Constance Spry, I have for 11 years and it blooms twice! It is monster.

Carding Mill and Mary Rose are my best DA. I have about 22

I'm afraid I have to chime in here with DA roses in Socal. I live in Venice, about a mile from the beach and I inherited some roses in the backyard, which after much digging and my own failure, I believe must be DA roses.

They grow giant octopus arms that won't bloom regardless of how much whacking or pegging I do. It's been going on like that for two summers now so just a week ago, they got the boot to make room.

As for my own experiment - I bought Tea Clipper and Queen of Sweden, meaning both to be short bushes in my back garden close to a fountain. Last summer we had a few blooms but they're turning out to be much taller. Must be those British genes combined with our long growing season. We'll see if they make the cut after this summer.

Heritage, Brother Cadfael, and James Galway grown as climbers are the only ones that works. Probably because they're supposed to grow long arms. Heritage in particular is super bendy as well.

Also, as a side note - I've gone and smelled many of the Austins at a commercial grower close to here and find that although they flowers looked beautiful, they just did not suit my nose! Quite a few of them smelled just plain 'stinky'. I'm sorry that's not a great adjective =)

So far the faves (all non-DA) in my garden in terms of scent and bloom are: Red Eden and Angel Face (amazing fragrance and crazy growth).

I love revived threads! I am SPing my Mary Rose. It suckers like crazy and never has a nice form, no matter how I prune it. It will go into the raffle at my rose groups annual rose day. I have it's sport Redoute, which I like much better. I also have Alnwick Castle (which I got in last years raffle!) that I am going to replace it with.

Never again would I grow Golden Celebration. I know that many others love this plant, but here it is a miserable, disease ridden, water hog. Even grafted it is not worthy of a second glance.

Josh

I haven't tried growing Golden Celebration because of the name - it sound too simple.

I have already shovel pruned Claire Austin. The blooms don't have that wow factor.

Young Lycidas was a disappointment too. The flowers look too blousy for my taste - reminds me of a tea / china rose.

I am really impressed with Wisley 2008. This rose is much prettier than The Alnwick rose. The only thing that is lacking is the scent. But the flowers are worth growing for.

My Gertrude is only young but I can already see the issues with poor repeat. The flowers also didn't last long when cut. I read in another thread that hard pruning may help but I tried that in summer and just got more growth. I am going to weave it as a climber and if it still doesn't perform next year I will send her to heaven. One Austin that has stayed dense and compact and always covered in flowers that are perfectly shaped for me in hot dry zone 10 is Happy Child. It is on Fortuniana rootstock but no octopus canes at all and is very neat and healthy with no spraying. It is also not very thorny so good for picking. The only bad thing about it is that the cut flowers will not last for more than 3 days when cut. Evelyn is doing ok although it does send out long arms which I hack back hard. The thinner laterals flowers best. Her flowers last about 7-10 days in the vase for me, which is excellent for an Austin. Repeat is slower than most of my HTs. Jude the Obscure on the other hand repeats well but the flowers blow so quickly! It does not even have time to wilt it just opens and blows which is frustrating. It does smell pretty fresh. I cannot stand any roses with a myrrh scent so that's most of the Austins. Happy child has a tea rose scent. With fortuniana rootstock the plants are fairly drought tolerant. I find Sonia Rykiel a much better plant than most Austins. It is much more heat tolerant and growth habit is dense and pretty and repeat is very fast. Flowers are numerous and gorgeous without fail, even in 100 degree heat, and no myrrh smell! Just sweetly scented. It also lasts well as a cut flower.

Ditto others' comments about 'Fair Bianca' being a terribly weak grower, plus not cane hardy in my climate. Here also, 'Abraham Derby' blooms were often creepy-looking with proliferation or botrytis petal blight. 'Othello' was a huge thorny monster with hardly any repeat bloom. Same was true of 'Gertrude Jekyll', but I would consider keeping her for fragrance and beauty of bloom, had I room to spare.

