I just spaded Gertie who has been in my garden for over 5 years and never done a heck of a lot--even the spring flush was modest (wonderful perfume, however) and the repeats were mostly non-repeat. Tried pegging it one year--got a couple blooms on repeat, but that was it. Its also not very disease-resistant and very prickly--don't absentmindedly back up into it.

Some posters claim much better success with Gertie, but there are quite a few who will agree with my assessment. Gertie definitely polarizes posters.

Kate

There are alot of folks who don't like Gertrude. She does have a lovely and very fragrant flower. She is also the thorniest thing around and there is almost no rebloom. I'm growing mine in a wide fan shape with supports on either side. I don't want to pull mine out but my garden is big and I don't like pulling things out.

Kate said it. Mine was beautiful -- once a year. After that, almost nothing. I shovel pruned her years ago.

Sammy

I love my Gertrude also. Her spring flush is amazing, and she has two good flushes after that. She is so lovely and so fragrant that I'm willing to settle for just 3 flushes.

I have had her for years, stopped winter-protecting her in hopes she would die and give me a spot for something else. She always used to bloom a little twice a year, then someone said they had good luck with pruning her severely after the first flush, so I tried that this year, and got...NOTHING! I have always hated her thorniness anyway. I have never shovel-pruned a rose I paid for, but she may be toast next year after the first flush. Same with my thorny supposed-to-be Reine de Violettes.

LINDA, your photo is like Rose Heaven. I think it would
awesome to have a super fragrant, Portland style rose, in
the garden. I did promise myself, to make my list for new
roses, very short. This one seems to be so controversial,
so many forum gardeners, with pros and cons about it. But
your photo shows a good reason to consider it. Thank you
so much, Linda.

Over the years it has become well known from many rose growers experience that this rose performs better in cooler climates with summers that are not so hot (Temps rarely above 90F). It seems that it does not repeat bloom as well in these areas. A common mistake many who grow this rose (And other Portland roses) is they do not prune these roses hard enough to encourage rebloom). It needs to be pruned back to half the size after the first spectacular flush that last about 5 weeks. Then It will rebloom well. In warmer areas it seems to grow instead of producing flowers ...

The scent is AMAZING. Comte De Chambord; the Portland Rose parent of Gertrude Jekyll has really good scent (strong and heavy old rose fragrance). BUT GJ has even stronger scent with with a sharpness and freshness Comte De Chambord does not have. I have a group planting of GJs near one of my doors and I grow it next to my other door too.
The group planting drenches my garden and on June days I see people stopping to look at these roses. My neighbors on the other side of the road are complaining that the scent of these roses are too much!!! I have one neighbor who says he holds his breath until he has passed that area where I grow these ... since the fragrance is so overwhelming. I sometimes sit on my rose bench near these roses on June mornings and get high on rose scent before I go to work. So yes the fragrance is OUTSTANDING. I also think the flowers are so pretty. They are not as heavy and cupped as the flowers on Comte de Chambord, who have a higher petal count and whose flowers tend to ball in wet weather.

As for the poor repeat some experience. Many who grow OGR are perfectly satisfied with onceblooming roses that blooms heavily for 4 weeks. This rose does that too and even though it may have poor repeat (in warmer areas) it does repeat. One can either prune this rose hard or train it sideways as Linda did with her GJ to encourage rebloom.

I have never seen more than a few leaves get BS on my GJs, and it only gets a little mildew. (I do spray GJ a few times every year). Right now they are still having a few blooms and the foliage is very clean ...

I hope JumboJimmy reads this ... he asked about Comte De Chambord/vs GJ. I also grow some amazing bushes of Comte Chambord but GJ is easier to grow. IMO. I like every stage of this rose. There a few roses that I like so much as GJ ... she is thorny but not as bad as Othello. A few pics:

First year they did not look like much:

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This year (3. season) they looked better:

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A single GJ growing next to my other door:

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A GJ bloom:

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It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words:

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Yes, she is thorny: she is a rose.

Yes, she takes several years to reliably repeat.

