Good topic, Glenn! There have been quite a few Austins I have admired, but I understand most of them would have to be sprayed for blackspot here. If anyone can suggest any that they've been able to grow w/o spraying, I'd love to hear about them. Brandy

Glenn-
DAs handbook of roses describing The Mayflower

"It is, so far as we know, completely disease resistant"
Sounds too good to be true! Wonder if anyone is growing it?

the only one I have is Abe Darby. He does well, but does get BS and would look better if I sprayed him, but I don't. He lives in the back yard so I can enjoy the roses and others won't see the bush...

I have 3 Austins in my hot humid climate...
Fair Bianca - took about 4 years to really establish itself, but is now covered with blooms and is bs free. It does seem to appreciate a bit of afternoon partial shade.
Tamora - new to my garden, but has bloomed quite well with no bs.
Benjamin Britten = has done very well in my garden. Not a huge bloomer (I believe it is still concentrating on it's growth) but usually has at least one or two blooms. BS free so far.

I have no idea how Mayflower will do in hot and humid Florida, but here in hot Kansas (which I think is humid also--but probably not as humid as your region)Mayflower lives up to its hype. One tough rose! My only complaint about it is that the flowers don't always want to open up. I often have to gently rub back the outer petals so that the blooms will open.

The blooms are somewhat smaller than you might expect, but it regularly pumps out blooms--rarely pauses. Not heavy bloom ever, however.

I don't love it, but I like it --it is an asset in my garden.

Kate

Of the ones on your list I have Crocus Rose and Ludlow Castle. They are similar in some respects. Crocus Rose has a yellowish wash to it while Ludlow Castle is more of a pink to apricot wash on it. Both repeat, but are on the slow side. Both get the blackspot rather badly, but I am seeing some improvement using Messenger along with some of my other spray treatments. This year both of them survived the Easter freeze. Crocus Rose hardly seemed to notice it. It has been blooming quite nicely. Ludlow Castle hasn't done a whole lot this year. Crocus Rose definitely takes the three years to really start coming into its own.

I actually have a bunch of Austins. One other that I have that is mentioned above is Benjamin Britten. It wants to get quite tall and gangly, but it blooms well and isn't overly bothered by the weather. It needs spraying regularly and judicious, hard pruning in the spring. It really isn't an orange red either. Its vermilion color fades to a watermelon pink. Basically it is okay. I hope this helps.

I have grown many Austin Roses, but really grown only one on your list--Crocus Rose. It has done OK even though it's not in the best location. (I think the soil is too alkaline in that corner. Rose looks anemic.) CR should do fine. Mine is grafted though. Do you spray? It makes a diffference in what one suggests. Many will do well if you spray for black spot.

I have found that some of the Austin monsters do well with out spraying. James Galway and The Generous Gardener are among my most black spot resistant roses. They along with Graham Thomas--which is black spot prone--need to pruned ruthlessly at least twice or even more times a year. I think it is best to think of them more in the line of a hedge (in need of trimming once a month or every quarter) rather then a typical rose (in need of pruning once a year.)

Thanks to everyone who replied. I do spray for fungus regularly.

Miamibarb1,
How is the rebloom of Graham Thomas? Does it bloom in the heat?

Thanks,
Glenn

I wonder what's wrong with your Golden Celebration? Mine was just planted this spring, as a tiny, tiny own-root twig of a thing, and it has already put out several impressive, fragrant blooms. I'm glad you're giving it another year. If it doesn't do better then, you might consider relocating it.

Similar to your experience, my Heritage seems to like it here.

Randy

Crocus Rose has been a suprise here with the reports I've seen of her being really cold tolerant..the two don't always mix and we are hot and humid in summer. She takes the heat and the repeat is good with some pruning. I do spray all my Austins. Ludlow Castle (England's Rose) was a real dud in my garden and after 3 years was gone. I usually give them 4 years (I'm pretty patient) but I wouldn't recommend Benjamin Britten either. Still here but time is limited after 5 years. I have grown the others you grow and my experience is pretty close to the same. Some of my best Austins for good repeat have been Mary Magdelene, Sophy's Rose, Pat Austin (will crisp in the summer, needs PM shade) L D Braithwaite (heat impervious), Abe Darby ( my all time favorite), Mary Rose (decent in the heat), Ambridge Rose (decent repeat and smaller bush), Portmerion (took this one 5 years and it's great), Sharifa Asma( not a personal favorite because of the wrinkled foliage but a good bloomer and smeller), Perdita (totally worth growing), Evelyn (worth growing if you whack her). Probably more than you wanted to know, but I was on a roll thinking about all the Austins I grow and their worthiness! I have some in pots waiting for permanent homes and I keep a tally.

My Graham Thomas has a bloom on it now. In general most roses put less energy into blooming when it is really hot. Not sure that I can blame them. I should keep a log and noting bloom cycles on it. GT's repeats, maybe not as quite as often as others. I love the blooms so much that I may be a little prejudiced.

Anyway I have found that my (an old, well established, grafted on fortuniana) GT blooms it's head off after I cut it back heavily. Hurricanes and storms have taught me this. I was afraid of pruning it, thinking that it would sulk. No such thing. Blooms better even after a severe pruning. Cutting it back also brings the roses down to a reasonable height. For me, GT's major fault is that it blooms only at the very end of often-longish canes.

I've had Austins (maybe three?) that do really dislike the heat. It wasn't so much the lack of blooms, but the tendency for the leaves to fry.

