I spoke to DA just this morning. The nice Customer Service Lady said that its a good rose for my climate (very similar to the Pacific Northwest). She said that its a heathy rose but not so hardy if I lived closer to the sea. (There's a couple very, very small mountains between the sea and my garden so I'm ok) I also asked why its a lesser known variety. She answered a distinctive London accent, "it's just an older variety, we're not hiding it or anything. It's a lovely rose, beautiful cups with fewer petals so the rain doesn't affect them as much. It would do well for you in Donegal as long as your a bit inland from the coast." I hope that helps. I'm not sure what your zone is. M.

All the plants have buds and Munstead Wood is the first to bloom-- 9 flowers have opened and 9 more developing. I gave them water and nothing else for weeks, then as they started getting bigger, sprinklings of bloodmeal and half-doses of fish emulsion. At some point I tried giving them a bit of diluted potassium with indeterminate results. (Maybe because I got muriate of potash instead of the potassium chloride, sulfide or whatever it is that's supposed to be better?) Once I gave them water left over from cooking beans (no salt) and they seemed to like it fine. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the whole plants yet, but they do seem like they are taking off. Though Munstead Wood, Lady of Shallot, and Jude the Obscure are growing with big open spaces between canes-- I don't know if these are the reported David Austin octopus arms, or pest damage to terminal shoots that would otherwise fill out the center of the bush, or particular growth habit in Houston, TX weather, or if it's just something it'll grow out of after a year and some pruning. The other, younger two plants that I've messed with the least, Lady Emma Hamilton and Brother Cadfael, have much more attractive foliage and look more bushy/shrubby. LEH has sixteen buds already and is nicely rounded, while BC, who has been growing tall thick canes and took the longest to leaf out and bud, looks more like a sturdy column shape. They are all at least two to three and a half feet off the soil level. So far the scent on MW is very sweet, like berry candy and rosewater (rather than dried rose petals), and seems stronger after a fish emulsion feeding. Can't wait for the others! Thanks to everyone for being present on this forum. I've been going through a lot of posts and learning a bunch!

I have three Princes on their own roots--the oldest one, one year old, was planted last summer. It getting tallish and is rather problem-free so far this summer, but I have noticed the weird small roses in hot weather mentioned above, but it's not the only one that does that and it was freakishly hot here, in the mid-90s in June (not normal for us). I have put two photos here with its companion plants to give it some perspective in terms of size and color. It is perhaps not as vigorous as something like Olivia or R. Dahl, which are grafted in my garden, but it really not far behind, especially given that it's own root, and started puny. And it has been been flowering more than those two did in their first years. Lots of blooms. So far it is not super tall, but in its habit, it reminds me a bit of my Louis XIV, and is it possible they are related? Louis XIV is grafted, and stays even smaller, but like the Prince, it has regular fragrant dark red blooms on sort of spindly legs, and the blooms are much bigger and more interesting than the plant itself. In the pictures, my one-year-old Prince is intermeshed a bit with Somme 2016, which is not blooming right now, but has the one large bud towering above The Prince that looks bit lighter. Somme 2016 is actually is in a similar color scheme as the Prince and Munstead Wood, and the color also fluctuates based on the weather. It can get a lovely sort of deep magenta-violent and could be an option for people who like rich colors in roses, as the Prince and Munstead Wood are essentially out of circulation, other than the occasional small vendor or in the case of Munstead Wood, I recently got one from a vendor who was getting rid of the rest of their stock from last year. Louis XIV could be an option as well for dark rose lovers, as it is still on the market, if not always easy to find. It does stay a small plant but it good for the front of a border and does smell lovely once it gets going. So far, Somme 2016 does not have much fragrance but it's only a few months old, wants to bloom all the time, and it may surprise me yet. The rose Centenaire de l'Hay les Roses is peeking out in the background, as are Jubilee Celebration (1 month in garden--also possibly about to go out of circulation, so I have heard, so one to snap up if you like strong fragrance as it has to have one of the best) and Bluebell (one year old) in at least one of the photos. Bluebell, for dark rose lovers, is an excellent, small vibrant, violent/magenta pot rose and I totally recommend it for that. I am starting to favor own-root roses (when can find them). I think they bloom more? And you don't have to worry about growth from the rootstock, and when the roots are established, apparently they can live almost forever? Or so I have heard? But I am new to gardening at this level. I live in a temperate, humid climate and this Prince gets afternoon sun, and this what it looks like after weeks of rain and wind. It has been fed but is not sprayed with anything. It bloomed into autumn when planted last year, so I think maybe it deals well, even thrives, in cool and partial shade. But last summer, it was planted right before a heatwave/drought of 40 celsius and survived that. I have a younger own-root Prince in a Southwest exposure as well, almost full sun and it's doing okay in one of the worst spots in the garden, better than many of its predessors that are in the compost heap in the sky, or had to be moved. It's too soon to tell if the Prince will completely thrive in the SW spot. It has bloomed constantly there, though, so here's hoping. I think a lot does depend on where a rose is positioned in the garden. I have had ones that do not do well in one spot that totally perk up in another. But I am still learning so it's really hit and miss sometimes!

