Johny, you might be interested in an article written by Dr. Jerry Parsons in his 'Plant Answers' column, an interesting piece about the search for THE 'San Antonio Rose'. I've quoted a few lines below. "In the fall of 1987, Texas Agriculture Extension Service horticulturists began a search for the oldest ever-blooming roses in San Antonio. The purposes of the search was not necessarily to find the first roses ever in San Antonio, but to identify selections of old roses that are ever-blooming, low-maintenance and not currently (hot) on the market. The official judges were: Ms. Pamela Puryear of Brenham; Dr. William Welch, State Ornamental Specialist from College Station; and Greg Grant, Bexar County Horticulturist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. "To stimulate participation and find the "genuine" San Antonio rose, the Miller beer folks . . . posted rewards of $500 for the oldest ever-blooming rose bush that has endured the longest in this area, and $250 for the oldest ever-blooming rose variety identified in this area." Dr. Parsons recounts some interesting stories of old families and their roses and mentions the usual survivors such as Duchesse de Brabant, Lamarque, Louis Philippe, and Mrs. Dudley Cross, among others. The oldest bush found was what appeared "to be a bourbon X China cross, similar to *Louise Odier*". Dr. Parsons closed with these thoughts: "When all is said and done, the rose named Mrs. Dudley Cross, a cream-colored, very hardy, 1907 thornless tea rose, will have to be declared "the genuine San Antonio rose". This rose possesses all of the traits which a tough-enough-for-Texas rose must have. It survives abuse -- both environmental and that which is people-inflicted. It is old and historical. It is thornless (which is not a common trait for a rose!), has large, rose-type blooms, is abundant in San Antonio which indicates its adaptability, and is . . . as close to yellow as most old roses get. Since everyone always thinks of "the yellow rose of Texas", the Mrs. Dudley Cross variety IS the "GENUINE SAN ANTONIO ROSE". " If you'd like to read the entire article, you can see it at http://www.plantanswers.com/garden_column/oct04/3.htm Mrs DC is a favorite of mine. She's in full bloom right now in my front garden and is a show-stopper. No disease even in partial shade. I intend to plant more of her even if I have to remove some others for space. But even more than just my recommendation is that of the three esteemed judges mentioned above. You can't go wrong with Mrs Dudley. Lou

Carol, that's not even all of them! WISE PORTIA is a gorgeous rose, but unfortunately she's a stingy one. However, that being said, it could be the area where I have her planted. Or my lack of feeding maybe. There are roses around her that do just fine tho. Not sure what it is. I'm finding I really need to go back to alot of my beds and remove undesirable undergrowth and put down lots of mulch and fertilizer. Getting the time to do so isn't always easy tho. I do tho, think there are certain DA roses that need feeding more than others to be their best.

Sophia, Treloars ( in Victoria ) sell Soul Sister, bare root, winter mail order. They are on line, so, if you haven't checked them out yet, give them a look. They also have a very comprehensive list of DA roses. If you are looking for Julia Child at any time ( some VERY beautiful pics on various threads) Treloars have that listed as Soul Mate.

What a lovely row of JA. I like the lavenders in there too. I just got this rose from our local rose society. So glad it is so beautiful!