Of the few of my Austins that are old enough to really commend on, The Prince has been a very week grower and slow repeater with blooms that fry under the Med sun, prone to mildew. Glamis Castle's flowers don't last a day in high summer but are nice in spring and fall and produced in abundance. Not for the myrrh phobic. The plant itself is a mildew magnet. A Shropshire Lad, though strong and healthy is the scarciest bloomer of all my roses, almost a once bloomer and not good at that either. Abraham Darby btw has been a wonderful, floriferous and healthy plant for me which goes to show that climate and local conditions make a huge difference. AD needs proper 'english-style' shrub pruning for eventual shape when young IMO. Ditto for GC which is a great plant if you've got the space for it and while it does get a bit mildewy and blackspoty during the respective seasons it easily shakes it off. Doesn't like our afternoon sun though. Pat is an open shade only rose in my climate otherwise the bloooms fry in no time. It blooms reliably although not abundantly in open shade in my climate. Sceptr'd Isle has been nice and unproblematic though, again, not for the myrrh haters. So, The Prince, Glamis and ASL I would never plant again, the rest have been OK I suppose.

Mary Rose. I know people rave about it, but I did not like the growth habit and didn't think it was that outstanding otherwise to keep. It's now in someone else's yard and it's much happier.

Revisiting this topic, I think the Austin I hated most was 'Othello.' It was, indeed, a prickly monster and an awkward plant. The blooms were huge, and fragrant, but the form did not thrill me.

Golden Celebration -- we love. It is a very big plant, but quite disease-resistant here (where blackspot is a rare problem). It grows in morning sun, and is shaded by the house in the afternoon. It makes a great privacy-screen for our bedroom window.

As for 'Fair Bianca' -- I think that, if I had it to do again, I would plant it in a pot. I think it might well succeed that way. I did love the blooms. And while it's not for everyone, I really did love the fragrance.

This is a very interesting post indeed. So far I don't have any problems with any yet. Half of mine were planted last year so I will have to see if I like them or not.

Of the Austins I ended up buying, Lady of Megginch will probably be looking for a new home in the fall. I think I still have Ambridge, but she is being swallowed by her neighbors. Because they are all grafted I am worried about actually digging her out and will probably allow her to die a peaceful death it it looks like she is taking the good Dr with her. Mary Rose has a pass for now. She is behind a Brilliant Pink Iceberg, so her blooms are lost but she does have scent so she stays for now.

I let 'The Prince' sit for years, semi-lost behind two big 'Flower Girl's. I thought he would just die, but he wasn't so cooperative. Put out 1-2 blooms a year, whether he had to or not. We finally cleared that bed a few weeks back, so it now has 2 Found roses, the ashes of one of our dogs, and 'Eyes For You.' MUCH better!

Has anyone had experience with Clare Austin rose? I'm considering using it as a short climber. The area to be planted is in full sun, quite warm and sheltered. My soil drains way too well, so that can be an issue if I don't get out to water. Main concerns are blackspot, mildew and general vigor.

I planted 3 x Claire Austin after reading David Austin stated it was the best white rose to date. Very disappointed. After 2 years it is still very spindly with minimal flowering. I can see how it might be considered a good climber habit wise though - quite long limbed. Could be the climate here though that doesn't suit it and maybe it's better in the cold. I have found Windermere (though not a true white) to be spectacular and hardy, and also Winchester Cathedral and Glamis Castle (both true whites) to be very good doers (have grown these for 10 yrs +), though these last two need the odd spray to keep the blackspot at bay.

I tried both Winchester Cathedral and Glamis Castle several years ago. Both were terrible for me, so got rid of them. Was hoping newer DA roses might be stronger.

Update from above Pics of Young Lycidas. I ended up putting her on trellis & now she's happy and prolific, a great rose. I live in central California, hot summer weather. I have found all these DA's want tons of water,almost every day. Othello was mal-formed, & Sweet Juliette was balling. Both cured with more water. My most reliable ones are Munstead Wood, Endeavor, & Queen Nefferti (2). Endeavor is by far better than Jubilee Celebration. Abe Darby another great one.

'Marinette'.... I think this plant was ill from the moment I got it.... I've seen it looking good elsewhere but mine seemed unhappy from the word go...

...it's gone... shame... I rather liked the name...

Jude the Obscure. Terrible rose for me. Hated it.

