CJ I have WS2000 & The Prince. Both are intensely fragrant. WS2000 is a short wide plant, about 2x3 in my yard and a pretty good rebloomer. The blooms do last a decent amount of time ... I've had a couple that have been on the plant fully opened for about 5 days now. We don't really have much of a disease problem here, sometimes a touch of PM and maybe a bit of black spot.

The Prince is one of my favourties - but does not last as long as WS2000 specially if the weather is hot. I've had my entire spring flush fry with the unusually hot weather we've had. My plant is in a part shade location - it gets morning sun till about 1-2pm. A bit more taller than WS2000 at about 4x2. Very good for cutting, one bloom can scent an entire room. The colour is much deeper and darker than WS2000. If I really had to choose I'd go with The Prince - the smell alone ... and those gorgeous velvety blooms. divine :o) again I get a pretty good rebloom, actually he is better at rebloom than WS2000

Hope this helps

Aprille

I grow WS2000 in Australia, and although the flowers are often exquisite and have a superb fragrance, the foliage nearly always looks rather ratty (I think due to a combination of fungal problems) in a climate that is not prone to causing fungal disease. I also do not like its growth habit which is kind of sideways and ungainly rather than even or upright and it's also rather thorny. For these reasons I am going to get rid of it this winter.

I have ordered Darcey Bussell as a replacement red Austin and look forward to growing it next spring.

Tradescant and WS2K are new to me this year. Neither of these roses is a red rose for me although Tradescant is certainly closer than WS2K.

So far Tradescant has an airy, arching habit with larger leaves and smaller flowers which cluster at the ends of the canes while WS2K is more upright and densely foliated, smaller leaves, larger flowers that come singly or in clusters. Both roses smell great to me and last a few days in a vase. WS2K somehow seems like it will be a more reliable rose but i admit i am partial to Tradescant.

These roses were bareroot in January so i can't comment on mature habit, dz resistance or rebloom-i'm sure you'll get some more experienced answers.

I have had all 3...

The Prince was first... The form and color of the blooms are among my favorites... a little bit smaller than Falstaff and darkening to a beautiful purple... I got rid of it due to blackspot and mildew

Then I tried Tradescant... where as The Prince is in the magenta/purple family, Tradescant is more in the red/black family... I was very much looking forward to growing this and was very disappointed when the entire plant was covered in mildew...

The third was William Shakespeare 2000. The fragrance is so enticing that I make everyone smell it who gets near... and they all remark that it is how a rose is supposed to smell... The blooms are tightly packed and don't blow fast - they last well in a vase, the bush canes grow horizontal so it is definitely more of a 'shrub' than an upright bush, but I know that in time, it will be a big rounded shrub covered in those gorgeous sweet smelling long lasting blooms... so far no mildew or black spot here on him...

I shovel pruned Falstaff due to mildew and octopus growth and the odor that reminded me of an old shoe.

I shovel pruned gorgeous bloomer Sophy's rose due to mildew.

I also have Prospero which has sweet smallish magenta blooms and no disease...

Of these I would choose WS2000 as my fave...

I'm looking forward to seeing a Darcey Bussell bloom in person one day...

I have all 3, although WM Shakespeare is new. The Prince I've had the longest. It's finally doing very well this year. HUGE blooms stuffed with petals. Here's a pic (note, it's much more purple IRL, my camera can't do purple!)

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Trandscant is more of a red, although so far this year it too has more purple in it than last year. Could be the cool weather (this is from last year):

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WM Shakespeare 2000 is sort of in between. More purple than Tradescant but not as purple as The Prince. Tradescant has the strongest fragrance. All will BS in my yard, but I spray so they are clean and healthy. IMO most Austins are susceptible to BS, but I haven't seen mildew. All will be floppy the first two years until they mature and then will be good bushes. So far Prince is about 2.5 ft hight. Tradescant seems to want to be wider than taller, but could be put on a tripod and show taller.

Tradescant to me has the best rebloom. The Prince seems a bit stingy, but then will put on a fabulous flush and the blooms last a long time.

I would say WS2K has the best disease resistance and the best all-round performance, though I love 'Tradescant' and 'The Prince' as well. 'The Prince' has the best and strongest fragrance here.

But also look at 'Prospero', which is very good.

Tradescant is best grown as a climber (or pegged) in my region. It can get 8-10 ft easy. Our southern summers can "fry" all three of these roses so a little protection is needed to preserve the blooms for a longer bloom. All three have a wonderful fragrance, but The Prince is tops in my opinion. The Prince grows great on its own roots too :)

Hi Cj, where abouts in the Pacific Northwest are you?

WS2000 here in the Puget Sound grows sideways, awkwardly, no such thing as a "nice rounded bush," but the blooms are wonderfully fragrant and rich. Not much disease here, surprisingly, in my no-spray garden. How about Dark Lady? I've been debating purchase of a Dark Lady or Tradescant but I'm really not happy with the way Austins grow. There are so many better choices for me. Considering the shovel for Graham Thomas, Heritage, Sharifa Asma, Jude The Obscure, Gertrude Jekyll, and WS 2000. Somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong, convince me otherwise, or one of these days, the shovel's going to slip into my hand and do some serious digging of new holes for new roses.

Sue