Although not on your list, someone wondered about the Mayflower, it is completely disease free here, I don't spray and it doesn't get PM, BS or Rust all of which I have had on other roses.The Summers here are hot, and this rose is happy in the heat, I don't know if my weather is as humid as yours. I love the foliage, it really does look like an Old Garden Rose. Also it doesn't get Hugh like some of the DA's. I am always surprised that I don't hear more about the Mayflower, I think that it is a great rose.
Diana

In coastal zone 8, humid and hot English Garden does well; my 2 bushes are in too much shade now, thanks to the enormous Buff Beauty but they were fine in a bit less shade. Ambridge does well in full sun. Abe Darby is better in afternoon shade.
Crown Princess Margareta and Jubilee Celebration are new but do well. I intend to replant ws2000 in more shade: in full sun the blooms fade too soon. Christopher Marlowe takes full sun and does not shatter so fast as Heritage.

The newer Austins seem to be better in terms of disease resistance. Having returned after two months while the roses were not sprayed or watered and received 0 rain, Ambridge was naked showing only botrytis ridden spent blooms while CPM and JC were practically spotless and blooming. CM recovered fine as soon as the bush got enough water.

Sorry none on your list. Here are mine:
Mine are pampered, sprayed weekly, lots of water, good amending and regular organic fertilizer. I have quite a few. Only two are on fortuniana.

Constant Blooms:
LD Braithwaite (on fort)full all day sun
Blythe Spirit (very healthy) "
Mary Magdeline, wonderful rose, afternoon sun only
Glamis Castle, funky looking foliage, but pretty blooms full all day sun

Good repeat:
Lilian Austin, aft. sun
Ambridge Rose (just recently came into her own,2 yrs old)aft. sun

Poor repeat:
Sophy's Rose (on Fort)aft. sun, have moved her around
Benjamin Britten, aft. sun

Just got Tamora and The Generous Gardener yesterday. It might be too soon to tell. I feel sure that Blythe Spirit and Mary Magdeline would do fine without a lot of spraying.
I'm glad to hear about Symphony. I have been drooling over that one. I'm also glad to hear that Kaye likes Portmerion. I haven't heard much about it and it's a beauty. It's funny Barb and I are in the same zone. Most of my roses are frying this summer except the Austins. Go figure.
Nancy

I forgot to mention that I also have Happy Child. It is a 1.5 year own root. I really like this rose. I'm hoping that repeat gets better with age.

I do not know what is wrong with Golden Celebration. I have three at three different locations. All are 5x5 and never bloom :(

Good to hear positives on Blythe Spirit, English Garden and Crocus Rose.

I had Sophy's Rose for a while. It was on Dr. Huey. Flower form was not that great and repeat was bad, but no rose on Dr. Huey has ever done well in my yard.

And Kaye thanks for all the info. I'll look at some of the ones you mentioned.

Glenn

Sounds like it might be worth considering The Generous Gardener. What color is Galway? I didn't see it on HMF. Maybe I should start another thread on resistant Austins? I like reds and orange-blends. Thanks, Brandy

'James Galway' is pink. It's named after the flutist, so there's a first name involved. It's on HMF.

Here is a link that might be useful: HMF James Galway

You could visit or contact the Ringland Rose Gardens
in Sarasota Fl and see which ones they have. They
have one of the biggest displays of DA's in the US.
Top 20 anyway.

John

Happy Child gets much better with age. This year is the second year for mine, and it's done a LOT better than last year. I like it because it stays reasonably short, unlike its neighbors Charles Darwin and Crocus rose.

I live in Thailand. I think here zone 11. I order quite a lot of David Austin Roses from Holland nursery. I think the best roses that I grew is Abraham Darby, Jude the Obscure, Charles Darwin and Golden Celebration very good blooming producing roses like 20-50 bloom a month all year round also long and strong cane too.
For Claire Rose, Heritage, Brother Cadfael, Othello, Crown Princess Margareta, Jayne Austin, Falstaff and Jubilee Celebration are doing fine here but blooming not for long season and hate rain.
For St Cecilia and The Pilgrim are poor not beautiful like David Austin picture. Slowly not much bloom and can get easy rust. Roses arenÂt enough petal only single petals.
For Spirit of Freedom and Geoff Hamilton is still not blooming yet but very tall strong cane.
I think David Austin roses most of them are good for dry and hot climate but keep much watering and feeding. They are lovely rose with strong fragrance in hot climate especially tea fruity scent and myrrh scent.

Good luck with your roses

I posted something similar on a different thread but the New Orleans Botanical Garden's rosarian (land of heat and humidity) recommended Mayflower and Winchester Cathedral as Austins which could do with little care, and do well. But I haven't grown them myself, so take that for what it's worth.

Here is a link to an Atlanta Rose Society Newsletter with an article about Austins by a lady in Sarasota. (Article starts on Page 5.) One section is called: Stingy bloomers in Sarasota, Florida on Page 7. Golden Celebration is one of them. Very informative article for Floridians.
Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: Austins in Florida

Sherryocala,

Thank you for the link. Very intersting and informative article on Austins. It's ironic that this thread was resurrected since I just SP'ed Golden Celebration last weekend. I couldn't take it anymore. 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide and two blooms in three years.

I'm not in a hot or humid climate here (ha ha ha, MI = humidity and it was plenty hot here this summer) but I do have a suggestion about how to get more blooms from your Golden Celebration and others. The canes on most Austins are very flexable so if you curve them down and tie them to the trellis you get a lot more side shoots and hence more buds. I've never been able to quite get them to the ground to "peg" them but they will bend around and secure to a trellis quite nicely. I tripled my bloom production doing this with mine.

I live in hot and humid south Louisiana. I have several Austins in my no spray garden, and with the exception of Abe Darby, they are all on their way out. They all get BS, Winchester Cathedral is the only rose I have that gets mildew, and none seem to thrive. For the few beautiful blooms they get in the season, they just aren't worth taking up space when there are roses that would do so much better.