Honestly, there is probably no Austin that I would say I would never plant again...because I will always wonder what would happen if I had planted it in a different place, or given it different care. That being said, I hope I never get the urge to plant Abraham Darby in my yard again (just miserable), and....I hate to say it, but Bishop's Castle. It is vigorous, blooms frequently despite the heat (see above photo, 3rd flush, with temps in the mid 90's), so why wouldn't I plant it again? Well, once summer monsoons came, the flowers shriveled from the center during the day, after opening nicely that morning (see below, end of day 1). Didn't do it in the dry heat of the beginning of summer. Fragrance is very light. Color is...flat pink. Petal count is low. It is just sort of a bland rose so far, not much different from a hedge rose. The biggest problem is that it is not bad enough to remove and not good enough to make me happy.

Hi Noseometer, I have limited space so I only keep roses that make me very happy. I just shovel pruned my Ingrid Bergman, which was a large specimen covered in flowers all the time, and always healthy with no spray. However, every time I sniffed her perfectly looking blooms I felt cheated as there was nothing. So despite her best effort to keep me happy by blooms her head off I have decided to let her go and find something else that will make my heart sing.

I have all my Austins in pots and I got most of them this spring. I am in NE FL right near the Atlantic Coast and near a large river and another smaller one behind us. The ones doing the best for me right now during this horrid heat (96F and wild thunderstorms every night for the last week or so -really humid) are:

Teasing Georgia- Grafted, just finished two big flushes. About 6 1/2 ft tall. Really pretty!

Princess Alexandra of Kent- Grafted. Has been blooming all summer. There are 19 buds on her right now. Holds her pink color really well. So girly!

Lady of Shalott- Grafted. Blooming steady. Really huge. Gorgeous color. I am getting some pink in the orange blooms. Nice combination giving it a different look than Pat. I am definitely getting another grafted one next spring!

Lichfield Angel-Grafted. Blooming steady. Pale apricot buds and opens to a creamy white. Really pretty bloom form. Blooms are large! Not stingy at all here. I really like this one!

Pat Austin- Grafted. Blooming well off and on and lots of buds when not in bloom. Love love her! My favorite of all of them so far with LoS a close second.

Crown Princess M.- Grafted, blooming off and on the flowers don't last that long but the rain storms and heat are pretty bad. Color fades to very light orange sherbet in the heat.

Abe Darby -Grafted, blooming off and on but does have some black spot.. I don't spray

Evelyn- Grafted, blooming off and on. I stretched out some fencing between two metal T-posts a few weeks ago, so she is espaliered now and putting out some laterals. I did the same for LOS and she is blooming on laterals already.

Alnwick rose- Grafted. Has some blooms but looks a little ratty. No blackspot but is a tall skinny bush. I guess this is her habit. Blooms fall apart quickly in the heat. Earlier this spring she held her blossoms much better and did not fade out so quickly.

Munstead Wood- Grafted. Has some 5 ft canes now and blooms are hot pink but I think this is due to the heat. I look forward to seeing the cooler weather blooms. This one would have way more blooms but the stupid grasshoppers keep eating up the buds.

Falstaff- I am surprised this ones is blooming and growing so well. I heard it was stingy. Not so here. I planted it as a grafted bare root in a 5 gallon and haven't got around to potting it up to a larger container lol. The color is a little pinkish due to the heat but they are pretty. I just got it around Mother's Day.

Jude- Grafted.This one seems to be growing slower overall but it is blooming okay. The flowers don't last that long (heat and rain). Smells awesome.

Jubilee Celebration- Grafted. Another slow grower. It puts out a bloom or two every few weeks. It is still small though.

Young Lycidas- Grafted Kinda scraggly growth about 4 ft tall kinda skinny. Healthy so maybe this is its habit. Puts out blooms sporadically.

Princess Anne- Grafted. Has a few tall, almost 5ft branches then several 2 and 3 ft ones. Blooms sporadically. I just moved her and YL into full sun from part sun recently so hopefully they will improve. Bold hot pink color.

Lilian Austin- Own root from a band. Fast grower and good bloomer. Seems to want to grow tall rather than wide so far.

**Others too young to really rate:**

Sharifa Asma- Good bloomer is on own root from a band. Growing slow. Smells awesome.

Lady Emma- Only a few blooms so far. Own root from a band. Growing slow but a big branch of it got knocked off by the stupid ducks flipping the pot over grr.

Carding Mill- Own root from a band. Only had a few mos and bloomed once.

Shropshire Lad- Has not bloomed yet. I got it own root from a band this spring. It is 5 ft tall.

