Austin's goal for this year is to get people to believe his roses are worth twice as much as everyone elses (virus and all). Nothing personal, but most nurseries are cutting back their Austin varieties this year, because, given the economy, it's a heck of a year to try to double the price.

Jerome, as I recall it takes two years for a new introduction to become available in the US. A rose introduced in the UK in spring 2011 might be available in the US for spring 2013 planting.

I wish it didn't take so long.... I'm looking forward to purchasing Queen Anne...

You guys are lucky with import times, here in Australia, we can be anywhere up to 5 years.

Perhaps David Austin accidentally mistake Australia with America. :) We usually get two new releases each year - except last year we only had one and that was Munstead Wood. This year, I was surprised seeing 3 new releases: Claire Austin, PAofKent and Skylark as new releases.
I really think rose breeders should let consumers vote for which rose they want to be release each year. I don't think Skylark will be a popular rose due to lack of fragrance.

Yes, I agree: didn't see anything particularly special.

PAofKent sounds tempting though--then someone here says their 2011 order was all virused--and I don't need more roses anyway, I don't, I don't, I don't!

Oh come on...just one more...it won't take up too much room...and it' so pretty.....

I haven't bought any newer Austins for several years.
I love the ones from the 1980's best:
1. Graham S. Thomas' 2. 'Fair Bianca' Austin said that it was 'hard to breed a good white rose" and I think he did a splendid job in breeding this one.
3. Mary Rose
are still my all time favorite Austins, though I do occasionally lust after William Shakespeare 2000' in my neighbors garden.

Lux.

I agree with Lux. The oldies are the best. Even given the modern advances in breeding, what scope is there? I think David Austin , the company rather than the individual, has fallen into the new year, new model trap.
I've tried quite a few DAs. I still have Constance Spry (she's too tough to eliminate, and beautiful), Winchester Cathedral, Sophy's Rose and Sir Walter Raleigh.
They stack up against the old garden roses, grown by generations of rose fanciers.
I resisted my daughters' appeals for Cabbage Patchs and Barbies. I don't buy new Austins either.

Sue

Sue

Since many of the newer Austins are more disease-resistant, I am glad that Austin has continued putting out new varieties and placed a higher priority on healthiness (along with the other Austin virtues). As beautiful as many of the older Austins are, I would have had to get by with very few Austins since those were not that healthy. I really love some of the more recent Austins.

Kate

I agree. I like the older Austins more.

'Jayne Austin' in its 3rd year is absolutely fantastic in my mother's garden. I was surprised to see so many blooms this year. The past two years this rose didn't bloom much. But this spring, it's beautiful. When you look at the individual blooms, you immediately feel peace and tranquil; this rose looks very 'English' - cupped blooms with pastel yellow petals in the inside and lighter petals on the outside.

Another rose that I will miss is Mayor of Casterbridge. This will be its 3rd year too. But it's a gigantic rose - in a tall upright fashion - a vase shape. The canes are flexible but it's wise to stake them. The blooms are very formal - they look like 'The fairy' rose. I only like the the leaves - they look old-fashion.

I regretted for not bringing Abraham Darby with me since the move. Now my current Austins don't have much fragrance. The garden would look nicer with some apricot/peachy blooms than having all pink!

The newer rose, 'Claire Austin' is a bit of a disappointment because the blooms last for only one day and the next day they start to loose its petals. But this rose is still young. The first bloom I had, makes me think of wedding dresses.

Best Austins for me - after a long apprenticeship: Abe Darby (the 15th try is the charm!) Golden Celebration, Graham Thomas, Crown Princess Margareta (it's new...but terrific), Sharifa Asma, Cymbaline, Carding Mill (this is a great SoCal rose), Perdita, Will Shakespeare 2K (you should get it, Lux...own root) and Scepter'd Isle. Oh...I forgot Jude the Obscure...great rose

I love many of the older Austins, but I also love many of the newer ones, as a greater number of them are more disease resistant, yet still fragrant and beautiful. As I'm moving closer to my dream of a spray-free garden, disease resistance is very important to me.

