A few yrs back before I moved I had a few - Jude the Obscure was the strongest I've ever smelt of all the ones at Chamblee's

It was actually the only one that taught my sis to take peoples warnings no matter how odd they sound! If your told to be careful due to strong scent DO NOT bury your nose in the center and almost suck the flower up your nose!!! You'll end up w/ the smelling version of "brain freeze" when you eat too much ice cream, lol!

Sadly - only had that one for a yr before moving but it did seem to bloom a little less - always loved the color and form when it did, so very delicate. :) It will be in this new yard ... think pink grapefruit 10x in scent

'Evelyn' - for Visual appeal. The first flush was absolutely beautiful and rich in apricot/peach colour. However, during the hotter days of summer, the blooms were kind of so-so and not much colour in it. The fragrance is good but not as strong compare to JtO or GJ. I need to inhale Evelyn blooms in order to smell it.

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For fragrance - 'gertrude Jekyll'. When I inhale this rose deeply, it smells like my old smelly socks! But, if I sniff it gently, the scent is like old rose fragrance. Sometimes it smells like lychees. Things I don't like about GJ - it's growth habit and how it produces fewer blooms. GJ is not a graceful looking rose.

There's not much variety in DA roses when it comes to fragrance. GThomas, Trolius and Jayne Austin practically smell the same to my nose.

HMM, for me, Teasing Georgia and Heritage have little or no scent. Maybe it's dependent on area?

Lavender Lass most of the answers you have gotten you will notice are from warm zoners. However there are many cold zoners that have had sucess with many of the Austins and 2 zone 4 people I can think of are Celest and Kristin in Ny and a lady in Michigan.( I know that 3!) Winchester Cathedral was listed in several places as very hardy, it seems to have limited scent to me and to be most strong in the morning. Abraham Darby is pretty, hardy and smells vey good. Heritage is beautiful, and has a lovely delicate smell but the flowers are delicate also. That is all I can tell you about for my garden as the others are too new. Iam in zone 5 but my particular climate is windy and harsh, I just got my first blooms yesterday on a Morden rose and that is two weeks early for me.
roseberri

You've gotten alot of answers. What more can I add? Chateau Frontenac. I think it is not an Austin but comes from Austins. It smells likie cherries to me. I think Gertrude J. has the best smell. Sceptred Isle is a fabulous rose. I don't think there is anything more healthy, vigorous or freeblooming(though in flushes) here in my garden. Another Austin that is not an Austin is Louise Clements. I just think it is one of the world's prettiest roses with a decent scent as well.

The Prince, Sharifa Asma, Abraharm Darby, WS2000 for fragrance; I am with Bufrod on Heritage.
I love the color of Tradescant.

ooh..my Jude the Obscure is going to bloom any day now for the first time so I'm excited after hearing all this feedback.
Stasi

My favorites include:

EVELYN - apricot pink blend
HERITAGE - translucent white blushed shell pink in the middle
MOLINEUX - yellow blend
PAT AUSTIN - tangerine with a lemony reverse
ROSE-MARIE - ivory
SHARIFA ASMA - dawn pink
THE PILGRIM - white blushed canary yellow in the middle
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 2000 - crimson

Jude the Obscure is my favorite. One of the local nurseries had a bunch of Austins and I decided this one smelled the best - over Evelyn which I thought was what I was going to get. The Prince has the best color, good fragrance, and it stays small if you need something that won't take up a lot of room. It lasts decently in a vase too.

I'm in zone 4b.
DA roses that grow for me.
Sharifa Asma, fantastic looks and scent, 4th year
Eglantyne, beautiful looks and scent, 4th year
Wife of Bath, lovely little rose, 4th year
Heritage, shatters fast and I don't think the scent is good, 4th year
Ambridge Rose, beautiful looks and good scent, 4th year
Golden Celebration, great looks and scent, 4th year
Leander, great looks, not too much scent, 4th year
Graham Thomas, lovely rose but prefer GC, 3rd year
Gertrude Jekyll, gorgeous rose and wonderful scent, 3rd year
Evelyn, gorgeous and scent is wonderful, 3rd year
LD Braithwaite, gorgeous and I like the scent, 2nd year
Brother Cadfael, gorgeous looks and scent, 2nd year
Crown Princess Margareta, lovely looks,can't remember the scent, 2nd year
Scepter'd Isle, Best blooms were in Autumn last year, looked fantastic and good scent 2nd year.
William Shakespeare 2000, gorgeous rose and smells wonderful, 2nd year

I haven't lost a DA rose so far but I have them buried 4 inches or so above the graft.

