hi ikea, I really really like my Abraham Darby. From what I have read it is very disease resistant period. Mine is new too me this year but is a beautiful little bush already. Very clean. And the bloooooms Nice!

Allison

Two vastly different plants here. Abe is 6'x6', hearty and vigorous, a blend of pink and apricot. English Garden is a tiny thing, perhaps 3x2, and buff to buff-yellow in color.

If you get blackspot in your zone, every Austin is probably going to need spraying. Look at some of the hardier Tea roses, because they tend to have somewhat better disease resistance, or one of the Kordes roses, perhaps 'Aprikola'. Kordes pays attention to disease resistance, though the disease pressure of Germany isn't nearly as bad as here.

While I really like my Abe, in Maryland it is a black spot magnet, I pretty much need to spray it every 7 to 10 days. But it is vigorous and a good bloomer.

dennisb1, what do you spray it with? I think I don't mind organic spray.

hoovb, any tea roses you can recommend for 4 or 5 hours of sun with good resistance to BS?

I've grown both and have had to spray to keep the BS beat down. Of all the Austins I've grown, Septer' d Isle(SP?)is the most BS resistent I've grown. This past summer I have sprayed a grand total of 2 times just to see what roses stayed clean and how long it took for the different varieties to get any BS. Septer stayed clean, big and healthy all summer long. This rose belongs in any no spray garden. The Prince is planted right next to it and it will get BS almost instantly. Abe Darby is a BIG beautiful shrub and English garden is a smaller bushy shrub that stays in bloom all the time.

where are you located? I'm not sure about Chicago Peace, but Peace can't be grown without spraying, unless you live in California. I have Abraham Darby and I spray so it's not a problem, but I have heard it is a BS magnet. I do have it in a spot that doesn't get full 8 hours of sun and it does bloom.

There really are no organic sprays that will control and eliminate BS. You will need to use a fungicide like Bayer Advanced Garden Disease Control (and NOT one of Bayer's combos--avoid them). You can usually locate Bayer Garden Disease Control at Lowes.

Kate

buford, I am just outside of DC. I have had this Chicago Peace for quite a few years now, and this is the first year I have had BS on it. This is also the first year it is grown in less than 8 hours of full sun. So I don't know if this is the reason. I went out and bought Bayer's and I am going to try it. If it recovers, then I might just have to remember to spray it next year.

I have had Abe Darby in a part-sun (4 hrs) spot and it isn't doing great. I am going to move it in the Spring. I don't spray and it gets a lot of blackspot and doesn't bloom much. Hope it does a lot better for me in a new spot. If not, I'm afraid it'll have to go.

Abe is THE rose that made me fall in love with roses. I have one that I bought about 10 yrs. ago as a tiny little thing from Heirloom. I don't spray, and yes...the rose does have blackspot. Doesn't effect the beautiful and, oh so fragrant blooms one bit though. I'd break down and spray rather than lose this rose! I love it! It's next door neighbor, Jude The Obscure, was removed yesterday...to make room for some new roses that are coming. You even look at those blooms and they shatter. Why have 'em if you can't cut some and enjoy 'em by the sink while you're washing dishes??
Barb

I bought Abe about 20 years ago, planted it on the east wall of my house, so the rose gets about 5 hours of sun. Not knowing the first thing about roses, I just let him do his thing. Covered in black spot, ugly bush (for me), lots of thorns, but the MOST beautiful flowers and fragrance, so it was worth it to me. Last year I started using alfalfa pellets as well as epson salt and blood meal, and for the first time no black spot! Don't know if this had anything to do with it. I plan to move him to a sunnier spot this winter, and hopefully get more blooms.

I just got my Abe Darby this year as a Jackson Perkins rose from my local nursery. It's been doing great for me. I spray now, but before I started spraying, it never had the faintest bit of problems with blackspot/mildew/etc. I simply spray it now, because I spray everything just because I can. I think a lot of it, is just making sure you have Abe adequately fertilized to prevent disease. I grow my Abe Darby in a 20" container and have had no disease and it has been quite vigorous in growth and blooms. It is one of my most constant bloomers and the blooms last longer than most Austins since Abe Darby's parents are both hybrid teas to my knowledge. Beautiful super fruity scent, and the blooms......for me at least.....stay in a semi-globular manner with an apricot color and a pink hue to it.

jeffcat, I actually wouldn't mind growing abe darby in a container as well. Does it seem happy in a pot?

Yes, so far it's been more than happy. It blooms nonstop for me and has put out quite a few new basal canes already. It's about 3ft tall at the moment in the 20" container. You might have to watch the pruning practices as Abe Darby can become quite large and tend to sprawl with many large blooms. During the warm season, I gave Abe about a half cup of Rosetone every 2-3 weeks or when I deemed necessary and gave Abe 1/4-1/2 diluted Miracle Gro water soluble rose fertilizer every 1-2 weeks........never fertilizing with both at the exact same time. Abe can get quite large so a 24" pot may be even better although that's a large pot. I've seen some pictures of roses in 20" pots though that are MASSIVE so you should be fine either way if you choose that route.