Thanks for the suggestions--Sounds like either Sharifa or Scepter would work well in his area and the look and scent of Sharifa sound wonderful. I was a little worried about the disease resistance or heat tolerance of Sharifa Asma in his central valley/Orinda location, but if it does well for you in Texas and So Cal it should be okay. The book says Sharifa's growth is upright and comparatively short, so it should go well in his beds that have other perennials if that is true in warm climates. I'm eyeing a couple of under-performers in my own garden at the moment for an SP (Mayflower-boring and Grace-sulking/wilts in heat) and considering adding these here in St. Louis, although I already grow about 3 dozen Austin varieties...so many pretty kinds to choose from... It has to be an Austin for sentimental reasons and I've had good success using DA in Tx to send gifts--comes like a beautiful flowering plant in a pot like you got it from a florist to enjoy immediately but can still be put in the garden later, so he'll have time if he's too busy to deal with it immediately. So I'm leaning toward Sharifa, unless anyone thinks it won't perform there...

Sg-Beautiful! About 15 years ago I painted our living room a rose color. Can't remember what I used. But it was very pretty in there. One day I had an upset stomach and got the Pepto-Bismal out, and I looked at the bottle, then my walls, held the bottle to my walls and it was a perfect match. lol So if I feel the need to paint a room pink again, I'll compare it to the PB color! heh. It was very subtle and light rosey. I love "pink" rooms! I think most people are afraid to use the color in a public area, but IMO, it's one of the prettiest colors for LR's, etc.

Sultry is your LoS on its own roots, or on Dr.H or Fortuniana? I ordered one on its own roots this year from DA and they sent me a grafted one by accident (they are sending me a replacement one this week). I'm not sure if I'll like it enough to order it on Fortuniana yet, knowing it will take up a lot of room. I grew it once before and it didn't bloom much and the blooms were very small for me. But I only had it for about six months. I moved it into the ground then it started getting really large (still no blooms) and I realized it wasn't a good spot for such a large rose so I moved it again and it didn't survive the second move (poor thing, was all my fault!). Anyways, something tells me she'll do better in partial shade and maybe on her own roots so she doest get so large. I dunno. We'll see. If she does well for me I may get her on Fortuniana. I have two Pat Austins though, on Fort and they do really well and they are a similar color.

FWIW, Earth Angel was miserable here. It didn't want to grow. With heavy pampering it did grow a bit, but the flowers were disfigured or entirely destroyed by thrips and heat. This does not seem to be the experience of others, in other parts of the country though. I wish mine looked like Dianela's! Desdemona, on the other hand, just wants to keep growing, putting out new growth as flowers are fading. The flowers stay blush pink for most of their duration for me. Winchester Cathedral is a tough plant, that has endured moderate neglect from me. Flowers can be very beautiful with a button eye, but in the heat of summer can lose their form and get small. The flowers of mine have a buff tinge to them, and turn white just before fading. They have an odd fragrance though, and you may wish to smell it before buying. Bolero may be the most susceptible to thrips of all the roses that I have. But that may be because of my growing conditions and the plants don't get as much water as they want. All summer the flowers on my plants are mostly disfigured. But when Bolero is at it's best, the flowers are dreamy. The flowers smell like marshmallow creme at times (to me) and sometimes like waterlilies. Fair Bianca was a tiny plant for me, growing about 15 inches tall after a few years. Flowers were intensely licorice scented, and very well formed (but not globular). Unfortunately, I have no photos. They needed dead-heading and were not fast on the repeat. I remember them blooming once in the spring and once in the fall before I gave them away. I'd want to try them again, in better conditions though. Incidentally, Pure Perfume (not an Austin) has similarly shaped flowers for me, and a much more vigorous bush. Flowers smell like Smarties to me. Claire Austin is supposed to be a white Austin, but it bloomed yellow for me (it was confirmed by DA Roses to be correctly labelled). It was a good grower, and had a nice fragrance, but I really didn't like the yellow fading to buff, so was removed. Others say that their Claire has white flowers. I was very disappointed because the DA catalog/website shows such beautiful white globular flowers. Have you thought of Windermere? I keep hoping to find a space for it, but I haven't tried it.