So far, Abraham Darby has been my best performing Austin rose based on how the flowers look, how well it blooms even when it has suffered from the weather and sometimes neglect and it has a scent that I can only describe as intoxicating.

Jumping in to put a good word in for Austin's Grace (tea scent) and Harlow Carr (Old rose scent).

Healthy and blooming with 3.5-4 hours sun a day. Tried a lot of others and have ditched them.

One more vote for Gertrude Jekyll for fragrance. But WS 2000 is my favourite for looks and fragrance. GJ has two good flushes and then doesn't do much at all. WS 2000 is a reliable repeater for me.
Sanju

I have grown roses for 4 years now. Most of my roses are Austins, I love them, plus a good friend of mine sells them, so I always get a nice discount. :)

My firm favourite so far is Harlow Carr - a lavender-pink rose, that blooms for a long time for me and her scent is heavenly.

I really love the look of Harlow Carr too. But Harlow Carr is not available in Australia. I think David Austin should let the public to decide which rose they want to have for next year's release. By doing this way, the company could ensure maximum sales, and hence profits coming in to the company.

How long does it take for Harlow Carr to perform?

Mine is two years old and rebloom is, well there's no rebloom at all. It's just a short, thorny, sickly bush. So far I hate it, hate it...I ordered the hedge promotion so I have 12, 6 along each side of the driveway.

I'm waiting for year 3 before I SP'd her.

Audrey

Jude the Obscure, BrotherCadadfael, Heritage, Eglyntine,Mary rose. ,Graham thomas Golden celebration My fav. Is Jude the Obscure iithink.

Harlow Carr bloomed almost immediately for me the first year and was even better the second year. Unfortunately, it couldn't tolerate the heat but lookswise it would be one of my favorites. Another one which does well here in afternoon shade and is beautiful and fragrant is Sister Elizabeth, a very undervalued rose. Smaller bush and beautiful lilac pink, old-rose blooms. Wife of Bath and Charles Darwin are also favorites. I also love Cottage Garden although I can detect no fragrance on my two bushes. It tolerates the heat quite well. My most fragrant Austin was Abraham Darby which didn't like the heat and is gone. Carding Mill is excellent in the heat and beautiful. Bishop Darlington is a gorgeous rose, lilac pink and very fragrant. I love Sophy's rose for the lilac color and shape of the flowers but it has no scent. Good in the heat so I'll keep her. Almost all of mine are own-root. Supposedly the bushes stay smaller that way while actually blooming more.

Ingrid

Oops, I meant Bishop's Castle, not Bishop Darlington, which I believe may be a Hybrid Musk.

Ingrid

favorites for appearance, Golden Celebration, The Pilgrim,Pat Austing, Abraham Darby, Graham Thomas, St. Swithun. For fragrance, Golden Celebration a complex scent, difficult to describe, St. Swithun, (my friend hates the scent, calls it wet socks,,,but smells great to me!) For a unique scent, I love Jane Austen, it is a myrrh scent, and for a lovely sweet scent, Gertrude Jekyll, Radio Times. For fantastic scent for my personal olfactory sense,,,Golden Showers, (not an Austin) but for my nose it is reminds me of the old fashioned violets I loved as a child. The picture below is The Pilgrim

Ive tried 15 or so throughout the years, the most reliable one I grow is Crocus Rose here, even Mary Rose is a runt after years of growth.

By far the most fantastic scent of any austin I have sniffed personally is Abraham Darby, but after about 8 years or so , its down to one cane, I could replace it and get another few years. I noticed the least hardiest ones really take a nosedive after a few years.

