confirm then share with retailers and my readers that in many if not most climates, own root roses can offer truly perennial performance. THANK YOU!

As I expand my Water Wise Container Rose Gardening experiments here in dry south Tampa, I'd be delighted to receive donated plants (I pay shipping of course!) of the following:

Sydonie
Old Blush
Champney's Pink
Secret Garden Musk
Mme. Berkeley
Mlle. Franziska Kruger
"Mr. Nash"
Belle of Portugal
Rosa moschata
"Portland from Glendora"
Devoniensis
"Not Park's Yellow"
E. Veyrat Hermanos
Thor
Blush Noisette
Radiance
Mme. Gregoire Stachelin
Mme. Isaac Perierre
Aloha
Maman Cochet
Paul Neyron
Rose de Rescht
Chrysler Imperial
Hansa

I hope to demonstrate that roses can be grown organically in this manner in central Florida without wasting increasingly scarce water. In the 1990s I planted a vast number of own root roses in my Bay Area clients' garden that thrived and gave them, and me, joy year after year. BUT....back then there were NO watering restrictions vs. the very severe ones that have become the norm since 2001. The super-busy hurricane seasons of 2004-2005 made Tampa wet indeed, and did much to delay the demise of roses all over Tampa, both own root and Fortuniana. My profound hope is that by easily modifying discarded 5-7 gallon buckets with a 3/4 inch paddle bit we can again grow roses both own root and on Fortuniana while using no pesticides and very little of the water that Florida is now perennially short of.

John