FJ: For the replacement Floribunda you might consider either Julia Child or Gruss an Aachen. I have both this year as new roses and they are both healthy, have good rebloom and are just gorgeous. GAA really captured my heart this year with its pinkish-white flowers. They both seem to be pretty small so you could buy one of each to take the space of your Hansa:)

Hope this helps.

Kate

Oh FJ did I mention...,

{{gwi:317092}}

Gruss an Aachen

Kate

Thanks Kate. I have been eyeing GAA to replace the showbiz for a while. Especially since it will be between two Christopher Marlows shape wise and it is short too.

As far as replacing the Hansa, JC would be fantastic. And color wise it will not clash with my other white and orange rose next to it.

Thank you,
FJ

I do not know what you have decided to keep but I had my share of challenges w/ Austins. I planted a total of 15 and ended up with 4 for the same reasons that you have mentioned. I do not think most of these Austins are really suited for our climate. They should come with warning labels. As you can see, I am still chafing.
Those that remained bush-like are Molineux, Grace, and Jude the Obscure. Pat Austin is in an obelisk facing east.
Among the 4, I am really happy with Molineux. I consider it a very special rose. During the hot and dry summer months, despite being planted facing west, it has bloomed non-stop (although its blooms are probably half the regular size). It is the only rose in my garden that worries me for over- performing. It is vigorous; it is now 5 feet tall and as wide. I have not been pruning it heavily but I can see that it is going to be easy to maintain to a smaller size. If the conditions are just right, Jude and Grace perform. Pat Austin produces intermittent blooms during the summer months.

Hey you guys, Someone on here, Hoovb maybe, posting how they pruned some of their english roses and after several years they turned out to be a nice bush without all the octopus canes. I am going to do that starting next spring and see if it will work with mine. Good luck making your choices. Judy

I'd highly recommend Yves Piaget. It's naturally shapely and well foliated; it blooms non-stop, never out of flowers. YP loves heat, it was one of just a few roses that was covered with flowers during very hot and dry July. The flowers last for long time and age gracefully. In my garden, it has never had PM and with maturity developed very good resistance to Black Spot. This year it was sprayed with fungicide just twice and it's stayed clean and healthy. The only downside of YP, it balls after heavy rain, but it would not be a concern in So.CA.

> I do not think most of these Austins
> are really suited for our climate.

*** I really think Bobby has a good point.
Most of the truly enthusiastic reports I read on Austin roses come from
areas which experience much more winter (and more rain, for that matter)
than we see in my part of SoCalif.
It's not that they're not good roses, it's that they are not very good HERE.

> posting how they pruned some of
> their english roses and after
> several years they turned out
> to be a nice bush

*** To be frank, I have never yet seen an Austin that handled significant
pruning well in my climate.
And, over 20 years, I have grown more Austin roses than most of you.

They all do best HERE if left alone for the most part.
Of course, that means that some of them are far too lanky or tall for the
average garden, which is the main reason why they no longer live here.

The Austins which have succeeded here are those which do not NEED
significant pruning to alter their natural size and growth habit.

Jeri
(In Coastal Southern California)

Jeri, thank you for your comments. I feel a lot better now that I hear it from you.
I wish I had you as my expert adviser.

Bobby

Bobby, you figured it out for yourself. :-)
You didn't need me.

But heck, any time you want to ask me something, just email.

Are you also in a coastal area, or are you further inland?

Jeri

I have 126 rose bushes and Yves Piaget is my favorite rose. So much so, I have three of them and would plant more if I had the space! This rose has huge highly fragrant blooms, it blooms continuously, and is disease free in my no spray garden. I do agree with alla_pa in that the blooms will ball during prolonged rain. Years ago someone on this board recommended this rose to me and I am so thankful I listened.

I have Don Juan Climber and it is also a top performer in my garden. It is situated by my front door and I frequently catch my neighbor with her nose in a big velvety red bloom.

A floribunda that I highly recommend is Passionate Kisses. This rose just pumps out the blooms! Non-stop performer even in the blast-furnace heat of summer. Disease free, too.

Shocking Blue is another floribunda that is a true workhorse! This rose is continually in bloom with fragrant lavender flowers. No problems with this one, ever.

A new floribunda for me this year is English Miss and I have been very pleased with her performance. Even though she is a young plant she has been consistently in bloom.

Poulsen's Pearl is another new one that has impressed me this year. A light pink, five petaled single rose. Previously, I had not been a fan of the singles but this one changed my mind.

And last but not least, I will recommend a shrub rose named Distant Drums. Disease free, quick to repeat, the blooms look like water lilies and smell like myrrh.

Well, that should keep you busy on HelpMeFind for a while!

Erin---

I need to add two more floribundas to my list of top performers!

How could I forget Easter Basket and Our Lady of Guadalupe?

Both of these roses will not disappoint. Continuous bloom, disease free, yada, yada, yada. You get the idea.

Hope this helps,
Erin---

But location still matters.

Here at the Coast, we grew Yves Piaget for 4 years.
In that time, we saw precisely ONE bloom which opened.
All of the others balled and rotted.

So I think that is a FINE rose inland, but a poor choice for cool, foggy,
coastal gardens.

Jeri

I have moondance and it is okay but PJP 2 is much better. Huge flowers packed with petals. You must get it!

Jeri, I live in the North Bay, about 40 miles from SF. We get occasional fog but mostly hot and dry during summer.

The North Bay is fortunate enough to be without water rationing this year. The East Bay residents however are hurting. I was in a get together last night and all they were all talking about was how their gardens are starting to turn yellow. Still, most of them were unable to meet the 19% required reduction, a reduction from previous conservation efforts. It seems they have just received the feared notification letter from their county telling them that their efforts have fallen short thus they will be subjected to subsequent penalties. Tough position to be in. On the lighter side, they all decided to come to the house to take their showers and do their laundry.

I now see how condition like this could narrow down or affect your choices. You have mentioned in another post that chinas, teas, and noisettes would be best suited to our terroir. I agree. The older roses thrive like weeds here; these plants seem to be able to break the hard soil and squeeze out whatever moisture there is in it. I have Sally Homes and Buff Beauty (musk) planted facing west but continue to be unfazed by the heat and now each at least 8 feet tall. I have a Mutabilis that is hardly watered that has grown 10 feet tall and as wide. I have an Alfred Carriere that is covering more than half of a crabapple tree. And my favorite but shy Tipsy, although unhappy for not getting enough sun, continue to grow and bloom with minimal care.

I could not get the picture out of my head of your Lady Banks scrambling over the tree tops. Or the one that wrapped itself around a pine tree in a Sacramento cemetery. What a magnificent plant. You had me with GrandmotherÂs Hat and its clone.

Sorry for the interruption.
Bobby

I really have to agree with Bobby and Jeri that Austins have their troubles here. I planted four three years ago, and I'm about to give up on them all. Shakespeare 2000 has given me no more than a dozen in all those years. The others just haven't produced blooms, and when they do, the fragrance isn't all that strong. I spaded a Double Delight to plant one of the Austins, and the DD had many times the aroma. It was a rust-bucket, though.

I might give Molineux another year or so, so many people swear by it, but I'm giving up on the others. This is my second try with Austins.

My Austins didn't get giant, but I have a Peter Mayle that has canes 6 to 8 feet tall and is stingy with flowers.

I spaded our Yves Piaget last year. We got a few more blooms than you, Jeri, but not that many.