Sanju, From the list you've mentioned, I can warmly suggest Jubilee Celebration. It's the best from the list for this climate type. It will repeat well, and produce lots of blooms till May in Melbourne. But it's a big one: goes in back of the border. Pat Austin ... It will get burned in January/February. It has big, gentle petals, and somewhat fragile. First flush is lovely, but when the heat hits 40 C in few days, it looks .. well .. :-( Also, petals will drop within 4-5 days from opening, no matter what weather. Be careful. Sharifa Asma is not too bad, but there are much better English roses suitable for this climate. Try Miss Alice instead: it grows better, and is overall a much better rose. Munstead Wood is a new rose this year, and it reminds of WS2000. However, sources say it behaves a bit better than WS2000, has a neater form and it's not as notorious in shooting long canes as WS2000 does in this climate. But it does shoot long canes nevertheless. JumboJimmy, we cannot still ascertain is Munstead Wood poor repeater or not; not yet. Many factors contribute to that and I don't always trust what nurseries say, because there roses live in somewhat extreme conditions compared to our gardens. Sanju, if you like myrrh scent, I'd avoid mishy-mushy Tamora and plant Ambridge Rose. That's one of the best English roses ever for this climate too. Period. It's strong, healthy and reliable, blooms first and ends last. Mayflower is fantastic, but makes great sense to plant few of them for best effect which then reminds of a thicket of Gallicas. All in all, very few roses from DA's Old Rose Hybrids group are fit for Australia. St Swithun is one of them. It's big, but it's an amazing rose. It has a very strong myrrh scent. Leander group, however, and Hybrid Musks Group are much better overall because they have scents that activate better in warm climates, petals that are not too thin, shallower flower shapes that won't burn in the sun. And all are strong growers. Another great one for Australia is Teasing Georgia. William Morris too. Pegasus has the most powerful tea scent, but tends to sleep later in season. Crown Princess Margareta is lovely and will grow big. However, they're all, as you can see, bigger ones. This season I've seen a new Strawberry Hill, and it looks very, very promising. I felt very tempted! Tea Clipper and Port Sunlight are other two to check as well.

By all means, do plant them in your garden now. Make sure you water them in well. Since it is so warm there, I'd provide them with some afternoon shade for about a week. Place a lawn chair over them or buy some shade cloth and rig up some stakes to attach it to. Since it is so warm, keep an eye on the roses so they don't dry out during the next week or two--but don't drown them either. That can kill them as easily as too little water can. You have some beauties there. Good luck! Kate

I ordered my Evelyn (in remembrance of a favorite great aunt) from Roses Unlimited a couple years ago and was really pleased with the large, healthy plant they sent in a 1-gallon container. I'd definitely recommend them as a source. It was my first time ordering from them, and all of the roses I ordered took off like racehorses!

I think you can plant them anytime after the Forsythia blooms in your area... at that point the ground should be workable and warm for plant growth. Spring rain should also follow to keep them watered for you. You can prune if you want to but wait to see signs of life first to know where there is good or bad wood. Pruning encourages growth in roses so it is generally considered good practice with a few exceptions. Just don't prune severely! No need to get drastic. Since you overwintered them in your garage I'd expect them to be alive to the tips but you never know. As for first time tips? Well, make sure they are well fed and planted in good soil. I'm more of an organic grower now, piling tons of compost on the soil when I plant and using a slow release fertilizer only for the first year as I wait for the compost to start releasing nutrients into the soil. After that I am done with fertilizing. Since you already planted roses before, just remember that the David Austin roses are still roses so the same rules of giving them a good growing environment apply. If you live in an area with high pressure of fungal diseases then you need to figure out how you'd like to handle it because those roses you have are not disease resistant, definitely not resistant to black spot as far as I know (based on what I have read, I have grown none of them). Also your Knock Out rose can't be 20 years old as those were released in 1999/2000, if you are sure it is a 20 year old rose bush then perhaps it is something else other than a Knock Out? Good luck and enjoy!