OK, so what you want to search for is "disease resistant Austin". And perhaps do that search over at the Antique Roses Forum. Ah, I'm feelin' perky today, try the link below...

Here is a link that might be useful: Search for disease resistant Austin...

Only one Austin fits that criteria, that I know of--Mayflower. Medium to light pink bloom. No real disease problems.

However, it is not showy looking like a Knock Out.

There are other Austins that have few diseases, but that might depend on region. Since I don't live in your region, I couldn't say for sure how well they would or wouldn't work there.

Good luck in your search.

Kate

You may have better luck with roses from other English hybridizers.
Harkness created some very resistant roses, and there are several other innovative Brits.
For most of the time he has been active, Austin seems to have concentrated on bloom form and fragrance,
rather than disease resistance.

Jeri

I have a few Austins and none of them have any problems with disease at all but I am not in your region. Of course this year was the wettest we've had in decades with months just full of rain resulting in an insanely hot humid summer. That has yet to quit. Still in the sticky high 80s here. No black spot, rust, pm, nothing. I stopped spraying a few months ago because I couldn't take the bugs eating me alive out there. For the record I have Jubilee Celebration, Teasing Georgia, The Generous Gardener, Christopher Marlowe, and The Queen of Sweden (she's a wee thing though). I have a Red Fountain climber that get bs and goes nekked in my garden so I know it's out there but the Austins don't seem to include themselves in that yellow leaf dropping festival.

Just a few miles north of the NC/VA line, we're hot and humid here too. I've grown Austins both here, in Texas, and in southern Ohio! Out of 50 roses, I am only willing to have 3 Austins but since they require so much EXTRA care, that's the limit. The Austins are seductive, but take a look at the Romanticas, some of the new ones from Kordes, and do try Quietness and Folksinger. It really is more fun to grow roses that perform well. All roses look and perform better when their leaves stay on!

I planted Grace this year based on Lynnette's recommendation as an easy rose to grow and have been impressed so far. You can check out her photos on the following link.

You mentioned Knockout. I grow it because of its excellent health and it looks good against some of the lighter colored roses. But I grow a couple of Austins for their beauty and incredible fragrance. Some of both worlds. And believe me, the Austins are in a whole other world from Knockout. And its a wonderful world.

Randy

Geoff Hamilton is pretty disease resistant but a lot of people complain about not getting enough blooms. If you don't mind just a Spring bloom there are plenty of disease resistant old garden roses that are similar to Austins.

James Galway and Mortimer Sackler are new to my garden, but show signs of having strong, healthy growth.

I second the recommendation for The Mayflower, I wish that David Austin would come up with more roses that had the same type of foliage. The Mayflower is known for it's disease resistance. I really like the Romantica roses by Meilland,in my area they are very disease resistant. Also the modern floribunda Heaven on Earth has the English rose look and is very disease resistant, it has Centenaire de Lourdes in it's parentage, which is a great rose on my wish list.
Diana

Thanks everyone

The information given has been real helpful and has given me some fun homework . . .

You know . . . the more questions I ask, the more I realize how little I know :->

I actually have my doubts about Mayflower in NC. At least here it is not resistant at all. It looses its leaves to BS by mid summer. This is not just my exerieence. I know several other gardeners around here (Lori is one of them and my sister is another one ), who had similar experience with Mayflower.
So far I didn't find any Austin rose that would be as resistant as KO.
Olga

Morden Blush is very disease resistant vigorus. 3 inch blush puffs I guess this is being calle and English style these days.
Usually not this vivid a blush
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I went to a lecture earlier this week on Modern Roses for the Hot, Humid South (ie, New Orleans) given by the rosarian for the N.O. Botanical Gardens. Afterwards I asked him if there were any Austin roses that grew well down here without lots of disease and spraying and he recommended Winchester Cathedral and Mayflower. Mind you, I've grown neither, but these were his recommendations.

Just MO, but most Austins black spot terribly if not sprayed, at least in my yard. And it doesn't matter if it rains or not. We've been in drought conditions all summer and it's been my worst year yet for BS. The only Austin I have that doesn't have it is Crown Princess Maragarete.

Heritage and Brother Cadfael are the most health Ausins in my yard.
Heritage is own root, 2 years old and blooms flush after flush. It could has BP sometimes here and there, but response very well to spread. Actually, I only spread it 3 times this year.
One year old, own root Brother Cadfael is the most "health" and vigors roses of all my Austins.
But no flower! Not even a tiny, little flower bud to comfort me that I am growing a rose not something else.
I will give it one more year to prove its value of growing.

One year old, own root Brother Cadfael is the most "health" and vigors roses of all my Austins.
But no flower! Not even a tiny, little flower bud to comfort me that I am growing a rose not something else.

*** That's what it seems to do in very very mild climates.
That's why it is no longer in my coastal SoCalif garden.

Jeri

Christopher Marlowe is, so far, the cleanest of all my Austins. In the same bed WS2000 has lost almost all of its leaves but still blooms a bit.
Crown Princess Margareta was very clean now is spotted all over - the spots do not look like blackspot; do not have the tan "shots" either, so it is probably not anthracnose either. I assume it is cercospora. The plant didn't defoliate and blooms quite well. Jubilee Celebration is very similar to CPM but this one lost some leaves but replaced with new leaves very fast.
Strangest of all is Geoff Hamilton. He has that ugly crud like the Portlands but does not defoliate and blooms well.

English garden and Prospero are doing OK.

Heritage is usually clean - if and when we spray but gets bs and defoliates without spraying. It is the same with Abraham Darby.

This year we didn't spray since late April and resumed spraying today.

Most of the Austins are going to defoliate in a hot and humid climate without a regular spray program. When we were dry earlier this year, mine were fine, but once we were hit with rain and high humidity all but 4 of mine are now defoliated.

The 4 that still have leaves are The Prince, Tamora, Sharifa Asma, and Jude The Obscure. These are not flawless leaves, but at least they are not naked. The Prince and Tamora look the best out of the bunch, but they've quit blooming. Jude isn't too bad and is still producing some blooms. These are all on fortuniana, so it's not the rootstock that is causing any weakness in the plant. To my knowledge no one is currently producing any Austins on fortuniana.

I'm going to pull most of mine out, because I do not want to be involved in a spray program, but will probably hang onto the few decent ones for now.

Abraham Darby blackspots badly, and his blooms tend to turn a yuckky brown. If he were sprayed, he has magnificent flowers. Thrips love Abe Darby.

I'm going to plant some more chinas, and try a few polyanthas. Not all the polyanthas are great here either, but some are.

Sandy

Have you considered Radiance? It is not an austin, but it has the shrubby growth, strong fragrance and form of an older rose. It repeats very well and is my most BS resistant rose.

I've grown and sp'd/given away many Austins (usually because of disease) In my humid maryland garden the most disease resistant is Sharifa Asma then Jude. My Jude has litle or no repeat, though. (Maybe midge - I'm still working on that.)

Good luck. : )

Here is a link that might be useful: Radiance