Must be the case that the older ones are best over there, because they aren't over here lol. Princess Alexandra of Kent, Wollerton Old Hall, Munstead Wood, Young Lycidas and many more of the new ones are excellent and miles better than some of the old ones. Two of my new ones that I consider to be not ver good (to put it mildly) are Englands Rose, poxy little flowers that last a day if you're lucky, and a slow grower to boot and William and Catherine, same again, small flowers that last a day before they go horrible. My wills and catherine is just some long leafless twigs - I'm amazed it managed to flower at all.

For my money DA doesn't vet his roses well. Just look at the list! How can any breeder produce that many roses given that he is relatively new at it. Compared to my favorite breeder, Kordes, that I know test his his roses for many years before introduction.

Which is why I don't grow any as all 9 I planted early on all died.

There is so more in a garden worthy rose than form and fragrance. Like disease resistance, vigor and toughness.

I wish that all rose growers would be more specific in their descriptions of "disease" resistance. I don't get "disease" here; I get blackspot. It would also be helpful, if possible, if some nice university researcher would make a list of the strains of blackspot in each region of the country like they do for powdery mildew of vegetables.

Oh yes and the Austin roses. They are beautiful and therefore I will attempt to grow them. I think there are some nice older ones and some nice newer ones. I like that he releases new ones each year and probably some years he releases less to prevent oversaturation.

Amberroses: they can't make a list of blackspot strains because these fungi mutate, and become resistant to chemicals. I learn from the British's recommendation of taking away the rotting tree bark mulch in a wet climate, and you solve 50% of BS problem. In our wet near Chicago area, the rose park nearby has no mulch, just bare dirt.

For info. on my black spot experiment, check out the post: "Interesting info. for organic rose growers".

Boy, you guys are really tough! I don't think DA's roses are any more or less disease prone or hardy than anyone else's. And for my money I certainly don't think Kordes roses are bullet proof either! And even if both these fine breeders bred a rose that was hardy and absolutely spot free in their test gardens there is no guarantee that it would be in yours or mine. It's all about location and finding the ones that work in your garden. And really now, isn't that half the fun? Part of the enjoyment I get out of my roses is trying out new ones (not necessarily new varieties but new to my garden) and seeing how they do here. I even push the zone envelope to see what will and will not take my Michigan winters. That's how I ended up with all those roses in pots. It was a lark experiment that everyone told me wouldn't work here because it was too cold. Well it did and I have a lovely patio of potted roses because I wasn't afraid to try it out for myself and see. Yes, occasionally I've bought dogs and some of them didn't make it but a lot of the ones I was told would be awful weren't and some of the ones that came SO highly recommended were disease riddled and up a croaked their first winter. Roses are a crap shoot and no breeder can give you guarantees. Except maybe the ones selling "blue rose seeds" on ebay, lol!

amberroses--I'd bet that most people when they refer to a rose having good or bad disease-resistance have blackspot in mind--unless they are from certain parts of California where they evidently don't have any blackspot problems. For most of the rest of us, battling blackspot is what is foremost in our minds.

Kate

Couldn't agree with seil more - I have one or two Kordes, very disease resistant but that's their best quality, everything else seems to take a back seat. I just think that DA may need to test a few in other countries and maybe not assume that what works here will in other countries. I do wonder why people grow roses if they object to a bit of extra care, or too many thornes lol - switch to something else!! If you saw the size of his test fields and his greenhouses, you would know that he produces his 4 or 5 each year by doing tonnes of crosses every year. PS, seen the blue rose seeds from china on eBay, do have to have a chuckle when i see them!!

DA could hardly wait to breed a rose worthy of the name 'William Shakespeare'. Well, he succeeded!

