You have a special magic if you can keep Distant Drums clean. I have lost too many to give advice, and do hate to hear this about Golden Celebration.

Sammy

Molineux has some disease-resistance, but will have occasional BS problems. Jude the Obscure is supposed to have good disease-resistance, but I don't grow that one, so cannot vouch for that.

If yellow is what you are looking for, Morning Has Broken is the most disease-resistant yellow I know of, but it doesn't put out those big fat double blooms, if that is what you are looking for.

One clue when you are reading David Austin catalogs: He doesn't like to use words with negative connotations--like "disease." Instead, he calls disease-resistant roses "healthy" or "very healthy" or even "exceptionally healthy." To his credit, he has never called Golden Celebration "healthy"--which is to say, he is admitting it has some disease problems.

Julia Childs is probably a good choice, going by its reputation anyways. I haven't grown it, so can't really say.

Kate

Molineaux as a bush was not healthy for me. However, when I sp'd it, there was a 2nd plant entwined in the roots and when I separated them, it made a perfect tree form plant- all the growth was at the top. In a pot, Molineaux in tree form is fairly healthy. My GC is on his last season trial. I grew it as a climber but the only blooms were on the very top so I severely cut back the canes and they are all leafing out well. We'll see how he blooms and resists disease now. A good GC bloom is breath-takingly beautiful and fragrant.

Kate, it is all location specific.
Unfortunately Morning Has Broken was resistant here for couple years and then got it so bad, it was heartbreaking. Similar case to some other supposed to be resistant yellows, like Baby Love. Molineux and Jude are a little better then other Austins, but not really resistant. Better means they still keep some leaves, but still are mostly naked
Olga

Right now the only other "yellow" rose in my no-spray garden is Prairie Harvest. It's just hard to find any yellow, apricot, mauve or purples that can be grown no-spray. And I confess that Distant Drums is a demanding little princes-- I strip all the lower foliage and ruthessly prune to 3 or 4 widely spaced canes. If it gets BS, which it does regularly-- I cut it back. I place healthy potted roses between DD and my bay window so I can see just the blooms and not the pathetic plants!!!!!

I'm afraid that where blackspot is the big disease pressure, yellows are always going to be suspect.

:-(

If it's any comfort to y'all, some of the MOST blackspot resistant roses rust or mildew here.

(Gilda Radner was right. "It's always something.")

I'm not surprised about Night Owl.
I've had a few good blooms from this rose, but it's hard to remember them.
It bloomed for me in a 5-G, but has not set a bud since we put it in the ground a year ago.
So it's REALLY on borrowed time!
But the tricksy thing is that some others in that breeding line, while impervious to rust
and powdery mildew, actually blackspotted dramatically -- HERE! (They are No Longer With Us.)

Barbara -- What about the yellow, or yellow-buff Teas and Tea-Noisettes?
How are they for you, with re. to blackspot?????

Jeri

I don't grow any Austins so can't vouch for any you've asked for, but I have grown Julia Child for two summers. Last summer no spray it kept its leaves and bloomed well until the fall when it developed bs problems, but not enough for me to sp it. It lost maybe 30% of its leaves. Is this for an area with modern roses?

I do really iike the tea, Etoile de Lyon, and have it growing outside the herb garden near some viburnums. It's pale, though.

I moved JC into an herb garden between Prairie Harvest and April Moon, both of which have been good here. I've acquired atocha gold and have two golden fairy tales coming. I'll let you know how they do. I'm trying to grow yellows in this garden and need them to stay small as it's not a large area, so I'm not using many teas.

Kate, thanks for the help decoding Austin's prose.

Barbara - Does Prairie Harvest get any BS? I was thinking about ordering it.

When we moved in to our current house, I inherited a pretty healthy, dark yellow HT. The interesting thing about this rose was that it grew really, really tall in the summer and bloomed very heavily in the Fall. I wish I had appreciated it and took some cuttings before I tried to moved it (unsuccessfully). I think it was really old. I wish I knew what it was.

Jeri, Alister Stella Gray, Perle d'Or, Reve d'Or, Buff Beauty are great and I've heard Crepuscule should be too. I seriously doubt any of them could be confined to the small space currently occupied by Golden Celebration. I think the solution may be a shrub rose that can be trained as a climber-- maybe a Kordes. Where my bed is deepest I am growing Alister Stella free-standing with Comtesse du Cayla in front of her, very pretty! No public garden around here has any of the tea-noisettes-- the ones I saw at Monticello last spring were a leafless disaster. I need to go down to Columbia SC to Riverbanks to see if they're any better there. I love the noisettes!

You do need to come to Riverbanks and look at their garden. You could also stop by here, I have a few :-). Crepuscule and Reve d'Or are pretty much bullet proof here. They are never leafless. RdO is a monster, pure and simple. Crepuscule is better behaved and can be trained without fear of a great deal of blood loss. I have mine contained on a trellis and though large, isn't as rambunctious as RdO.

Golden Celebration has the most beautiful blooms, but I couldn't keep it clean here either. I wish I could grow more of the Austins, where they can be grown well, they are gorgeous roses.

Carol

I wonder -- Is blackspot a problem in England???? Jeri

Four Golden Celebrations out by the compost pile. No Austins left but Pat and Heritage.

Oh Carol, thanks for the invite and GREAT to hear how those 2 noisettes do for you. I'd say if you can grow them I can too. Funny, I barely recall any thorns on my Reve D'Or in Texas, which was from ARE. Where did you get yours, do you remember? Patricia, glad to hear you still have Pat Austin. Not everybody's cup of tea but I have seen some gorgeous plants.

Barbara,

YOu may want to give Teasing Georgia a try. She does show more BS resistance than Molineux and GC for me. I'm also finding Crown Princess Margareta to be better (more on the apricot side though)

Robert

In wet and damp Cornwall in England, the yellow David Austin roses that I grew, were, Graham Thomas, Golden Celebration, The Pilgrim, Teasing Georgia, and the apricot Crown Princess Margarita.
The worst for blackspot were, firstly, Graham Thomas, next Golden Celebration, then, Crown Princess Margarita.
The Pilgrim and Teasing Georgia were the best. Remaining clean most of the summer.
Daisy

Olga, I am sorry to hear about Morning Has Broken. I put this rose on my wish list a few years ago when I saw a picture you posted. I picked up at Roses Unlimited last Friday. Julia Child does not seemed to have faired very well this winter, so I decided to try MHB.

I am still hoping that Alister Stela Gray will show signs of life this spring. As I recall I had the same fear last year and then it suddenly burst into buds.

Kathy - always searching for a good yellow rose.