The Ingenious Mr Fairchild- the most recent DA acquisition- own root from a band and already 3 ft and full. Really nice green leaves. No blooms yet.

Golden Celebration- got this spring from a band own root. Seems weak and gets black spot. It seems to be straightening out a little more lately. Has bloomed a few times and smells so yummy. I might get another one that is grafted in the spring.

Tess of the d'urbervilles- Sporadic blooms and growing slow with some black spotting just like GC.

Sultry Jasmine, i grow some of the ones you listed. Munstead Wood will get darker with more water. Please see my recent post above. These Austins take a LOT of water, especially if they're in containers.

P.S. Sultry Jasmine, towards the beginning of this post, in 2013 I posted pics of Young Lycidas. This rose is doing much better with lots of water & a trellis. If yours are in containers you could also try tomato cages, works great.

I just found this fascinating post! I am in zone 8b on an island in the Pacific Northwest and have grown a fair number of David Austins as well as some others. I am in total agreement about Glamis Castle, off with her head! I adore Abraham Darby but he gets black spot ( I am an organic gardener and don't spray). I moved him and pruned him hard in hopes of receiving better health and it seems to be working somewhat but I am trying Lady of Shallot now as a possible replacement.

Winchester Cathedral: too much black spot and mean! thorny, gone

Eglantyne: same as above, gone

Evelyn: very curious and offers why one must give these roses (David Austin) time in your garden to find their way. This rose hardly bloomed for me for 5 years, she only stayed because I didn't have time to shovel prune her! I was looking out the window one day and realized the beauty I was looking at with tons of gorgeous blooms was Evelyn! Who knew?!! She is in one my worst beds, full of heavy compacted soil although I have amended the soil for years with compost and dairy manure.It is now a cutting garden bed. She continues to bloom beautifully but repeat comes in flushes..

Jude the Obscure: repeat for me not so good, gone

Gertrude Jekyll: very slow to repeat, gone

My favorites with very little or no disease are Boscobel, Golden Celebration, Jubilee Celebration, Lady Emma Hamilton, Lilian Austin. All bloom almost continually here. I wanted to love Scepter'd Isle but just today I found rust on her!! This is her second year so I will have my eye on her because that isn't acceptable since it travels to my other beauties quickly. Mary Rose blooms her heart out with very little disease but she is a dull pink. Munstead Wood (own root) is starting his second year, gorgeous. Susan Williams-Ellis also starting second year as part of a white hedge and looking good with lots of blooms. Also, trying Desdemona for white hedge, hoping she will be as beautiful as reported!! These whites will replace Iceberg due to blackspot and mildew. All my roses were own root except the new introductions but I have recently found Boscobel and Lady of Shallot as own root plants. I mulch with digested manure, excellent stuff, and alfalfa hay and I fertilize with Hendrikus flower, rose and bulb food. Hope to post pictures when I figure out how to upload, lol!

It's funny, reading my post from 3 years ago. I was on the fence about Bishop's Castle then, but Bishop's Castle has turned out to be a great rose, the flowers have developed more complexity, the production is very good with candelabras of up to 30 flowers, and it has developed a wonderful fragrance. They still don't last long in the heat, but still a very worthwhile rose. I also was disappointed with Abe back then, and hoped never to try again, and here I am now with three of him. He's still not a perfect rose, being susceptible to thrips and dry wind, but much better in a better spot and more care, and I hope that in a few more years he will do as Bishop's Castle has done. The signs are there that he can. I have not found another rose that can match his color and fragrance (not even Princesse Charlene de Monaco).

The roses I wouldn't plant again now? Glamis Castle (smells like mothballs here), Jude (I've tried at least twice, and he just does not want to grow here), Radio Times (beautiful flowers, incredible fragrance, but poor rebloom and mostly just doesn't want to grow), William Shakespeare 2000 (now that I have Munstead Wood, it is just such an all around better performer in my garden that WS2K is just not worth the extra work), Claire Austin (bloomed bright yellow for me instead of white, fading to tan, although vigorous and bloomy).

This is a great post! I'm fascinated to read which DA roses work for people in a time tested manner. At present, I have none. Also where are the own root offerings coming from? I've only seen grafted DA roses here.

