Brother Cadfael. I gave mine to a rosey friend in California. I didn't have the right place for it, but it tried its best and thrived. Loved the bloom color and fragrance.

You will love Jubilee Celebration.
Its blooms continiously nonstop and smells devine.
Niecey

Gertrude Jekyll is a classic Austin. It takes time to mature, but makes a lovely garden rose. Careful pruning and deadheading help enhance the repeat bloom. The blooms have a wonderful Damask fragrance. (It's kin to the famous Portland Damask Comte de Chambord.)

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The newer Bishop's Castle is very nice! My sis-in-law grows it in Portland, OR. It is a wonderful smaller scale Austin,
not one of the climber-ish ones. I will be getting it soon I'm sure. A medium raspberry pink color.
Pretty! Very old-rose look and great fragrance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bishop's Castle at HMF

Yes, I love Bishop's Castle, as well. I love the fragrance and blooms.

I adore 'Jubilee Celebration', but at times, it most certainly has some yellow mixed in with the pink, depending on the weather. But this is hot sunny CA, not your cool hazy UK.

I have both Bishop's Castle and Jubilee Celebration. JC is lighter than BC and does have some gold tones to it. BC is a pure deep pink, similar to Mary Rose (but much better blooming quality). However it did BS badly in my yard last year. But we will see what happens this year.

I like Sophy's Rose. It smells good, is gorgeous and blooms a lot. My plant is often covered with the full dark pink flowers. I liked it so well that I just planted another one.
As for Bishop's Castle, I just got my first bloom and it is beautiful. These flowers are lighter in color than Sophy's Rose and although it was planted at the same time as my original Sophy's Rose, it hasn't blomed until now so I can't comment on frequency of bloom yet.

Have you seen the Mary Rose?

Last year I saw this rose blooming in a pot at a rose nursery, and the sight of its blooms stopped me in my tracks. Then if the beauty of that rose was not enough, it's fragrance stole me heart.

It's bloom is clearly pink. Not too light and not too dark, but just the perfect, most pleasing shade of pink that any true pink bloom could be.

Reports document that tests have proven this rose to be well, resistant to black spot.

Just make certain to plant this most beautiful, David Austin's English shrub rose in a well draining soil area.

The classic choice would be Gertrude Jekyll, deep pink, most divinely scented (old rose) and second to none in this regard. She needs a good trim after each flush for rebloom and so it doesn't get too lanky. Lots of sun also helps, shade tempts her to throw out long canes. Got recently voted the UK's most favorite rose.

For an even deeper pink and a delightful citrus fragrance on huge flowers, take a look at Wisley. His flowers, often coming in clusters, are so heavy that they tend to nod (not always though), which doesn't bother me, but apparently David Austin, who just pulled the rose from his catalog in order to replace it with another one this coming season. Wisley is very BS susceptible, both in the southeastern US and UK, and I suspect that this is the real reason for his withdrawal, although his health is no worse than, say, Tamora. That being said, Wisley's a very beautiful and well behaved plant with tons of flowers and super rebloom. You can still get this rose from other vendors.

Jubilee Celebration is most definitely not a clear pink, but a melange of colors, pink with apricot-orange and yellow. Same color mix in North Carolina and in Cambridge/UK.

Sophie's Rose is very pretty and a very good and healthy performer, but very much of a deep raspberry-cerise color and not really pink to my eye (also not much scent at all when I had it). It's a very short rose and looks like a little dahlia. Cute.

Andrea

I love my Mary Rose. She doesn't BS very much here. This is coming up on my third year having her so I think she will be doing really well. She bloomed quite well last year...meaning she had flushes of blooms not continual. I detected some lovely fragrance but not overpowering. I wouldn't be without her.

Tammy

Here is a link that might be useful: Mary Rose

That is sad that Wisely gets BS. That is his one rose that I consider to be truely a deep bright pink...

Tammy, thanks for posting your experience with the 'Mary Rose'

By now the roots should be well established. Do you deadhead yours? If so, how often?

I just had to purchase mine, when I first saw it at the nursery late last spring.

Since this was an english shrub rose, I did not make a bed for her. I now regret that the place I planted her stays wet too long, during very rainy seasons. Last spring we had an extremely wet spring, and her roots suffocated before she had the chance to even begin to become established.

Now I intend to look for her again this year at my local rose nursery. This time I intend to plant her in a better spot.

On the East side of my house, last week I took out some potted scarlet oaks, which I had grown for about 4 years from acorns. Now the long window on both sides of my fireplace from where I took the oaks, now seem to be perfect spots for me to grow two 'Mary Rose' shrubs.

