Andrea, on April 20th the Historic Rose Garden at the Historic Sacramento Cemetery is having a sale of rare roses, and tours, etc. If you go to it you will see all kinds of amazing roses that have been growing in CA since the gold rush, and will be able to really see what kinds you like (and perhaps purchase some right there!). There will be a catalogue of the roses for sale (which if you look on here will be available for free), with pictures, descriptions, etc. Of course, the good news is that they all grow well in Sacramento! I really would go there before making any decisions - it is only 5 weeks from now.

Jackie

How much room do you have to fill? Some of the antique roses can grow to be very large bushes in your climate.
New Hybrid Teas usually can be kept narrower.

I would recommend some Hybrid Teas that have big blooms, but they are not antiques.

Andrea, we rarely get into the 100's here (if that's what you mean by heat) but we have an incredibly hot sun and get into the mid-90's for almost 5 months a year. Hopefully, teas are not problematic for you, but White Maman Cochet, Bermuda's Anna Olivier and Mrs B R Cant shrink very little in the summer, if at all. Maman Cochet does very well, too. Chrysler Imperial stays pretty big.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Hi Jackie,

I went last year. I was a little late and most all of the roses had already been sold. Of the varieties that were left, I felt absolutely clueless. This year, I want to know exactly what I want. I want to feel educated (a little) so that I am not blindly looking at the rose babies and shrugging my shoulders. Also, they go so FAST! I think I want to know what I want so I don't miss out. I prefer to buy from the cemetery. :)

When I went last year, the person I went with wasn't really "into" the roses, so I couldn't stay long nor could I see much. This year, I am bringing a friend who loves to photograph everything. She will stay with me as long as I want.

I will definitely see the roses at the cemetery before buying anything. Are there Austins at the cemetery?

The cemetery is a rose garden where they grow old old roses, most of which have been found in old gold rush towns, or other old towns all over CA. There are some modern roses there, mostly planted on graves by family members. I do not know if there are any Austins.

When you go, be sure to go on a tour - that way you will see all sort of the roses, and someone will be with you who can answer questions. You don't have to buy a rose there, but if you get an idea of what kind you like, folks on here can tell you what specific ones to look at on line, and where to purchase them.

Jackie

Paul Neyron has enormous blooms (and terrible rust) and Peter Mayle has absolutely gigantic cabbage heads of a slightly lurid pink - but boy, does it have some fans. Someone here (Dublinbay, maybe?) sometimes posts a pic of Peter Mayle which is quite astonishing (and definitely not for the faint-hearted)

In a few days, I'll be receiving a rose I have fallen in love with.I have no first hand experience with it, but I do have a number of Tantau (German) roses that I love, especially the ones hybridized by Evers, who also hybridized my new rose, the hybrid tea, Augusta Luise. AL has 6 inch blooms with an old fashioned bloom form. The color is not of the past, though. Take a look at Augusta Luise on HMF and see if she looks interesting to you. I can't wait for mine to arrive. Diane

I am ordering Baronne prévost at the recommendations of several folks here on Garden Web. Many who also live in Southern CA and say it does well for them too. You might like it.

Another rose I also hear a lot about and which is considered a top bloomer and healthy is Belindas Dream.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baronne Prévost

This post was edited by lola-lemon on Tue, Mar 12, 13 at 22:35

Is this what you are talking about, campanula?

Peter Mayle
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Yes, he puts out the largest blooms in my gardens! And let's the whole world know it with his vivid color!

Lurid? I mean, really, campanula! Hot pink--OK, that's accurate. And planted in the right place, he will attract the attention of all visitors who are immediately impressed with him.

Valencia is probably just about as large, but much slower on the rebloom than Peter is. Very refined shade of buff/gold/hint of apricot/a whiff of cream color--for those over-stimulated by Peter the Hottie!

Kate

He's gorgeous, Kate, and I love the color. Here where the sun blazes down all summer (like Kansas), wimpy colors just fade away, or melt into the background. Seriously, we need strong colors to stand up to the sun, or our gardens look like faded photos. Diane

Oh, I love the colour too, Kate - I just have never much cared for those huge blooms with a zillion petals (but hey, tastes change all the time and I guess if I came across such a rose, at the right time, in the right place, I would be quickly converted).

Yours certainly stuck in my memory!

not an antique, but "The Doctor" ht has very large blooms but it doesn't have great rebloom. It's fine, it's just not what I would call a fast rebloomer.