Then, a decade or so later, when that one proved to be not much of a winner, he presented the rose world with what he proclaimed to be the vastly improved 'William Shakespeare 2000'!!!

Yawn.

Maybe DA will try again with a 'William Shakespeare 2016' (the 400th anniverary of the Bard's death).

Third time's a charm, or so they say (altho Shakespeare apparently never did).

I like David Austin roses more than Kordes roses. I'm not exactly sure why, but when its time to order new roses, I would purchase DAs instead of any other roses. It's like my mind is glued to DAs and some of the old fashioned roses.

My mother always complained that DA roses are too messy and short-lived. But I like it that way and I like to sweep those petals and use the time to look at my rose bushes. I just like how someone wrote in the past about 'beauty is fleeting' to relate to short-lived rose blooms.

I have tried growing kordes roses (Laguna, Cinderella) but I'm not that fascinated by them. Perhaps. they are too modern looking with glossy leaves.

"too modern looking" - exactly - no variety in form at all, I like to have some of the bronze leaved ones, some of the short compact ones and some of the big monsters to provide something different to look at. I find with the kordes ones on the whole that the flower lasts just that bit too long and ends up opening out further into just being a mess lol - DA seem to open up looking good, last a few days then drop off - fine by me - you just have to be patient and wait for the next bath to come through, half of the fun!!

I agree with Seil that no rose is custom-made for one's climate. I make them work for my specific environment. Fifteen years ago I planted Kordes' Perfecta and it was a joke, most naked with blackspot - versus Queen Elizabeth and Tropicana the best.

It's unfortunate that Austin new introductions lack the fragrance of the older introductions. If I want non-stop blooming roses, I would buy Knock-out or Flower Carpet. The only reason why I want Austin is the fragrance.

The decline of the rose industry, despite introduction of disease-resistant ones, is the TAKING AWAY of fragrances. The only reason why I bother with roses, after killing invasive perennials in my garden, and throwing away free annuals in the compost - is the fragrances.

Fragrance is nice and certainly mandatory for my Perfumed Path, but in my garden as a whole probably one of the less important reasons why I grow roses. I want a feast for my eyes, not for my nose. There's something about the way the semi-translucent petals of many of the Austins absorb the light rays that makes them such a joy to observe, and some of the blends are a subtle colorwheel of fascination. And the big fully-packed rounded blooms of some of the Austins--such a sight to behold!

And a good smell is nice too.

Kate

We can't blame it all on the breeders. They were just responding to what the public kept crying for. First early on, say in the 40s, 50s, & 60s, that was the beautiful huge exhibition type blooms. They got those in spades, however, sacrificed both fragrance and disease resistance in the process. We missed the fragrance but the black spot was so bad that we all screamed for healthier roses. And now in turn we've got Knock Outs and other varieties of shrub roses that are more (or less) disease resistant. But this time at the expense of form and again fragrance. We get what we ask for and are willing to pay for and that's that.

And you have to remember that it takes years to breed in or out different traits so the process is slow. A breeder may sow thousands of seeds and get only 10 possibly promising ones that will take many years to grow and evaluate before it can be determined how viable they are. Probably half of those at least won't make the cut. And then it has to be propagated in sufficient quantities to be marketable. So in view of that the fact that DA even introduced two new roses this year is pretty good!

"There's something about the way the semi-translucent petals of many of the Austins absorb the light rays that makes them such a joy to observe, and some of the blends are a subtle colorwheel of fascination. And the big fully-packed rounded blooms of some of the Austins--such a sight to behold!"

Kate, what a great description! That's exactly how I feel about DA roses. I've never been a rose fan. In fact when I was young, I hated roses because they always look sticky/woody and those loud colours never captivated me. I was totally fascinated when I found out about DAs. Those roses also lead me into old fashion roses such as Duchesse de Montebello which I LOVE deeply and off course, the lovely Felicite Parmentier. Every time I look at those old fashion roses, I feel like I have transported back in time.