Ingrid

I harvested a few bouquets myself this past Saturday because friends were coming over for dinner. I believe the forecast calls for rain--Tues and Wed--maybe I should go out and pick a few large bouquets for the house before the rain gets them.

I know WA isn't CA but just wondering what you think of this--silly name--Radio Times. I have, will have, a space open after I SP St. Cecilia, and might consider RT.

No worse a name than the idiocies which Weeks's publicity department comes up with each year. Betsy Poop anyone? Crush on You? (You have got to be kidding me on that one.) Ch-ching is a name apparently much resented by Asian Americans, many of whom are avid gardeners and why any company would want to insult or offend so significant a portion of its customer base I cannot imagine.

I found RT to be one of DAs most beautiful roses. It also bloomed non-stop through the summer heat in CA for me. It was not, however, a no spray rose. It contracted mildew each spring as well as BS whenever conditions were favorable for that disease. It likely needs high culture, a rich fertilizer regimen, which I could not at that time afford. It well repays the attention of the gardener. It also seemed to me to have a far smaller water requirement than many of DAs other varieties. I thought it behaved much like a China rose. Maybe it is one of the world's first hardy Chinas.

nastarana, what is "weeks"? Those names are terrible. There seems to be no imagination anymore. They just name it after a celeb or racehorse it seems. What happened to names like 'white pearl in the dragons mouth', 'tipsy imperial concubine' and 'Cuisse de Nymphe Émue'.

RT might work with lots of fertilizing. Some folks are claiming to grow it in zone 5 with no BS. I do consider it one of the few roses which repays extra TLC. I am also a won't spray person. Between children in my yard and the need to conserve our pollinators, I have sufficient reason to boycott garden chemicals.

Apparently they sponsored this rose's naming.

Ingrid

Yes, LA was warm all through winter. I didn't turn the heat on for once! And of course the roses were blooming much earlier. In fact, YL is winding down right now, just finishing his spring flush because of the unseasonably warm winter, but the quality of his flowers--well, all the roses around here or so they seem--suffers and appears to be less than perfect.

Your garden pics on your spring flush threads look absolutely stunning, your garden is just simply extraordinary! Thank you for sharing.