Yes, she requires some understanding of pruning techniques.

Yes, she shows only average disease resistance.

Yes, she has a prime location in my front garden where I can see her from the house.

No, I won't shovel prune her any time soon.

When she is good she is very good. When she is bad -----!

Cupshaped_roses nailed it. The petals are much more delicate and pleasing than than Cd'C. For me Cd'C has better rebloom, but rather busy looking.

The roots of GJ are as thick as my wrist whom have been wielding a sword or a hoe forever, the spring flush is to die for. That said rebloom has been sporatic at best and it did come down with B/S after I ran out of energy in the Bloody Heat.

One of my friends wanted to have it for her garden after taking a spring tour. In the Mudwest, I recommended "anything else" for her. She is having great success with "anything else" and is still hopefully my friend. I forgot what "anything else" turned out to be. She has many nice roses.

Mine is a year old and on fortuniana. It did nothing but grow for a year, and I despaired of ever seeing a bloom. However, it recently bloomed and I was hooked by the oh, my GOD, incredible fragrance, and beauty of this flower. It has two fat basals coming up, and I just pegged it down a few days ago. I spray, so my GJ is clean.

I have no intentions of getting rid of it.

Elaine

Thank's for all the photo's of what looks to be a very
captivating rose. Cupshaped_roses, Palustris and Linda,
a big thank's for pics that are hard to resist.

And thank's to everyone, for explaining what this rose is all
about.

You know, Molineux says that Evelyn is the Great Diva,
but I think, judging by what everyone says about Gertrude,
she is the real Diva.

WEll, yeah, Devon... a Diva is suppossed to be fussy, to put it nicely. Gertrude will reward you if you treat her right. I'm glad you liked the picture. WIsh I could include some of the fragrance.

Cupshaped speaks her praises well. Beautiful pictures too!
Palustris makes a good point about her being a rose.
Linda

GJ makes great compost. After 5 years of nothing I gave up on her.

I chose "Comte de Chambord" over G.J., and I'm glad I did, the blooms are a little looser than G.J. but C.de C is more floriferous, and just as fragrant. Also, Gertrude Jekyll can easily grow to be 8 to 12 feet tall in Northern California. There are other pink Austin roses that are more reliable, as far as bloom production goes. "Mary Rose" is one of them, and it also has prettier foliage and a more attractive growth habit.

Luxrosa

The color is so bright and "pure" that the blossom literally glows.

It has the strongest fragrance of any rose that I've ever smelled.

The flower form is sheer perfection.

In these respects it is an improvement over COMTE DE CHAMBORD. The aggressive growth habit, evil thorns, poor repeat, and black spot woes are something else entirely.

Plant RADIO TIMES instead.

I can't find Radio Times. It seems that only the DA nurseries in Australia list it. Why is this rose so hard to find?

IMHO David Austin has made a grave mistake by not promoting RADIO TIMES more to his U.S. customers. I get the impression from his writings that this cultivar isn't as good a performer in the UK. Pity, because here across the pond it is one of the few Austins that can be kept as a medium sized shrub (with pruning). Repeat is reliable and the disease resistance is on par with the rest of his collection. The color is a rich pink, a bit warmer in tone than GJ. While the fragrance is not quite as strong as GJ, it is still "strong" and will please any parfume junky. I consider RADIO TIMES and SHARIFA ASMA to be the best pink Austins available for the American rose gardener.

The only vendor I know that sells it is HEIRLOOM ROSES (heirloomroses.com). Please note that what they sell are "bands"; i.e. rooted cuttings. I can't stress this enough. The plants are tiny. On the plus side they are guaranteed to be virus free. I've always had success with them but put this disclaimer in simply because I don't want you to be shocked when you open the box.

Maybe some plants of GJ are just duds, or virused. I never noticed the leaves being unattractive...I think she had slightly poorer than average bs resistance but my Radio Times is not superior in that regard. RT is a beautiful rose with lovely fragrance but I agree that it's not as fragrant as Gertrude.

Linda