I have tried the following:
heritage medium hardiness, with a honey and rose scent, medium scent
Jude the Obscure, hated my cold climate, lasted two years for me, others chimed in with this fragrance, but for the life of me it was a raw tabacco smell then anything else, not something I really liked.
Sharifa Asma, a lovely citrus scent, lemons and roses, however , medium hardiness here
Anne Bolyene , Austins answer to a landscape rose really, was always in bloom, pretty rose, slight scent, but only average hardiness
Abe Darby - Peaches and Roses scent, maybe my favorite I have ever smelled (this includes some fantastic scented roses like albas , gallicas, and cents!) however its only average hardiness.
Evelyn, yikes, this one died its first winter... only got a few buds on it, smelled nice, but not really in Abes class if you ask me. Not really a great cold zone choice.
Heritage - slightly above average hardiness, with honey and roses scent, medium scent. Lovely rose, but I wouldnt call it super hardy either.
Geoff Hamilton - Deeply cupped with a billion petals, but would rot in the rain, slightly scented, average hardiness.
Mary Rose, touted as a cold hardy rose, and is of sorts, but never took off for me, still is alive after 8 years though and puts on a couple dozen buds.
Crocus Rose, above average hardiness, i get about 20% killback most winters, Ive never pruned this down to the ground like others, it is vigorous, wonderful yellow cream for the north, but only slighly scented.

Ive grown others, but I stopped purchasing austins a few years ago, not becuase I didnt like them, I actually found them a little above average to most buck roses, whom I found to be no hardier then almost any hybrid teas Ive bought.

Unfortuntely, DA really doesnt test his hardiness ratings for US, most of his very hardy roses are not , but some he listed as marginal were ect.. You can give them a whirl, but you will be testing them in the end.

The other issue is they bloom slightly behind my antiques here, having to recover from a winterkill prune, just in time for the JBS to devour them. Im pretty much done buying anything but antiques, for just that reason, plus not every DA rose is all that great about blackspot, some are much better then others, Crocus doesnt get a drop of it till after its first big flush, even then its lik ea 50% drop, Mary Rose on the other hand completly defoliates every year. They stay until they die probably, but anything new needs to be more desease resistant then most DA roses.

Silverkelt

For scent: Jude the Obscure, St Cecilia, Sharifa Asma. (close runner-ups: Scepter'd Isle, Brother Cadfael, Ambridge Rose, Wollerton Old Hall, Lady Emma Hamilton, James Galway)

Overall: Scepter'd Isle, Munstead Wood, Jude the Obscure

Cheers,
robert

I can't believe no one mentioned Pretty Jessica. It's very fragrant, and has been exceptionally hardy for me in zone 4a.

I like James Galway a lot, though haven't really grown it personally.

I just planted a four more Austins in my "Mostly English" bed. Note sure which one it was, but as I was walking in the gate from the lower garden, there was the most wonderful rose scent. That is just what I wanted.

The bed has:
Golden Celebration
Abraham Darby
Yves Pigat
Stormy Weather (going to be a serious climber)
Carding Mill
Jubilee Celebration (2x in a back row area)
Bishops Castle
Ambridge

and an oops Janet (should have been the 3rd Jubilee Celebration)

A nearby bed has a pair of Darcy Bussels

Not sure which was was the main contributor, but they are all new this year and only a few blooms. Next year should be much better for the scent.

Thank you for all the recent responses! My mom ended up with the David Austin roses (she's in zone 5) and she likes Mary Rose, Gertrude Jeckyll, Tamora and Heritage. She just got a Golden Celebration, because she wanted a yellow David Austin rose.

For my zone, I ended up with old fashioned roses, a few shrub roses and some floribundas...along with Bleu Magenta and Veilchenblau, which have both done very well, so far! I just got the Cottage Rose this year, which I've always wanted to try...and Ebb Tide. Not a DA, but a beautiful shade of reddish purple, with a lovely fragrance :)

THere was a old time thread that was started a few years back.. about the hardiness of DA roses, however one of the issues is z5's are not created equal in any, way, shape or form. My z5 seasons isnt much colder then others, but it can be longer, with lots of snow (over 100 inches some years) (great you say... well, with the snow comes ice, lots of that too, sometimes you get inches of snow, then ice, then snow, then ice, again and again, ive yet seen roses really love to be exposed to pure ice) each zone , area has thier unique challenges, to me of the DA roses ive tested, the one that has stood out, is Crocus Rose, maybe not highly fragrent, but its reliable and brings that rare cream/yellow that is hard to plant amongst hardier roses.