Beth Hana I'm interested in BUYING your cuttings of the Prince & Cymbaline and any Austin that smell good from you. I almost bought the Prince back in 2012 from Chamblee's Nursery in Texas but my daughter didn't like its color !! Now I regret it. Few years ago I bought Young Lycidas and it died in its first winter in my zone 5a as grafted-on-Dr.Huey. Grafted roses don't survive freezing rain in my poor drainage clay. Get tired of $3,000 worth of roses dying through my zone 5a winter for the past 3 decades, so I get into rooting roses to donate to charity instead. pricklycuttingnoca I rooted a few The Squire this year, it's drought & heat tolerant. Here's the list of the year introduced from Facebook David Austin group. Patent expires after 20 yrs. of introduction. 1963 : Constance Spry 1967 : Chianti 1968 : Shropshire Lass, Scintillation 1969 : Wife of Bath, Canterbury, Dame Prudence, The Friar, The Knight, The Prioress, The Yeoman 1970 : Chaucer, The Miller 1973 : Charles Austin, Lilian Austin, Red Coat 1974 : Glastonbury 1977 : The Squire 1979 : The Countryman, The Reeve 1982 : Admired Miranda, Charmian, Fair Bianca, Hero, Leander, Prospero, Proud Titania, Wise Portia 1983 : Graham Thomas, Mary Rose, Cressida, Cymbaline, Jaquenetta, Lordly Oberon, Lucetta, Moonbeam, Perdita, Pretty Jessica, Sir Clough, Tamora, Troilus 1984 : Belle Story, Bredon, Dove, Ellen, Heritage, Hilda Murrell, Mary Webb, Wenlock, Windrush 1985 : Abraham Darby, Emanuel, Mountain Snow, Sir Walter Raleigh 1986 : Symphony, Claire Rose, English Garden, Gertrude Jekyll, Othello, Robbie Burns, Warwick Castle, Wild Flower 1987 : Doctor Jackson, Fisherman's Friend, St. Cecelia, Swan, The Nun, William Shakespeare 1988 : Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Financial Times Centenary, Francine Austin, Leonard Dudley Braithwaite, Potter and Moore, Queen Nefertiti, Snowdon, Winchester Cathedral. 1989 : Sharifa Asma, Sweet Juliet, Bibi Maizoon 1990 : Jayne Austin, Ambridge Rose, Brother Cadfael, Kathryn Morley, Lilac Rose, Peach Blossom, The Prince 1991 : Bow Bells, Evelyn, Cottage Rose, Country Living, The Dark Lady, The Pilgrim 1992 : Sir Edward Elgar, Emily, Glamis Castle, Golden Celebration, Immortal Juno, Redouté , The Alexandra Rose, Tradescant 1993 : Happy Child, Mrs. Doreen Pike, Radio Times, St. Swithun, Proud Bride 1994 : Charlotte, Eglantyne, John Clare, Molineux, The Herbalist 1995 : Pat Austin, Noble Anthony, Jude the Obscure, Pegasus, English Elegance, Heavenly Rosalind 1996 : Morning mist 1997 : Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Sophy's Rose, Scepter'd Isle, Ann, Trevor Griffith, Barbara Austin, Charity, Geoff Hamilton, Mayor Of Casterbridge, Heather Austin, Mistress Quickly, A Shropshire Lad, Snow Goose, Marinette, Rushing Stream, Windflower 1998 : Buttercup, Dr. Herbert Gray, Mary Magdalene, William Morris, Teasing Georgia 1999 : Falstaff, Anne Boleyn, Blythe Spirit, Portmeiron 2000 : Crocus Rose (Syn Emanuel) , William Shakespeare 2000, Crown Princess Margareta, Cordelia, Miss Alice, James Galway, Malvern Hills, Ludlow Castle (syn. England's Rose) 2001 : Benjamin Britten, Alnwick Castle, Charles Darwin, Comtes des Champagne, Corvedale, Grace, The Mayflower 2002 : Christopher Marlowe, Jubilee Celebration, Lochinvar, Mortimer Sackler, Spirit of Freedom, The Generous Gardener 2003 : Janet, Rose-Marie, Scarborough Fair, Wildeve 2004 : Queen of Sweden, Harlow Carr, Rose of Picardy, Rosemoor, Hyde Hall, St. Alban, Wisley, The Ingenious Mr.Fairchild, Carding Mill 2005 : Wild Edric, Summer Song, Gentle Hermione, Darcey Bussell, Lady Emma Hamilton, The Endeavour 2006 : Sister Elizabeth, Strawberry Hill, Tea Clipper, Lichfield Angel, Windermere 2007 : Skylark, Port Sunlight, Munstead Wood, Claire Austin, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Bishop's Castle, The Shepardess, Alan Titchmarch, Lady of Megginch 2008 : Sir John Betjeman, Wisley 2008, Young Lycidas 2009 : The Wedgewood Rose, Kew Gardens, Lady of Shalott, Tam O'Shanter 2010 : Maid Marion, Cariad, Englands Rose, Princess Anne, Susan Williams-Ellis, The Lady's Blush 2011 : Fighting Temeraire, Lady Salisbury, William and Katherine, Queen Anne, Wollerton Old Hall 2012 : Heathcliff, Tranquillity, Boscobel, Royal Jubilee, The Lark Ascending 2013 : Carolyn Knight, The Albrighton Rambler, The Lady Gardener, Thomas`a Becket 2014 : Olivia Rose Austin, The Lady of the Lake, The Poet's Wife 2015 : Desdemona, Sir Walter Scott, The Ancient Mariner 2016 : Bathsheba, Imogen, Roald Dahl 2017 : James L. Austin, Dame Judi Dench, Vanessa Bell 2018 : Emily Bronte, The Mill on the Floss, Tottering-on-Gently 2019 : Eustacia Vue, Gabriel Oak 2020: Silas Marner, The Country Parson 2021: Nye Bevan