Hi
I just bought Lady Emma from Chamblee yesterday.

To my knowledge, Summer Song has never been released in the US. Neither version (grafted or own root) is available here. Boscobel is only available grafted at this time as it was just released last year. Lady Emma can be found own root at both Chamblees and Roses Unlimited. LOS can be found at Roses Unlimited and at David Austin directly.

Thank you both, Edenh and rfcfishlady. I seem to be leaning towards roses that are pinks and apricots this year and like the ones with the undersides of the petals to be a different color. Boscobel sure is pretty and love Lady Emma. I only have room for 4 roses this year, so I am trying to choose wisely and get something that will blend and fit in my tiny yard. Appreciate the info very much. Edenh, would love pictures when your rose start to grow in the spring,

I have Evelyn and it is a beautiful pink/apricot with a wonderful fragrance. It's in it's first year for me and has been very vigorous and hardy in my zone 8 in se Texas.

I have Boscobel (grafted), Lady Emma and LOS own root, all new this year so it it a bit soon to tell. I do love the flowers on all three. Their colors are beautiful. I'm in zone 5 so my growing season is quite short and all have remained small in their first season. I also got Carding Mill and PAK this year and love the flowers on them too. Jubilee Celebration has gorgeous flowers, but she isn't as floriferous as I had hoped.

I have boscobel and it was my favorite new rose this year . It is still pushing out blooms and really never stopped all summer. Sometimes very fragrant , sometimes none at all . The bloom size and shape varyied if the weather was so super hot and if I started slacking on water ( in a pot all year) , but regardless seemed to keep on trucking ! I am considering buying a few more even tho I have no plans for where , it's just so pretty ! Mine is only a couple ft tall , and only recently had a little black spot ( no spray ). I highly reccomend it !

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Hi
My roses are..hmm..quite challenging to grow. I am in central Florida a.k.a the land of sun, sand and nematodes. I occasionally get a bloom here and there. My best bloomers are Clothilde Soupert (own root), Belinda's Dream (own root) and 3 Madame Pierre Oger from Lowe's. All three roots super easy in the sandy soil and I ended up with dozens of rootings.All 3 are blooming but not in big flushes. I bought the Fawn a few months ago and it is growing nicely, clean and (suprisingly)healthy, full of blooms.As for austin, I have 1 year old heritage,Graham thomas,Sharifa Asma,Mary Rose and Abraham Darby. I do not recommend Heritage as blooms shatter quickly though they are beautiful, GT is stingy, Sharifa and AD are BS prone but what beautiful flowers!Mary Rose is just meh..I also just received Happy Child, Tamora,Alnwick,Molineux but they are too small for me to comment.Cant remember the rest..

Tried Summer Song twice when it was offered in the US. Gangly long canes, very few flowers and both died after lots of TLC. I called David Austin office and asked about it - they said it didn't grow well in the US and that is most likely why you don't see it anywhere.

Lady of Shallot was new for me this year, but very beautiful blooms. Just bought Lady Emma Hamilton at Chamblees last week so cant comment on it, tho the ones I saw blooming in the nursery were beautiful. I plan to order Boscobel this fall from David Austin.
Judith

I actually have all four of these varieties. This is the first year for Boscobel; it is trying to establish itself although it has bloomed a few times. I'm not sure what the verdict will be on it yet.

Lady Emma Hamilton is a nice variety. It blooms regularly although not in large numbers of flowers. It has more of a semi-constant trickle of beautifully colored, blended orange flowers with a very nice smell. It sprawls sideways rather than get tall.

Lady of Shalott is a heavy flowering variety when it gets established. It also gets quite large, tall and wide. It has the most flowers of any in the Austin orange group.

Summer Song does not care for the heat. Mine have done a bit better this year than usual, but that is not saying much. Our weather last May included a freeze that clobbered everything. Summer Song's flowers were not all that nice this year although rebloom happened, and the flowers were quite small compared to what they are normally like in spring. The bush gets lanky with some long canes. The flowers are a pretty color and have a nice fragrance, but I would not recommend this one for my climate.

If you are leaning a bit towards apricots and want an Austin variety, I would suggest also looking at Carding Mill. That one is a nice one. I hope this helps.

Thank you all for your great responses. I did try Heritage when it first came out. Did not do well in our heat and gave it the old shovel prune. I do already grow Evelyn. I am giving her the shovel prune also this year. I love the flowers , but she is a bit stingy with them in our heat and she has reverted back to rootstock. As much as I love her, I want more blooms so I think she will be replaced this year.

There is a group on facebook where the gardener grows over 50 varieties of DA roses (I think it is 50). Can't recall off the top of my head at 3:45 am. He is in England, His roses are amazing. He keeps showing pictures of Summer Song which are just outstanding. Wish it grew better here. Probably good for the Pacific North West but not elsewhere. Too bad. It is a truly beautiful rose. I love looking at all their rose pictures. Very inspiring in my dry little garden.

Still haven't made up my mind as to what to get to replace the rose I intend on shovel pruning. I just applied for a job about 5 hours north of me. So everything is on hold until I hear back from them which won't be for a few months yet. Not sure if I want to move and leave my little house and yard.

You have heard that most roses need about 3 years to really settle in and mature, haven't you? The old 1st year they sleep, 2nd year they creep, and 3rd year they leap? A number of shrubs don't do much, bloomwise, until their third year--which is why I usually give roses 2-3 years to prove themselves. If I really hated a rose for some reason, I might get rid of it after one or two years--but I doubt even that. I'm more likely to root for it to improve in the next year or two after that.

Climbers sometimes take up to 5 years to really settle in and begin their mature blooming.

Kate