Northeast Gardening: Introducing myself, 1 by Seandor

Seandor wrote:
Hi to Jan (aka Grandpapa).

Our house was built in 1899. It looks like a European burghermeister house. It was designed for a middle-class family who could afford a live-in maid - but not so affluent they could have a butler. Its about 4000 sq. feet. and has the original victorian bar in the 3rd floor games room. when you buy an older home, you have bought a 20 year hobby! My darling husband works very hard at restoring it. for instance, all the ornate brass door hinges had about 7 layers of paint on them. dave has been taking hinges off, boiling them (to loosen the paint), after removing all the paint, puts them back. Even the coat hooks in the front door way (which looked like they should be tossed) turned out to be these exquisite art nouveau styled hooks. :-)

As for the roses: Here is the list: Betty Harkness (small shrub); Margaret Merril (white shrub); Welsh Gold (apricot/yellow shrub - see picture); TESS OF THE D'URBEVILLES (red shrub); SCENTSATIONAL (2 minature roses);DARLOW'S ENIGMA (fragrant rambling rose); MIDNIGHT BLUE (dark purple); THE POET (small yellow shrub). All are rated as highly fragrant. I ordered them from Heirloom Roses, so they will be very small for two or three years.

I will get David to send me a picture of the house so I can post it. Any advice on the care and feeding of roses is much appreciated :-)

Cheers,
Seandor