I second The Alnwyck rose. I have two planted in an East facing bed. It blooms at least 4_5 times between May and late October. They are a beautiful pink with just a hint of salmon. The fragrance is out ofvthis world as well. Almost raspberry. Mine have been in the ground for three years now and are 4 ft tall by 3 feet wide. That's a neat height because Austins can be giants in North Texas. I also have Sharifa Asma. I love her fragrance. But I've had her for two years in morning sun and evening shade. She only puts out about three flushes per season. Perhaps she needs to be in the ground one more year before she " leaps". May you pick the best rose for your garden and your life.

HI Michaela It's good to know your region of zone 5 - Rick is right that it can make a lot of difference. Since I'm no more than 3 hours due west of you on I-80, I can give you some feedback from essentially your region of the country. We're a little drier than you are in the Des Moines area, and perhaps a touch windier and colder at times, but I think I can give you a feel of what to expect for your roses. The good news is that for us the Austin roses are reliably hardy over the winter, at least once they get established. Since you'll be buying your roses as bands, you'll want to plant them right around the end of frost (end of April for us) to give them maximum time to settle in before the winter, and make sure they get regular water in the summer if you hit a dry spell. As long as the Austins you mention survive their first winter, you should have little trouble with winter survival. I have nearly 40 Austins here in Lincoln, and even in last year's brutal winter I don't think I lost any of them. That's even better than one of my other reliable type of roses - the Easy Elegance roses by Ping LIm (Earl May's has these among other nurseries).If you like the Carefree Beauty you might like these Easy Elegance roses - totally carefree and hardy for me, but not quite as elegant a flower as the Austins (with the possible exception of my favorite Sweet Fragrance). I grow Heritage and it has been cane hardy most years, and many of my Austins are in my zone 4 pockets to the north and east of my house. The east side is the only place I've ever lost an Austin (Sophy's Rose), and there are at least 10 in those two spots of my yard happily growing in essentially zone 4 conditions. You might wish to winter protect in your first winter - the straw Rick suggests is a good idea, or my cheap-gardener method is to stack filled leaf bags around the roses (but not covering them) making little "down coats" to protect them from the wind. After that, I really wouldn't worry the second winter, though I tend to winter protect every rose out of sheer laziness - I am down to protecting a wind barrier of leaf bags only around the edge of the bed however, for the most part. The only thing that might affect your Austins in Iowa might be blackspot, which tends to be happier in moister climates than mine. I don't think it would defoliate anything too much like it does on the East coast, but you might have to put up with some spots on the leaves now and then. I don't find it affects their hardiness or bloom that much for me, so you can experiment with how much blackspot bugs you or not (I'm way too lazy to spray). Sounds like you've chosen some nice roses and you should be happy with your choices. Just give then some sun and water and don't fuss too much - they're still babies in their first year and really aren't likely to bloom all that much till their third year. Have fun! Cynthia

I still have this peculiar rose...but only because I have been too idle to remove it. It mooches about, still just with one long cane and a couple of spindly offshoots and occasionally throws out a really rather good bloom (with a weak neck), most surprisingly around November. I can see why it is seductive but after 4 years, to get only a tiny handful of roses in a season is just hopeless. I freely admit to being rubbish+ with food and water, but enough roses seem to manage perfectly well. I have to conclude that this is one of those fussy types.

My wife and I grow a large variery of roses. We have found that in general David Austin roses require more spraying than othe varieties that are better acclimated to Florida. The grafting of plants onto Fortuniana root stock is to make up for the weakness in the root system of some roses. Unfortunately the academic types have used their lack of specific knowledge to proclaim that all roses grown in Florida be on Fortuniana. This is not the case. When growing in Florida many areas lack organic material in the "soil" Have a soil test done through your county co-operative extension so that you can amend the planting area as indicated. We like a deep bed of mulch around our plants We use 4-6" of wood chips or composted horse manure, both will add organic material over time. Some people prefer to grow in pots, this way you control the media that they grow in by using something such as Jungle Growth which is available at some Lowe's and Walmarts. The material is high in organic material and drains well. You might even want to use it when planting in the ground. We went through a number of plants before learning how to grow roses. It also took several years to carch on. You can do it and be successful. You might try some native roses in the future. You might also consider going to the Central Florida Heritage Rose Society meeting held monthly in Lakeland, FL.