David Austins are gorgeous, indeed, but they are notorious for getting blackspot in this area. So, you may need to have a regular spray program to control this. I'm growing about 40 David Austins in a no spray situation to see which ones do well enough for my standards. One that is a shining star for me so far is Benjamin Britten.

Others that I really like that are showing some better than average (for a David Austin rose) disease resistance include

The Pilgrim
Leander
The Alexandra Rose
Teasing Georgia
St. Cecilia
Cymbeline
Tess of the d'Urbevilles
The Herbalist

Keep in mind, however, that most of my roses are still VERY young.

Robert

There are a few David Austins that do fairly well against blackspot in this area. Favorites of mine are Pat Austin, Prospero, Pretty Jessica, The Prince, and Sharifa Asma. I tolerate blackspot as long as the roses don't completely defoliate and look like thorny sticks all summer and these keep at least some of their foliage :-) My climate may be completely different from yours even though I am in the same state because I am closer to the mountains than the coast.

Carol

Carol, glad to see 'Pretty Jessica' on your list of Austin's that do fairly well against blackspot for you! I have one happy one growing in the ground and one more on the way for a patio pot.

Randy

My list would almost mirror Carol's except I do not have Pretty Jessica. One that has done well for me that is not on Carol's list (perhaps because it does not do well for her or because she does not grow it) is Belle Story. I cannot imagine anything not doing well in Carol's garden. It is a real show place.

melis001, I'm not coastal, but I am definitely humid. A friend in town grows The Reeve and Christopher Marlowe and though they get blackspot, they do not defoliate. The Reeve is a 15 year old plant that has been moved several times, grafted but not on Fortuniana in highly amended soil, blooms in flushes, always has some BS leaves but keeps most of its leaves. She said she even trims off the lower growth, hoping that will reduce the BS on the rest of the bush, so for her naked legs isn't a problem. Christopher Marlowe is on Fortuniana, less than a year old and a very vigorous grower (probably what you'd call Jolly Green Giant), stays leafy, has fewer flowers but blooms constantly, and always has some BS leaves. They both have a strong, wonderful smell.

She also has Tamora (2 grafted not on fort and 1 own-root). The grafted ones are coming out of her garden, and she's giving the own-root more time since it's only a year and a half old. But none of them are vigorous. They're rather weak roses that get a lot of BS.

Sherry

I have tried and mostly failed at growing Austins here in KY with the noted exception of The Generous Gardener. It suffers very little blackspot and is quite vigorous. This will be its third season and I'm hoping for more bloom this year. It has a light pink, chalice shaped bloom with very good fragrance. The canes are long, arching and self-supporting but thin and lax enough to train along a fence or other structure easily. I have started to train mine along a deck rail. When it's in bloom it perfumes the entire deck.

Please note all I have tried so far have been own-root. I am trying many new varieties this year that have been grafted, some on multiflora and some on Dr. Huey for comparison.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Generous Gardener

Linrose, you should try grafted Austins - get them from DA (on Dr Huey).

I've grown a ton of Austins over the years and had only one that failed - it never made out of dormancy: Trevor Griffiths. All the others, most of them grafted, some own root, have done extremely well. They all need a good and regular amount of food (and water in hot and dry conditions) to perform at their best. I also always amended the planting holes thoroughly since we had heavy clay soil in NC.

The main problem for all roses in the US Southeast, even more so the coastal Southeast, is blackspot. Even my teas and noisettes suffered from it if I didn't spray fairly regularly. Bourbons, HPs, HTs, floribundas, all got it without protection.

To the original poster. If you're willing to spray (and amend the soil, if needed, and fertilize, of course), you should be able to grow any rose without sacrificing anything in the looks department. If you don't want to spray and don't want roses to defoliate from BS you should probably be a bit more picky. You could also try some Romanticas - a friend of mine in coastal NC thinks very highly of them.

There's one Austin you should stay away from unless you're willing to spray religiously, and that's Tamora. Mine were very beautiful and great bloomers, but they would completely defoliate when not sprayed (although they were vigorous enough to grow back their leaves rather quickly).

The Austins that did especially well for me when I lived in NC (which of course is not the same as coastal SC) were the following:

William Shakespeare 2000 (a must)
Sharifa Asma (a must)
Heritage
Molineux
Pat Austin (a must, but blooms can wilt in strong afternoon sun)
Abraham Darby
Crocus Rose
The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild
Golden Celebration (a must)
Fair Bianca
Radio Times
Portmeirion
Jubilee Celebration
Sophy's Rose
Jude the Obscure
Christopher Marlowe
Teasing Georgia (needs to time to develop good rebloom, but is absolutely stunning when in full bloom)
William Morris
James Galway (totally BS and PM free even without spray, very beautiful, but very slow rebloom)
The Prince (not a very strong plant, but a good bloomer with terrific scent)

Extremely beautiful is also Crown Princess Margareta, but if not sprayed relatively regularly she'll catch BS if she's in a moist location.

We live in southeast England now (Cambridge), and interestingly enough, the roses I grow here, Austins and others, perform very similarly compared to ones I had in NC. Among those I find also excellent are:

Lady of Megginch
The Prilgrim
Lady Emma Hamilton (a must, and although it will catch BS without any spray, it does not at all defoliate here)
Claire Austin (very healthy, always in bloom even in its first year)
Prospero (stays small, but blooms all the time)

Summer Song is a beauty of most unusual color with a fantastic banana scent, but its rebloom is a bit slow and it's not that BS resistant.

Young Lycidas also looks promising in terms of performance (and is very beautiful and heavily scented), but it's a brand new rose which I got last summer before its official release in the fall, and it's still too early to really tell.

Anyway, I hope this helps a little.

Andrea

Brought up this old post so you Austin fans can educate me on the newer varieties that can be grown here. I'm in coastal SE Virginia which is very similar in summer climate to Charleston SC.

Golden Celebration is terribly BS prone here. I still have it, and Tamora and Jude the Obscure which are not too bad. I love DA roses and would like to try more.

Recommendations on how newer varieties are doing in hot, humid climates please.

Carding Mill? Munstead Wood?

Both Carding Mill & Munstead do pretty well for me here in humid East Tennessee, MW I would say is in the running for my most BS resistant Austin. Carding mill can spot a little every now and then, but it bounces back quickly. Some other really good ones for me are: Lady of Shalott, Darcy Bussell, Pat Austin, Heritage, Teasing Georgia, Young Lycidas, Charlotte, & Tamora (I'm surprised this one is a problem child for some people)

One that I had a horrible time with but others rave about being resistant is Crocus rose, I don't know if maybe I did something wrong when planting or what but this miserable thing was always the first to spot, and it was naked by June, and it rarely regrew any of its leaves before fall, so it got thrown in the trash.

I also have Golden Celebration & love it SO SO much, but it blackspots like crazy for me, I am going to try to coddle it this year & prune it to keep it open in the center & see of it does better... I really hope it does because it is gorgeous.

Good luck with your choices!

Jessica.

One no one has mentioned is LD Braithwaite. Mine is a big, healthy bush that pumps out dozens of big bright red blooms every bloom cycle. No long "willowie" branch's. Just a big healthy blooming machine. Only draw back, no scent.