Yes the fragrance is delicate, but that is part of what I liked so much about this rose; especially since the subtle fragrance could still be detected without one having to stick their nose on the bloom before being able to enjoy the fragrance.

Last year I had intended to purchase some Gootendorst Rugosa Pink roses for planting in front of my windows this spring, but my friend purchased three of them and that left only one for me. I liked those Rugosa roses for the leggy look they easily take on. Since I purchased my Rugosa in the early Summer, I kept mine in a pot and took care of it for a couple months until our fall cool-down temps arrived. Durring that time, I noticed that the Rugosa Gootndorst Pink came down with multiple fungi and diseases. I applied some Bayer rose systemic treatment to it and that helped some, yet it still seemed to display some of the diseases. I was impressed that this rose was a strong enough grower to survive well. It seemed almost amazing at how well this rose survived even when it lost many leaves due to disease. Watching this rose survive so much disease attack, it became clear to see what gave it the leggy look, which first appealed so much to me. The leggy canes seemed to bend into intersting shapes of structure. Still after seeing how disease prone the Rugosa rose was, I almost thought about throwing it out.

Instead, I ended up planting my Rugosa rose at the edge of my patio, and it seems to be doing well this spring, with no signs of any diseases. Maybe that is the rsult of the Bayer systemic I had given it last year. The Nursery where I purchased my Rugosa last year does not have any more of this cultivar, and I am not certain I even want any more since the cultivar does not have very good resistances qualities.

Now I am wondering if the Mary Rose shrubs will be a good choice to plant infront of those east facing long windows. I have read that Mary Rose grows into a nice shrub form, which can grow up to 4-5 feet tall and wide.

Also since Mary Rose has a nice amount of resistance to BS and is very disease resistant, I am beginning to think that she will be a much better rose to plant in front of my long windows, instead of trying to find more Rugose Gootendorst Pinks for there.

Bishop's Castle is exactly the kind of pink I am looking for but unfortunately is just ISN'T available in the UK.

Srtrange that a David Austin rose is not available in its home country.

Princess Alexandra of Kent looks like a nice clear pink rose but isn't available in the U.S. yet. Perhaps someone from your side of the pond is growing her and can comment? The very helpful andreageorgia maybe?

I just bought Princess Alexandra of Kent, the rose, that is. It's still leafing out.

DA has just released this variety in the UK, so I guess we'll all have to wait until May or June for very first impressions, but I'll keep you posted. Colorwise it certainly looks like a good fit, and it better be an excellent rose, given that it's been named after the Queen's cousin who also happens to be a great admirer of roses. Princess Alexandra of Kent, the person, that is, actually attended one of our college dinners in Cambridge last year, and judging from our very short conversation, she seemed to be a very nice person indeed. So I have great hopes for the rose.

Regarding Wisley, I still think he's worth acquiring because he's just so beautiful (with a really fantastic color), floriferous, and superbly perfumed, and his tendency toward BS is, while pronounced later on in the season, still manageable, depending a bit on the location. I'm very happy that I bought him again in the UK, and I might grab another one now that he's going to be a rare collector's item. ;-)

Andrea

Here's my experience with Mary Rose. A number of years ago I decided to remove her to my garden and pass her along to a friend. She's doing very well in my friend's garden. Then - I noticed a few leaves coming up where she used to be. A persistent little thing! So I moved her again to a sunnier spot in my garden where she is now over 3 feet tall and full of buds. And... yes, there's another Mary coming up from the original spot, now about 18" tall and healthy. So I guess you could say her roots are vigorous!

I don't know that I would describe her color as "deep" pink, but it's dark enough that it doesn't fade even in the hot California sun. And she's earned two spots in my small garden.

BettyN

BettyN, nice to read about the advantages to growing own-root roses. I am amazed this rose does so well in a sunset 14 zone.

Now your have me wondering if the 'Mary Rose' will be a better rose to plant on the south side of my house, where it will receive full day sun.

Mary rose is a medium pink but darker than a lot of other medium pinks...

I am not sure if this is what you are wanting but Dark Lady is a deep pink and unlike the catalogue description, there are no crimson overtones and it is just a rich dark pink..
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My favorite of the darkerish pinkish but not really pink Austin roses is Lilian Austin. More disease-free than most roses and more disease-resistant than any Austin. A real bloom machine.

Brother Cadfael would get my vote. I have 5 D. Austins but am really a HT fan. DA's are too messy (loose) for me.
I am forever picking up petals from DA's. Too windy where I live.