Lots of lovely pictures! I will dig through my files at home and see what I've got, although I'm really bad at taking pictures. I have (roses* are new or first year roses so I don't know much about them yet): Munstead Wood* Fighting Temeraire* Lady Emma Hamilton* Summer Song* Carolyn Knight Jude the Obscure Golden Celebration Graham Thomas Charlotte Possibly Pilgrim? (It was unlabelled - it grows like it's an Austin and the huge blooms look like Pilgrim) Wildeve Eglantyne Sharifa Asma* The Mayflower 14, which is more than I expected actually. Mostly orange and yellow which is predictable I suppose, as those are the colours least represented in old roses. Mayflower is an early and late bloomer for me too, and has remained small (it's 4 or 5 years old?). All the Austin yellows I have tend to blackspot, (apart from maybe Pilgrim, that stays titchy, but clean) so why I bought Golden Celebration I'm not sure - Although I've heard it's not as bad as some. I am actually hoping that the Austins will be like most of my other roses and stop blackspotting so much as they become mature plants. Carolyn Knight is coming up on her third summer for me and has been a small, healthy, floriferous plant for me. It was an impulse garden showstand dismantling purchase. Don't really like the scent, but I hear a lot of people do - I find it a bit bitter. I gather Summer Song did very, very badly for a lot of people in the US, I think the phrase 'grew backwards' was used more than once (so much so that it was withdrawn from sale!) but it's not got so bad a reputation here, and Carolyn Knight, it's sport has been good, and where it is it can stay small if it wants, AND I really wanted that colour in it's spot, so I took a chance on it. The bareroot had very solid chunky canes, and big roots, so fingers crossed. I'd heard a lot of good about Sharifa Asma from forum members, not so much about it in the UK, so I took a punt on it. It's planted near Wildeve, which is a very graceful plant although it didn't bloom much last year - I think it was concentrating on size. Hopefully they match well. Munstead Wood I'm hoping has the deep purple red colour that it so often has in pictures, it's possibly my favourite rose colour. That's it really, not thinking of buying any more Austins, as my garden is getting pretty full - I have room for more reds, and more titchy roses, but I don't like the habit and colour of most of the Austin reds that I've seen as mature shrubs, and the range doesn't really seem to include really small roses. Of course, who knows what Chelsea will bring?

I am near you - about 3 hours from Galveston in east Texas. I love my Tess. I have her on a huge fan shaped trellis - she has very healthy foliage and lots of nice blooms. Two of my favorite Austins are Carding Mill and Abe Darby. Wollerton Old Hall, new for me last year, does get really big, don't find the blooms fragrant like Austin says, but they are pretty. Sophy's Rose is a really good one - healthy foliage, lots of big pretty deep pink blooms. Bishop's Castle is good. Lady of Shallot looks to be big. I have quite a few new ones that are healthy and growing - they will do better next year. Great big for me are James Galway and Scepter d'Isle - like them a lot. I have Lady Emma and Munstead Wood planted where they get full sun until 2pm - hope they like it there. I really like Ambridge Rose too. Love the blooms on Jude......mine is very small though. I am getting another Young Lycadis - my chickens were scratching in that bed and killed it. The color is a different, brighter looking pink that I really like. Englands Rose was new for me last year - it started off looking and blooming fantastically.....then it starting dawdling around. Am hoping it will get going again in the spring - it was really nice. I want to try Princess Alexandra of Kent - have heard good things about it. Do any of you all plan to try the new Austins? I want Boscobel, The Lark Ascending.......not sure about the others. caldonbeck, the photos are fabulous! Judith

My Lady Emma Hamilton has done reasonably well for me here. I like the color and the fragrance. Mine has never had a large number of flowers at any given time. Rather, it has had smaller numbers of flowers, but more frequently. The bush tends to grow wider than tall. It is not a large bush. Lady of Shalott is a monster that has lots of flowers all season, but they fade in the sun and do not have much of a fragrance. If you are considering Benjamin Britten, watch out. This one typically gets 10-15 ft tall in my yard. It has plenty of flowers, but they fade from vermilion to a sort of watermelon pink. I can comment on my long-term observations with my Summer Songs. They do sort of okay if we do not have a late, hard freeze. However, this past summer was the first year that any of them made a half-effort at reblooming. The flowers were small, but at least they were there. It may be like some of the other old hybrid perpetuals that had to be at least 6 or 7 years old before they would rebloom. They can be quite showy in the spring, but they are not like Crocus Rose by any stretch of the imagination.

R, I can't tell you whether or not this will be a success, but last month dug out a specimen of LEH that was staying very small planted out in my front garden and potted her up to put by my front door. I'm not sure whether or not she will respond well to this treatment, but since she has been a compact grower for me and is also reported by Austin to be suitable for pots, I suspect she will do well. Great fragrance. Sean, I also love Gertrude Jekyll and Munstead Wood! Such great roses!