I grow Happy Child, albeit in a much colder and less humid zone than yours so take it for what it's worth. I find HC a relatively small growing Austin (maybe 3-4' tops in my zone), with pale yellow blooms that fade in color pretty quickly. I've had it 5 years and it never seems to live up to its name and be particularly happy, though it's not all that unhappy for me either. I don't get any more BS on it than any other Austin, it's just that it doesn't seem to bloom all that often. I find it a largely forgettable rose for me, and certainly not the bright yellow that it might be for a short time when it first blooms.

In short - it's not a problem for me and fills in some small space without complaining, but I wouldn't strongly recommend it over other Austin yellows like Teasing Georgia or other more prolific yellows like Julia Child.

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia,

thanks for your reply. It's interesting that you find Teasing Georgia to be a good rose for you- it's the best rose I have! Huge, covered with blooms - very vigorous.

Well, I might hold off on HC if it's not such a good repeater. I'm living in a unique microclimate that favors rapid rebloomers. So, Julia Child might just be my next yellow rose.

I adore the blooms on Happy Child, but it sure was a wimpy plant--both of them since I replaced one wimp with another wimp. Took forever for both roses to break dormancy in the spring, always tagging behind the other roses-- timewise. Had some BS problems but not too serious, but was slow to rebloom. After several years in the ground, I finally spaded the short little wimp.

But I do miss its beautiful yellow blooms--no problems with fading here.

Kate

I have two Happy Childs. One is grafted; the other is own-root. The grafted one does better, but neither one does very much. It is a treat to see the sunny yellow flowers on the rare occasion they show up. They are quite pretty, but rare. I am hoping that Charlotte will be better or that another better yellow one will come out soon. They are not too bad for disease overall.

For what it's worth, Bustopher, Charlotte is similar to Happy Child for me, though it blooms a little more often. It's also small, a slow grower, and fades to an unremarkable light yellow. It's fine as a rose, but I rather expect my Austins to be more than fine. So far, Graham Thomas is more what I'd expect a yellow Austin to look like, but it's too young to see if it blooms more often than the others. From what I have seen, Austin seems to do better with the big yellows (Teasing Georgia & Golden Celebration) than the smaller yellows.

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia, Kate and Bustopher,

Thank you kindly for your replies- you have all confirmed my suspicions about HC: Beautiful photos but disappointing in real life. There really isn't enough space in my garden for roses that only bloom occasionally. The rapid rebloomers are the best ones here.

I just purchased Golden Celebration- I'll let you know how it performs. If it makes it through 2-3 years here and repeatedly blooms, that is usually an indication that it will survive here. Many roses just die after a few years of the perpetual spring-summer in Florida- there's no "dormant period" and some just need their sleep!

thanks again,

Avalon

I've heard the reviews, but ordered one anyway. And today it arrived. It's going into a mixed border, and its "shortcomings" will actually be a benefit in the spot I chose for it.

:-)

~Christopher

Thanks for the input on Happy Child- hot & dry seems to agree with it, and that's a good thing. None of the yellow roses in my garden are bright yellow like HC, they're all very subtly colored. If I can find it on its own roots, I'll give it a try.

I purchased own root Happy Child from Heirloom 2 years ago. It is still in their catalog.

Here is my Happy Child: No disease what so ever.

It is always in flower and I cut them all for the vase so not many to see on the plant. You can see lots of buds though.