I cant comment enough on this rose worthiness in the northern garden,

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In retrospect, I always try to tell people to try the antiques, they are mostly more desease reistant, lots with fragrant flowers, will get to be bigger bushes in the north (none of those 2-3 foot small plants that alot of austins turn out to be in the north) They may flower once a year.. but its for 4-6 weeks , with sometimes hundreds and hundres of blooms.

Silverkelt

What a gorgeous photo of Pretty Jessica, Kristen. I'm going to check it out on HMF. If only I had the room for her. Crocus Rose is lovely, too, Silverkelt. The color is unusual and appealing.
In my garden, Evelyn has the most sumptuous scent of any of my Austins, followed by Brother Cadfael. They happen to be favorite all around roses, too. I have high hopes for Young Lycidas, but he's too young to really evaluate right now. Diane

I only have one but I adore it, Mary Rose. One of the best in my garden. Does not stop blooming, healthy, fragrant, beautiful.

Most of the Austin roses do well here. We have very hot summers and cold wet winters. I have 30 or so and have ordered 3 more. I would like to get some that are not yet available here, including Port Sunlight, Lady Emma Hamilton and Carding Mill.
My favourites from my garden are:
Jude the Obscure, fantastic fragrance and lovely big blooms
Pat Austin, great colour and heavenly perfume.
Teasing Georgia, beautiful flowers, lovely tea scent

Other favourites are Grace, Charles Darwin, Crown Princess Margareta, Evelyn, Ambridge Rose, Happy Child and Claire Austin.
Photo is of Happy Child.

Austin's in my garden

For scent: Evelyn, Othello and The Prince

For beauty of flower, Evelyn, Radio Times and Graham Thomas.

I think Othello's thorny canes are is rather oddly attractive.

Jude the Obscure, Jude the Obscure, Jude the Obscure. Gorgeous rose, gorgeous fragrance

For Fragrance I love Munstead Wood I just bought a 2nd! For appearance I'm a sucker for Pat Austin & have been for years

I'm updating my little list and adding Munstead Wood, both for beauty and scent. I had no idea it smelled this good. And those big, velvety blooms...yum. Diane

I am more and more impressed with Lady of Megginch. The last BIG spray lasted on the bush a good week. Probably not super fresh up close, but impressive from the yard.

My little Janet is surprising me too.

And James Galoway has put up a thick cane to moms bedroom window full of sprays and buds. (considering her window is a good 6 feet off the ground and James has been in the ground less than a year...I am happy)

Oooo, look at all those gorgeous Austins! Nice thread.

Daughter of an engineer. True but irrelevant and the fact does nothing to mitigate my technological impairment. I have no idea how to post more than one photo at a time on ARF. If I discover a couple of yummy Austins on my computer, please pardon my fumbling while I post each separately.

Tamora first. But soft, what light from yonder window breaks? It is the east and Tamora is the sun.

Carol

Goodnight, sweet The Prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

Abraham Darby sans Shakespearean allusion. Anyone know one that applies?

William Shakespeare

Abraham Darby sans Shakespearean allusion. Anyone know one that applies?

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Always works in a clinch!

Kate

I grew dozens at one point, but the only one worth of hoot is still crocus rose. I still get a small smattering of bloom on mary rose, abe darby and heritage.

gone are a long list of middle aged ones, jude, sceptered ise, sharifa asma, Geoff Hamilton ect ect.. tried a lot of that time frame, most just couldn't hack it, as I tried growing on own roots, a pretty big no no here in the northeast if trying to grow marginal roses.

OF ALL the austins I have grown (which included many fragrant ones people have already listed) Abe was always my favorite, Abe is a very unique fruit blend, some compare it to a wine and rose smell, I said it always smelled like grapefruit and roses to my nose.