Now I order mine from Northland Rosarium in Spokane WA; I received beautiful large (for own root) plants with lots of foliage and they are very healthy and strong in the garden for the first year. I have ordered from other sources over the years and these were the best I have ever received!! You have to order early.

Sources that sell the older Austins are often own root places. I have Austins from Long Ago Roses, Roses Unlimited, High Country Gardens among others that are own root plants. Hortico is a good grafted source of some of the more obscure Austins, and given the virus problems as well as high degree of death from canker in my shipments from David Austin Roses US they're usually my last choice for Austins among any other dealer.

Cynthia

Heirloom also offers own root DAs.

Gertrude Jeckyll actually does very well for me, healthy and with modest repeat. I love this rose.

Leander is my DH Tom's favorite Austin. It grows beautifully as a climber. We have two, one on the NE side of the house that does get some powdery mildew as the summer advances. The other grows in full sun on the back fence and has very little disease.

Another that does well for me is The Generous Gardener, another excellent climber. I grow it in honor of my father, for whom it could have been named with accuracy.

I also grow Munstead Wood. I keep hoping it will shine as a plant, not just have beautiful flowers. To be fair I have rearranged my garden and moved it several times. I don't actually know what it would look like if I had not kept setting the reset button. Perhaps time will tell.

I've grown a number of other Austins that I quite liked. Someone mentioned Molyneaux. But when I decided to cut my rose collection in half I got rid of a lot of very good roses. Any number of factors went into my decisions on which to keep, but one of them certainly was just how widely grown the rose was. If it was easy to find but a personal favorite I kept it anyway, but I did give some preference to roses that might be in danger at some point. To be honest I don't think I have any truly rare roses, but most heirloom roses are at the least uncommon.

Rosefolly

I won't grow Graham Thomas again, unless I move to a farm where he can happily occupy as much acreage as he wants.

I'd love to resurrect this thread--any new offerings people wouldn't plant again?

Ha ha reading my post from 2 years ago! I kept Iceberg in my white rose hedge because she is just too beautiful and she seems healthier. I do adore Lady Emma Hamilton for her gorgeous color and delicious fragrance, but here she fades to a blando pink /white that I really don't like. Does anyone else have this happen? It doesn't contrast well with the lovely strong tangerine bloom. Munstead Wood is another that I adore for bloom color and fragrance but he is stingy with blooms and not a very good looking plant, poor guy! Butttttttttttttt nothing can compare to those velvety, rich crimson blooms. So everybody is staying on for another season!

I will never grow Princess Alexandra of Kent again, nor do I regret the loss of that giant thug one bit. Boscobel is so much better, I wonder if I should post my photo of "The Stump". Diane

@Diane Brakefield your PAOK is the making of a legend. I actually planted her this past fall and am excited to see what she'll do, but I chose her after seeing how wonderful she was in my neighbor's garden the past two years. We're pretty damp and cool most of the year here and only really have 2.5 months of dry warm (maybe 2 weeks of hot) so I'm wondering if she might like our climate more than yours. We'll see. Maybe I'll be sorry. Boscobel was my first Austin and I love it. It's good to hear that yours is doing so well. Mine is still a baby.

Librarian, I do think PAoK might be better in your climate. When our hot summers began, her blooms turned to an awful bright coral color, they had way fewer petals, and the blooms were much smaller. The other big problem was her long thick canes that spread out, poking poor Munstead Wood, and arching out over the lawn to poke the lawn mower guy--my son in law. So I think with enough room and the right climate she might be fairly nice, but still her growth habit was pretty awful. I hope you have a much better experience with PAoK, and we get to see some lovely photos of her in your garden. I'm glad you like Boscobel. I think he's one of Austin's best. Diane

