Let's see, I have Golden Celebration, L.D. Braitwaite, Mary Rose, Heritage, Teasing Georgia, Evelyn, Othello, Jude the Obscure, Crown Princess Margareta and Graham Thomas. I love them all but the best blooms I love are those from Graham Thomas and Heritage. However they are both stingy bloomers for me. Seeing them bloom is nothing short of a miracle. In terms of vigour, Golden Celebration and LD. Braitwaite (many years) are great in my area and it looks like Teasing Georgia and Evelyn will be as well (this will be the second season). If I could only add one more Austins, any of the following will be good for me: Queen of Sweden, Olivia Rose, The generous Gardener, Abraham Darby, Munstead Wood, Lady of Shalott and William Shakespeare 2000. But then again, as other posters already mentioned, it is very hard to choose just one more. I would suggest you research it more to see which ones does very well in your area. I am also picky with disease resistance roses nowadays. That is one of the big factor for me as I don't spray in my garden. Good luck.

Hi guys! I don't think any of the DA's was intended much for cut life, I read in old threads here and there reference's and some info about DA now beginning to take this aspect in to consideration when working on new hybrids. The lady in Texas told me the varieties mentioned above as having about 3-4 days in the vase. That's enough for me, As it happened I picked up the GC and a GT from a local nursery, there were several GT full of buds, I decided against them and went with one without. I won't be planting it for another week almost and wanted to stress it the least since were having a heatwave this week. I wonder if I made a mistake now, the shrubs full of buds looked glorious. One of the pots had a 3' cane shooting out of it all gangbusters healthy looking but same again, I decided against it. The GC however was a different story, Rather sad looking in it's shroud of blackspot. I drove a pretty hard bargain and got a $18 markdown. It seems healthy enough but is nearly naked and I'm not sure if I should cut the thin canes back? What about the GT, are the canes bendable? With the emergence of the Japanese Beetles I feel I must abandon my original planting scheme. Several of the locations for the new Austins are simply too close to their route. I don't know why they are not eating every thing in sight since I only find them on these two old rescue roses. Not getting the DA's this year is not a option. On I'm off to pick up the ADarby and the WCathedral on Wednesday and then on Sunday I'll round up the Lady Shallot and possibly Darcy Bussell. One final question: what you guys think about a A Darby mixed with Clematis Viticella Luxurians or possibly Betty Corning? Neither has no issues with blackspot and should be safe to comingle. I'm not confident enough to trust my minds eye. Everything looks great but it don't translate to reality all the time. Thank you!

Sebwin, Part of the difference between how well a grafted rose does as compared to an own root rose of the same variety, depends on your growing zone. In colder zones the extra boost of vigor and winter survivability a good rootstock gives the top graft bestows many grafted roses an edge. This is seen very dramatically with miniature roses, which are not usually available commercially as grafted bushes. Almost all miniature roses are sold own root, but when grafted they grow unbelievably vigorously, considerably larger, and with far more abundant flowers than own root minis produce. There are plenty of roses that grow very well own root in northern climes, but my experience has taught me, when grafted, a rose will do better up north than an own root. I have no experience growing roses in warm zones, but I believe the own roots do very well there, and when grafted may turn into monster roses. Moses

I'm not much help as I can't smell most fragrant roses (Sharifa Asma being the exquisite exception to that) but I can comment on potential for climbing in a cold zone. I grow or have grown most of the Austins you list - everything except Wedgewood Rose, Bathsheba, and Ancient Mariner. Among the rest of them that you list, the only one that reliably climbs for me is Crown Princess Margaretha and it almost never blooms unless it has surviving cane, and without snow cover it never does. So lots of limp long green canes but no blooms. The Generous Gardener hangs out under an arch and sticks a finger out to reach the arch most years by the end of the season, but it won't climb and has poor rebloom. Teasing Georgia is a big shrubby bush as is The Poet's Wife but not a climber form in my world. A Shropshire Lad is sending out a long cane in its third year and it has reached about 3 feet finally and might climb a bit long term, if you consider 6 feet climbing. It has a reputation for being a very stingy bloomer and none of my experience contradicts that. Strawberry Hill and St. Swithun might climb as they get more maturity, but I doubt The PIlgrim will however. Golden Celebration is supposed to be a good climber, but I can't get one to survive my winters so it would probably be smallish for you. None of these would begin to cover an arch however in my wildest dreams, except maybe CPM but she wouldn't bloom. Some of these roses are amazingly tiny, given that Austins usually do well for me. In about 4-5 years, Boscobel hasn't cleared 6 inches and I always wonder if it has actually survived every year. Winchester Cathedral is about the same height but younger, and Claire Austin never cleared 4-6 inches in 2-3 years before dying. My Abraham Darby lasted about 7 years (grafted from DA no less) and it was maybe a foot high at its best. I think it was a runt plant since a friend in town has a lovely 5X5 bush of Abe in her yard. You also asked for "meh" feedback, and Port Sunlight definitely falls in that category. Not an enthusiastic bloomer and it's a washed out cream color rather than that nice apricot in my zone. The Generous Gardener is muddy grey looking for me and tiny blooms. Princess Alexandra of Kent is in prime location and it has pretty long canes but in about 4 years I've never seen it bloom. Harlow Carr is one of only 4 roses out of 1000 that I've ever shovel pruned because it was downright ugly in bloom. The bush was gangly and scrawny and the blooms were quarter-sized mums on the ends of weirdly branched canes. It looked like something from Dr. Seuss - I even gave it 4 years to look better but I breathed a sigh of relief when I dug it out. Others love it, so YMMV. Jude is the wimpy infrequent bloomer that everyone else reports but it does survive for me. Evelyn and Eglantyne both need protection to survive my winters but they have nice fragrance that I can smell, though pretty tiny bushes. Princess Anne was planted at the same time near Olivia and she can't keep up with her at all - runty bush and no blooms yet at the end of her second year. My most impressive roses among those you list would be Olivia (impressing me mightily with bloom color, frequency and a huge 4' bush already in her 2nd year), Munstead Wood (that dark color to die for, compact 3' bush), The Poet's Wife (nice dark yellow that lasts and a decent sized bush), Teasing Georgia (a survivor in my cold spots and very large bush, though not a ton of rebloom and small flowers). Desdemona is too young to know but I'm looking forward to having her more mature. Heritage is a reliable and large 5' bush with pale flowers, though they don't last long. Scepter'd Isle lasts much better and has a deeper light pink color, but the scent is that like it or hate it myrrh. For additional Austins, I agree with Vapor that Molineux is among the best of his apricot/yellow roses, though I lost mine over winter when the graft failed about 7 years old. Tess survives fine for me but doesn't climb and I had to work hard to get Falstaff to survive a little. Heathcliff blooms a little but it's very short and doesn't recover well from our winters. I agree with Flowers on most of her reactions to the ones she mentions, though some of them don't survive well for me and are much shorter than she describes without snow cover. The Alnwick Rose and Spirit of Freedom get to a good 5' for me and bloom now and then. Tamora is supposed to be small as is Pretty Jessica but I've had them years and they're nice if tiny. I did quite like William Shakespeare 2000 for years before its graft failed, and I could even detect his fragrance. LEH simply will not survive my winters so Ben's lovely pictures won't apply to me Young Lycidias seems to have survived OK but he's still young. Lady of Shalott is quite nice as a modest sized apricot with terrific hardiness, as is Carding Mill (though a paler apricot). You're unlikely to get much consensus to help your decision, since we'll add as many roses to your list as we remove for failure to impress us. You'll clearly have to grow them all and tell us yourself! Cynthia