It doesn't quite compare to the best of the antiques to me, but if I had to pick one rose that was a modern to grow for fragrance it would still be Abe..

Below is crocus rose about 50% winter dieback here.. so not 100% sure in z4 it would be terrific honestly, I like crocus smell, its a mild tea scent actually. But if you cannot smell that, then it would do you any good. Some people cant.

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Okay...that's it. I'm getting Tamora as of right now. Th-th-thanks for that enticing picture Carol.

You won't be disappointed, musaboru. I have one plus a spare for good measure. Tamora's aroma is as sweet as her countenance.

"A rose by any other name...." Of course. Thank you, Kate!

I know David Austin is somewhat a controversial subject..but in retrospect I really like Austins. True I am in the soggy PNW which is perfect for Austins..My Lady Emma is fantastic.

I reside in Las Vegas where the summer temperatures can hit the 120's and the lows stay near 100 and love Austin's. Fortunately, I have had success with varieties that are beautiful. One Golden Celebration is grown in an area where it receives morning sun only and one is in an area where it receives about two hours of morning sun from the south as the sun passes through my home and the neighbor's house and about two hours in the late evening and it is thriving too. The blooms are huge and the fragrance is intoxicating.
I have a Glamis Castle that I moved from a previous residence, and it receives about 6 hours of afternoon heat; the blooms are smaller, but really white and pretty. The blooms do not last as long as they do during the months of April - late May or September - December, but I will take them! Both plants are healthy!

This winter: Gertrude Jekyll, Lady Emma Hamilton, Ingenious Mr. Fairchild and Princess Alexandria Kent....

I like the complex fragrance of Munstead Wood but the fragrance can be elusive in my hot dry climate. Also the flowers don't last long for me. Best Austin by visual appeal in my garden is Happy Child. Tonnes of blooms non stop all year and very dense and green and glossy foliage. This plant can produce many side shoots from a single node resulting in an extremely dense plant covered in flowers. The flowers are absolutely packed with petals and very neat but they don't last very well when cut - 3 days only. Evelyn on the otherhand is a giant open spreading plant and flowers much less than Happy Child but the flowers are very long lasting in the vase - 10 days. They also smell good.

Does anyone have any suggestions of Austins that will not fry in the heat, very fragrant and the flowers are lasting when cut? (I already have Evelyn and Brother Cadfael) Thanks!

I have Grace here in a hot humid climate and she's been a surprising star performer. I didn't particularly want Grace, she was on special in the bargain bin and I wasn't convinced by the pointed petal shape. But she grows like a weed, is nicely fragrant, shakes off the black spot and repeat flowers faster than almost anything else in the garden. I've come around to the flowers too, I like the colour changes as they age. They don't last for ages in a vase though, perhaps 4-5 days max if picked in tight bud.

A bit too late with this photo but the flowers turn a lovely soft pink...

I must check it out next time I am in a rose nursery. The flowers look very pretty in your photos. I hope it doesn't smell like myrrh as I cannot stand that smell.

Bump this up: Agree with previous poster that Golden Celebration can take partial shade (but messier with octopus canes). Golden Cel. was in full-sun before I moved to partial shade, with fewer blooms but better quality & more petals.

Glad to hear that the Pilgrim has a nice myrrh scent. So far Teasing Georgia has a light fruity scent to my nose, and Crown Princess Mag's scent is much stronger. Below is CPM, it's a 10th-year own-root in 4 hrs. of evening sun.

All my 30 Austin roses are hardy (most are in 11th or 10th-year as own-root), EXCEPT for

Darcey Bussell (my fault for planting it in poor drainage clay)

William Morris (also my fault for making the soil too acidic)

Young Lycidas (wimpy as grafted-on-Dr.Huey)

Jude the Obscure (NOT hardy as own-root, died after 2 years in zone 5)

I bought 4 more Austins this year (Teasing Georgia, Leander, Wenlock, Tradescant), so far Wenlock is the most wimpy at 1/4 the size of the others. Wenlock needs more sun & fast drainage than my shady and wet garden can give.