All very interesting - off the top of my head - one I wanted to love but gave up on was Abraham Darby. Here in Southern Cali was a Rust-fest. And since i no longer wanted to spray with fungicides, I shovel-pruned him long ago. Also Scepter d'Isle - I loved the shape and color and scent of the blossoms but was so rusty. However, and it's a big however - I learned on this forum that rust may be aggravated by the rose being stressed - by any number of things including drought. Well, we are dry 9 months of the year - no rain at all. I do irrigate the rose beds, but possibly not enough. They don't die, but perhaps the rust and powdery mildew were caused by the stress of not enough water? Well i tried dumping extra water on Scepter d'Isle (Poor Abe was long gone) and lo and behold the rust disappeared! At the same time, I read a post that briefly mentioned "Corn water Tea" was good against fungal disease. No more info about it, so I googled it and found the recipe of 1 cup cornmeal or cracked corn in 5 gal bucket of water. What could I lose by trying this? It worked! Granted, I have two unknowns at the same time, so not sure which was the most effective, but Corn water tea + extra water on Scepter d'Isle got rid of the rust! I was (am) so happy! My Scepter d'Isle is very old now - more than 15 years - and she's gorgeous! My best bloomer - almost year round is covered. Mild scent, but nice. So now I wish i had all the David Austins that i shovel-pruned long ago for having rust and powdery mildew back! I would definitely try watering more and the corn water tea before getting rid of any again! I tried it on Jude the Obscure which I love for the blossom shape and scent. Got rid of the rust, but is a small plant still - still young, so hoping for better things next year.

BirdsLoveRoses Agree with your testimony on cracked corn soaked in alkaline tap water. During 2014 hot & dry summer, I soaked cracked corn in my alkaline tap water (pH 9), the acidity of the corn neutralized my alkaline tap water, plus corn is high in potassium.

Prior to that I found studies that showed plants lacking in potassium are more susceptible to rust.

The "corn-water" made leaves VERY GLOSSY & SHINY, similar to when I tested sulfate of potash (very high in potassium at NPK 0-0-50). Since cracked corn is cheap at $3 for a HUGE bag at the feed store, I tested mixing cracked corn into my rock-hard-clay to UP potassium. I let the cracked corn decompose for at least 1 month before planting, and got THE BEST blooming on a 1st-year own-root. Cracked corn is cheaper than alfalfa pellets, but both need to decompose for a few months to neutralize their acidity.

Straw - I'm so glad you had the same results with corn water. The first time I used it I strained the solids and sprayed all over the plants. A month or so later I saw just a speck of rust, so mixed more corn water (using corn meal I already I had - not cracked corn) and I just poured onto the soil of the roses that can be affected by rust. Eden is another - so beautiful, but can't abide the rust. The corn water and extra water in general really helped that one too.

I do remember you saying that increasing potassium helps against the fungal diseases, so all makes sense.

Thank you for this valuable tip you two! I have Eden and Sceptor d'Isle as well and the same thing happened here 8b with Sceptor except it was operator error! I had put in a new flower bed and thought the soaker hose was working and it was hardly putting out any water. Uggg rust appeared but thank goodness it didn't travel. I replaced hoses and last year hardly any rust, but now I will use corn water!

Thanks for the tip on corn water. Sounds like it will help with my very alkaline soil and equally alkaline water.

I am slowly getting rid of my Austins. I have gone through so many that have not done well here. Sister Elizabeth, Sharifa Asma (twice!), Jude the Obscure, Alnwick, Mary Webb, Heritage, Lady Emma Hamilton, Lady of Shallot, Evelyn, Ambridge (hated the scent) and probably a few more.

Ones that have done well here have been Peach Blossom (unavailable), Pretty Jessica (unavailable), Munstead Wood (soon to be unavailable), Mary Magdalene (I think will soon be unavailable), and so far, Jubilee Celebration. Princess Alexandra of Kent also does well here. Brother Cadfael also doesn't do great here but I love the bloom and the scent is to die for. I also (finally), have Emily doing well (third move for her).

@mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9 does PAOK have BS issues for you? I wanted to get her so bad but then someone told me that she is BS magnet in our humid VA area. And I don’t spray. Was wondering what your experience was like. @BirdsLoveRosesSoCalCoast @strawchicago z5 thank you for the info on corn water tea. Will try it along with Alfa Alfa tea

Purillisa, I really can't answer your question. I rarely get any fungal issues in my garden due to our weather. So far, she hasn't had any PM or BS. Wish I could be more help.

PAOK does get to be a big girl. The first year I had her (own root too), she grew from a tiny plant into an 6-7 foot tall by 5 foot wide monster. I had to move her as she ate anyone who walked up my pathway to my house. I finally have her in her own bed and promised I would not move her again (she has been moved three times and really resents being moved). I have had to do some judicious pruning over the past couple of years with her since she was moved. I think this is the year, she will get to be huge again.