Captain Harry Stebbings has HUGE blooms, also a ht, but I can't speak to the rebloom at all as I don't own it.
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Wow, aimee--that's a big and loud one also! Between your Capt Stebbings and my Peter Mayle, we are going to have to start handing out sun-glasses, I do believe!

Kate

Wow! Those are some really beautiful and large roses!!

When I was planning my wedding, I was part of a forum much like this one and so many women wanted peonies in July or August. This isn't possible, but "not to fear" said the florists, "we will just substitute David Austin or 'cabbage roses for peonies.'" I assumed that the blooms of these roses were as large as peonies. I think maybe I am wrong? If the bloom has an old fashioned form, it will be small? If it has a more modern form, it has the potential to be very large?

Of all the OGRs we've ever grown, 'Paul Neyron' is easily the largest flowered. But the very largest rose flower we've grown was the 1973 HT 'Medallion', which can be truly enormous. I'm rather sorry I don't grow it anymore.

Mrs. Dudley Cross, a tea rose, has quite large and very beautiful blooms, cream-colored and with pink borders in warm weather. William R. Smith is another beautiful tea rose that has very large blooms of a silvery pink.

They look big an fluffy when fully opened. This sport has the ruffled edges but I have bought Medallion before and it did not have ruffled edges. There seem to be at least two different Medallions out there. One with ruffled petal edges and one without. I like them both.

Inherited this but have no idea what it's called. Mostly 15 or 16cm... Had the odd one go to 19cm

Great Century and Bride's Dream can easily produce 8" flowers. Not many at any one time, but they can be down right enormous. All roses will produce smaller flowers when temps are highest, some even shutting down completely. New Zealand, Blueberry Hill and Rhapsody in Blue are some of the worst for ceasing flowering completely when prolonged temps in the high nineties and higher are encountered. Kim

The California Dreaming rose I planted 10 months ago in Santa Barbara has blooms this month that are 8 1/2" . They start small and then expand enormously within a few days, or in the vase. Ron

I noticed my post way up there on this thread, and yes, Augusta Luise has big blooms as I was hoping for. Like the California Dreaming mentioned above, AL starts small and just keeps opening and expanding over a few days. Diane

Augusta Luise, about 7 inches wide

Royal Sunset has very large blooms -- though listed at 5". It is a beautiful climber. Sometimes it used to be mistaken for a Climbing Peace, in the days when Peace was ubiquitous in gardens, but Royal Sunset is more graceful and also fragrant -- unlike Peace.
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.100443

Just Joey also very large. I think it is one of the most beautiful of all the roses, though maybe needing special care and feeding (mine died). A commenter on helpmefind says its blooms can reach 7" if disbudded. It too is listed as 5" (average bloom size). Both it and Royal Sunset are apricot in color.

Then there is Reichsprasident von Hindenburg (1933), which is said to be very large and very fragrant and a soft, gorgeous pink. It is descended from Frau Karl Druschki, an old HP, which is scentless but also very large and the most dazzling white imaginable. I have never seen but only read about Reichsprasident, myself. Listed as hardy only to zone 7.

If I were you, I would go to the cemetery a week beforehand and walk all around to see which roses you admire best. Make yourself a longish list of possibilities. They will not all be available for sale, just a selected few each year. Jeri usually publishes a link here to the roses propagated for the year. Then when the day of the open house comes, arrive well before the sale begins. People who want specific roses start lining up at least a good hour in advance because as you said, they go quickly.

BTW, I am not aware of any exceptionally large flowered rose, modern or antique, that blooms continuously, though a number are repeat bloomers.

Rosefolly

Abbaye de Cluny often has six inch blooms. Diane

And Evelyn sometimes has blooms as large as Sarah Bernhardt peonies.

Kittymoonbeam, do you still have your pink sport of Medallion.... do you know where it is sold.... Medallion is one of my best roses here in Florida. I now have 2 on fortuniana.... but I also have 2 on own roots... and a dr huey one at my office. I would love to get the pink sport. Do you find that its bloom and growth habit to be the same as the original.

Thanks for any info that you might have on this rose.

Thank you

Sharon

A once-blooming climber with huge and very distinctive flowers is the spectacular Madame Grégoire Staechelin (aka Spanish Beauty), which blooms for over a month and is said to repeat in warm climates. Otherwise, I second Royal Sunset and Just Joey. But the others mentioned here are very good, too, to the best of my knowledge.

Sharon, I think Kittymoonbeam's sport was one she rooted herself from her own plant and not one she purchased. At least, that was my reading of it. Maybe She'll share a cutting.