hehe this is one I can answer ! I have two Bunnings nearby, and seem to end up at one or the other most weeks. In my area (south east ish suburban Melbourne ) Bunnings can get bare root ("body bag") roses as early as late May-June. As a rule, these tend to be really cheap end roses; think well out of patent classic/popular hybrid teas similar to Mr Lincoln , Eiffel Tower, Julias rose, Just Joey etc or floribundas like white iceberg, europeana, Bonica and lilli marlene. But they do get a few of the older more obscure Austins. In previous years I have seen Yellow Charles Austin, The Dove, Perdita, Claire Rose, Cymbeline, Tamora, lucetta, Happy Child etc, It seems to be luck of the draw, because different stores have different varieties..To be honest, I ended up chucking a lot of the body bags of mine, as they were either dud plants, not suitable for my area and didn't grow well, or they were bought in a bargain induced frenzy and were just..wrong.. My advice is to look up all the older austins and make a checklist of ones you would like, so you can avoid the ones you don't have room for. Still have Cymbeline tho..shes lovely. and its a good way of experimenting on the cheap. Last year they were all around 9.95 (year before they were 8.95 I think), They usually have higher priced more popular PBR roses nearby ( think Pierre Ronsard, Ebb Tide, burgundy iceberg, etc). I think they were around 12.95? Warning- They dont tend to be very good quality , so check them thoroughly for dodgy canes etc, try to get a good look at the graft area, and you have to get them early, as the best ones go very quickly. I think they just get the one shipment, and the rest stay till they get sold...One cane wonders abound! Keep an eye out for the Delbards - they seem to appear a couple of weeks later as "potted barerooted" for around $ 16 /18. That is, bareroots that appear to have been potted in the minimum sized pot available. They look to be a bit better quality with more and thicker looking canes. Either Delbards is keener on quality control, or the plants keep better that way.

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!

PnP, I put in a black metal fence around the front part of my yard and plan to grow her on the part abutting my driveway. It's between her and Teasing Georgia... whoever gets to planting size first, but think the colour of JA might suit this place better. I hope to get Quicksilver to plant next to her to mingle a bit and loligag over the fence. I had planned to plant Annie Laurie McDowell next to her on the other side, but all my cuttings froze out. : ((((( My only concern is that her general flower shape will over shadow the more delicate forms of Cornelia and Felicia. I'll just have to see how it goes! : )) I have high hopes for this fence line. : )) The only other person growing her was in BC that I could find. It did GREAT there! Monarda, setting is everything sometimes, isn't it? Comtesse, I will read about first, but usually these bags are so cheap, I think it might be worth a try! If it does BS, at least my friend will understand why it takes me so long to decide on varieties. He's a very impetuous buyer and lucked out with his first roses setting the bar high. Until one has seen formerly beautiful roses completely defoliate, it's hard to understand.

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