One that really didn't "make it" for me is Spirit of Freedom. It hangs on, and it gives a few blooms a year, that flop, and often ball (people say it likes warm climates), and it is in a rose hedge in NE exposure. But in the sunnier spot, I didn't get one viable bloom. I also couldn't get my two own-root Othellos to take off for anything, but they seem so pretty, I may try again (you can still find them under their secondary name "Auslo"). But I now know that it was "my fault" some of my Austins that didn't make it . Like, for example, thanks to this forum, I learned that it takes a few years (at least 3 years) for many to get going, so I maybe I SP them too soon. When I first started gardening, I put things in the ground, never watered them, and if they made it, they made it, and surprisingly, quite a few of them did, including Lady Emma Hamilton and Claire Austin, which are both 16 years old, and survived a move. But they definitely were not giving the "best" of themselves. When I got a bigger garden, and tried some new Austins, I was really disappointed because I had so few blooms and a few croaked, so I started planting other things, but now am going back to them. Here are a couple of things I have learned from that experience (and thank you to the experts on this forum, among others like the Rose Geek and Darren Harwood, as my roses have never looked better or had buds so early!): 1) Soak bareroot roses longer and harder than most basic websites say (I even resurrected a few that seemed dry and dead in the box by leaving them soaking for days, and wow, did they hit the ground running compared to the ones from years past and has less die back) 2) in my opinon, it's better to get bareroots early in the season, when it's still warm, and plant before winter because the ones at the end of planting season can be dried-out conkers and they may freeze as they begin 3) plant them with good commercial dirt and feed if you have bad dirt in the ground (which I do) 4) and if potted, totally plant them with their dirt 5) to get the best of roses, it really is essential to feed or compost on the schedule experts like the Rose Geek give (In my "worst" exposure, I thought my lack of blooms, at first was due to not enough sun, but if I feed, I even get blooms in late fall, when they only get like an hour or two, and the healthier they are, the fewer diseases they get (like people) 6) DA roses and "baby" (new) roses do need more water than one thinks--this was my worst rookie mistake 7) many DA roses like cool and humid better than hot and dry 8) and, if struggling, don't hesitate to move them from hot to cooler, more or less sun, pot or ground, sometimes they come back in a new spot but sometimes they don't 9) Don't hesitate to put in the compost (or SP) a disease or pest magnet, as, when it's gone, the disease goes, and like jobs and partners, some are just a "bad fit" for one, even if good for others 10) giving roses a "haircut" ( remove leaves and prune) seems to help if massive infestation or disease attack, they will come back, and especially, get rid of leaves during winter prune, and that is how I got rid of nasty fungal attack due to bad experience with Baron Girod d'Ain. Also, in Europe, the DA roses I have are either on Laxa, own-root, or occasionally multi-flora, and they seem to perform quite differently than their US counterparts. Like my own-root Princes are healthy, continuous blooming stars. And my own-root Abes are a real toughies, too. These may be the basics for many people on this forum, but some DA roses are super tricky, and I almost gave up, so here is everything I have learned for those who are as frustrated as I was when I started! (And I am still learning so please take this advice as the imperfect, work in progress, it is! And thanks again to the experts here!)

I love Spirit of Freedom here, Rose Paris. I have a grafted one and an own root plant and they are wonderful here. We are very hot and sunny here, though. No balling and the plants have great vigor. Probably more so than Paris. I was there in 2014 and the weather was lovely.

To me the question should be which David Austin roses WOULD you plant again?! The answer is only one, the Lady of Shalott. Lady of Shalott is a wonderful rose, I love it. Any other DA is no longer in my garden.

I have only ever planted one Austin - Graham Thomas. It was unhappy until I found a place where it is happy ever since. Grows 2-3 times taller than "they" said it would - my DH had to build it a support structure after it was there for 1 year. It looks good with a purple clematis, too.

Jackie

I agree! Lady of Shalott is a good rose--very reliable and pretty! Low maintenance, does its thing, and in its 3rd year, mine is finally a bit more upright, so less pruning/support needed. Mine is in large pot on patio, afternoon sun.

My Lady of Shalott is going into it's fourth year planted in the garden. This is a BIG rose, strictly background placement, at least 7' high and blooms for most of the season. Beautiful deep apricot flowers with a lovely scent. Disease free. The shape is a fountain.