Truthfully, I never pinch either, Jannike, and your specimen looks plenty strong and healthy. Congrats on your great new acquisition! Duchesse is one of the best. Mauvegirl, charming photo! I even grow Duchesse in the cloudy, rainy Pacific NW. We're involved in a long term love affair. Carol

Thank you both for telling me exactly what I want to hear. I'm planting this is the ground within the next couple of days -- is it still ok not to pinch? Temps are mid 90's, so I plan to water well and shade these roses some after I plant them.

This is a one gallon from Chamblees. My bands from Heirloom are about the same height, but not as bushy.

Mauvegirl, beautiful rose! I didn't realize the pink was so pale. I need a pale pink rose to espallier to a trellis behind a fountain. I don't suppose the Duchesse can be trained that way? The trellis is free-standing, but I only have about three feet between it and a tall hedge; thus I need a rose I can keep narrow or espalliered.

Sow,

Duchesse would not be my first choice for espalier. The mature bush will easily be a full 7-8' oblong specimen. The sense branching would make it difficult to train.

Crepuscule, though, makes a fantastic climber from what I've seen.

Josh

The petals are translucent. It is a clear pink.

Ooh Jannike, you ordered a choice bunch of roses! can we have the list of DA's, and pictures!

Crepuscule looks awesome espaliered. Not pink, but perfect for the job. I don't suppose you ordered DA's Heritage? It's a pale pink and I'm planning to espalier that one. Hope it works for me... Not too many thorns either, so hopefully not a horrible job.

Crepuscule would also be great because it has few thorns (someone does have to get in there to trim the hedge), but the color is not quite right, and I suspect it's not as beautiful as most of the Austins/Duchesse de Brabant/SdlM. But who knows -- I might be pleasantly surprised.

The pictures of Heritage are to die for, but the feedback was that it wouldn't perform well. Otherwise it would be gorgeous in this focal point location, on a metal trellis backing a bronze fountain that has patinated to a soft blue-grey. I'll be very anxious to hear how your Heritage does, and I might even email Austin in UK to get their opinion.

I'm incredibly happy with all the Austins I got this season. I'll try to post a list soon, hopefully with some pictures.

jannike

Jannike, I will try to remember to tell you about Heritage, but it won't be arriving until August... So it will be a long wait!

Oh, did you get SDLM climbing? A bit thornier but the right colour...

I love Duchesse in Tulsa. We have two of them, and also Miss Caroline, a sport of Duchesse.

I hope you have as much success with her as I have. She does get large, like Cramoisi Superieur, but is very pretty.

I do not know about espalier.

Sammy

Not as beautiful? Well, it's a matter of taste. I personally consider 'Crepuscule' to be the prettier rose. 'Duchesse de Brabant' mildews heavily here. This may not be an issue where you live. It's certainly not a universal problem but it has spoiled my opinion of this rose.

And while I do love pink roses, there is something glorious about the distinctive color of 'Crepuscule'.

Rosefolly

I also ordered Duchesse de Brabant from Chamblee's, along with Mme. Antoinette Mari. This will be my third try for the duchess and this time I plant to do everything right!

Ingrid

My mother grows DUCHESSE DE BRABANT no spray in zone 7b coastal VA. It is a gorgeous rose, and in my opinion one of the best GARDEN roses for mild climates. Yes the flowers are very beautiful (and fragrant!) but I especially like the bright emerald green foliage and graceful growth habit. It isn't excessively thorny either. My advice is buy another DdB and plant the rose on each side of a garden seat or bench. When it is in full bloom you'll have a little piece of Heaven.

Ingrid,
Do you have mildew problems over there? DdB seems quite prone to it, a matter which can be made worse by draught stress.
Nik

This post was edited by nikthegreek on Fri, May 30, 14 at 1:18

What a lovely bunch of roses you have chosen. It's going to be really beautiful in your garden. Someone said Heritage doesn't perform well? I guess I could say it's not in constant bloom. It blooms in flushes. That doesn't bother me.

jannike, the knock that I've heard is that 'Heritage' is susceptible to rose rust in the Pacific coastal climate. Are you in the rust belt, or far enough inland that's it's not much of a problem? Otherwise, 'Heritage' is a great rose with gorgeous, fragrant flowers, good repeat for a large shrub, good shrub habit, and few thorns. Also makes a good short climber. (If you have extreme heat, I don't know how it responds to that.)

Nik, I do have some mildew in the cooler months but my previous specimens of DdB didn't seem to suffer unduly. Despite the drought it will be well-watered and mulched and hopefully that will help.

Ingrid

Muscovyduckling, I did get a Souvenir de la Malmaison climber, and have great hope it'll be a beautiful rose. I got it bare root at the same time I got my bare root Austins, but it hasn't started blooming yet. If it does well, it should be the perfect color for the fountain trellis.

Rosefolly, you're absolutely right. I'm judging a rose -- Crepuscule -- that I've never seen except in pictures. I'm excited to have it, and hope I fall head over heels once I see it blooming.

Ingrid, you were the one who inspired me to get Duchesse de Brabant, and I'm so grateful. Will you be getting your new one now or in autumn? Mine is doing well so far, and I hope yours does too.

Molineux, this little Duchesse has been blooming continuously since I received it, and the blooms are elegant deep cups -- just lovely. All the roses in this new garden are being trialed, and those that do best will get a permanent spot, with multiples of each of the few selected. Duchesse is certainly in the running, and your description of the shrub is a big help.

Mendocino rose, I feel so fortunate to be engulfed in such incredible beauty. I would never even have known about many of these roses, except for the great help I got on this forum. Do you think Heritage will do well in a hot climate? I don't need the trellis to be smothered in roses. A simple tracery with a few roses would be quite lovely. Some people say heritage blows quickly; do you find that to be the case? People also say that about Claire Austin, but mine almost always has blooms, and they last long enough to keep me happy.

Michaelg, I wish I was still in the rust belt, enjoying the ocean breezes and dozing off to the hypnotic repetitive crashing waves. No, the issue will be whether Heritage performs in dry heat if given good soil and water.

jannike

I had heard that the blooms of Heritage shatter quickly, but I still ordered it. I think I will prefer to have blooms that shatter quickly on a floriferous rose, than have blooms that cling on to the bush and look like an old soggy brown tissue. This is because I am a lazy gardener and rarely get around to deadheading anything. It may be different for other, less lazy, people.

I love DbD but it's a real thrip magnet here. We were lucky this year that the first flush wasn't affected. But right now, between the rain and the thrips, I am going to cut all of the 2nd flush buds off. They either don't open or they are damaged. Hopefully flush # 3 will be great. My DbD is right by my front door, and usually puts on a spectacular show in the fall, just in time for Halloween visitors.

jannike, I'll be getting mine in November. It's already much too warm to plant very young roses now, and I want to give it the best chance to succeed. I hope you'll be very happy with yours. The specimen in your picture is gorgeous. It just has that lovely old rose appearance, and is one of the few teas that to me are actually fragrant.

Ingrid