I know it's low-resolution, but these are the blooms from my rosebush from last June, just remembered I had this photo somewhere.

we use the same camera! Canon Rebel Xti. Capturing red roses that are true to the colour our eyes see - (Obviously - the camera sees something else!). The only solution I have found is to shoot a lot of pictures in different light conditions - it is harder to find the right light conditions when the rose is still attached to the bush - pick a perfect rose and try taking pictures different places in the garden - in dappled shade, overcast, or in dusk/dawn using blitz or set the light with different foil reflectors you can make a small one from card board and crumpled alu-foil (great on overcast days to create the right light - try alufoil reflectors in different colours too. Experiment with settings like the others recommend - you will get it right - at least with digital cameras we can erase the pics we don't want. Do remember that the "killer" pictures we often see are taking in studio setting where the light and exposure set by prof. photographers do get it right. And then they even photoshop the near perfect pictures on top of that! We Can't compete with that. We will however sometimes get a great rosepicture - but with red roses in their natural place on the bush in different light conditions - very rarely! Sunny/light clouds: No Blitz Sunny + blitz: Dappled shade in very sunny conditions - using the macro setting (kit lens) no blitz: - in the future I am going to bring my red roses to this exact location - use the same settings - that is if I have a beautiful flower that day! ( This is a Tuscany - not a HT): This year I will try to get the red Austins right - they have an amazing range of colours on the same petals/flower - I am tired of the pinkish/mauve colours that are not as red as I see them. I have gotten some better lenses now than the kit lens - but even the kit lens was so much better than any point and shoot camera. Keep experimenting and trying - shoot shoot and shoot...

Thirding Seil- I've not had much success growing things in terracotta - they are just too hard to get the watering right. In addition to the baking problem, they dont tend to drain when theres lots of rain. Possibly the ones you get in the US are of a different make, but every terracotta pot I have seen here just has one central hole for drainage down the bottom , which just doesn't work as well as the several holes around the bottom that most plastic type pots have. And terracotta is very awkward to drill holes into!

Well I’m glad I stuck with the sunburnt Valencia, it has had a few beautiful flowers which stay for ages on the bush, and has lots of new leaves. I did mound up some lucerne and pea straw mulch around the base, have been feeding it and gave some Epsom salts and suddenly 3 shots have appeared from the base and are growing like crazy. I’m a bit worried they are suckers rather than basal shoots .. I’ve dug down but it’s hard to see, it looks like they are coming FROM the grafted place rather than above or below it. do these look like suckers to you? I could wait until they flower but I’ve read that suckers often don’t flower the first season and by then may have taken over