For me, for the most part Austins are more disease-resistant and hardier than any hybrid teas I've tried to grow, but most of them still need spraying to keep blackspot-free. Some are worse than others for this. I've heard the newer Austin varieties fare better than the older ones. The Mayflower is one that is pretty much disease-free in my yard. There may be others like The Mayflower that someone else on this forum grows.

A really easy Austin to grow is Crocus Rose, the hardiest Austin I've grown and fairly disease-resistant. Pretty rose but there are so many others that are more gorgeous and fragrant--don't be discouraged from trying them, they may do very well in your garden.

Like Veilchen, I've found the Austins to be quite hardy here in zone 5 - the only one I ever had a problem with in terms of hardiness was Evelyn, and that may have just been the specimen that I had. Veilchen's also right about disease resistance - the newer Austins tend to be, on the whole, much more disease resistant than many of the older ones, as that is a strong emphasis on their present breeding program. Yet some of the early ones (Constance Spry, St. Swiftun) have been disease free for me with no spray. Heritage, another older but wonderful Austin, will get blackspot, but seems to grow through it with no problems here. I can get away without spraying Crocus Rose, Queen of Sweden, Huntington Rose, Gentle Hermoine, Jude the Obscure, and many other Austins. Some, like Gertrude Jekyll, will blackspot badly without spray, but are so amazingly fragrant that I wouldn't want to do without them. Check the David Austin catalog for those rated as most healthy.

In my zone 6 garden, I do not need to spray Mayflower, Mortimer Sackler, nor Queen of Sweden. Molineux does pretty good on its own, but might need an occasional spray.

You'll have to check the David Austin site for their hardiness rating--though I seem to remember that Mayflower is hardy to Zone 5. There is a new white Austin that is a sport of Mayflower and supposed to possess all the virtues of Mayflower--in which case, it ought to be really hardy and disease-resistant. Check the DA site on that.

There are probably other good choices, but out of the dozen I grow, those are the best.

Kate

They are not desease free.. but are generally better than most HTs in this area or old style Hybrid perpetuals.. which can even fare worse.

Honestly.. last year was terrible here.. 100 degree mugginess day after day.. it felt like the deep south or something. Most of my roses didnt fare well.

Anything in the Hybrid Spinosissima roses range will be desease free.. Other old roses will be all in different ranges, with different issues. Alot will have some sort of problem, but usually pretty minor..

My biggest issue with all of my roses is japanese beatles lol...
Fr�hlingsduft

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Double Scots White

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BTW if you are going to do one Austin rose in the north, Im with Vielchin, crocus rose is terrific here.

crocus rose

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silverkelt

I grow a number of Austins, and they all get blackspot late in the season, but I don't find it to be a problem for them. They are wonderful roses, and tolerate cold very well. They repeat bloom well, and form beautiful shrubs.

James Galway is my tallest Austin, Eglantyne and Sharifa Asma are some of the most winter hardy.

Geoff Hamilton and James Galway are somewhat more resistant to blackpsot than some of the others.

These pics show a few of the Austins, showing them in the garden setting.

James Galway is in the background.

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Eglantyne (as a young shrub in this pic)
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Krista: I wonder how you keep your Eglantyne bush looking so good and full of blooms?? Eglantyne is my WORST performer among the 10 Austins I planted this summer. It is the only one in full sun. The other 9 are partially shaded now, and they are full of blooms.

Eglantyne came in the mail badly blackspotted. It cleared up when I mulched with horse manure. Now it has healthy leaves, but no buds yet. Maybe I should move it to a less sun location?

Is your Eglantyne in full sun, or partial shade? And how do you make it so loaded with blooms?

Eglantyne is highly praised by David Austin. The Encyclopedia of roses wrote: "It has excellent disease resistant and continous bloom ... The flowers last very well on the bush, their vase life being exceedingly long." What do you think about its vase life? I LOVE its fragrance when I was at the rose park.

Many thanks, "Straw"

I've grown about 15 austins thru the years.

My easiest are Crocus Rose, Heritage, and James Galway.
Also, next on my list: The Squier, abe darby, mary rose, and winchester catherdral.

My toughest Austin is Constance Spry, which survived a tropical storm that ripped down her trellis and flooded many other roses in the area, but she survived. Also very blackspot resistant and vigorous rose. Once blooming, but a glorious flush.

Second toughest and vigorous Austin is probably the Generous Gardener, which is also very resistant and repeat blooms too.

Other reasonably healthy Austins are Sharifa Asma, Heritage, Teasing Georgia, Munstead Woods, Gentle Hermione, and Sweet Juliet.

I will never be without 'Constance Spry' in my zone 4 and zone 6 gardens and my plants are 19 years old. I have grown many Austins over the years but the only three left are 'Constance Spry', 'Gertrude Jekyll' and 'Sir Clough'. All the rest eventually died off. 'Gertrude Jekyll' and 'Sir Clough' are in zone 6. 'Sir Clough' makes a 4' to 5' shrub with good foliage and loosely double vibrant pink flowers with a ring of golden stamens. While the vibrant red 'Knockout' is eye searing and ugly, 'Sir Clough' manages to be both very bright and an attractive color. It makes a great landscape shrub as it provides a focal point of color in the landscape.

Thank you Krista, for saving me the hassle of moving Eglantyne. I was about to go outside to move it, but my intuition told me I should check for your answer. Krista, you save me lots of time and hassle, many thanks.

Eglantyne that I saw at the rose park has NO where the number of blooms as in your pics (they fertilizer with chemicals). Yes, organics are the best, since they are lower in salt than chemical fertilizers.

I have the best result in my garden the organic way, and the worst result was when I used chemical fertilizers.