I had the same issue. When I inquired why no one seemed to carry it I was told that DA wont allow nurseries to carry the old ones if they want to sell the newer introductions. I finally broke down and bought a band from Heirloom. Let me know if you have better luck.

Pretty Jessica is listed at Roses Unlimited--and they send such wonderful plants in pots, often already blooming. I think that is where I got my Pretty Jessica a number of years ago, but I have seen it listed at a number of other places also.

Kate

Karolina- Yeah, me too. I bought mind like 3 years ago from Heirloom and it's now finally a decent size among my other roses.

Dublinbay- I don't see Pretty Jessica listed on their site? I went to English roses and it's not listed, unless they are currently out of stock.

Thanks

Check the "alphabetical" list at Roses Unlimited. It is listed there.

However, RU doesn't always get around to updating their lists, so who knows? It does say up at the top that they don't carry all varieties every season. What I'd do is call RU--they are really nice people to talk to--and ask if they are carrying it for spring. If so, you can order it right there on the phone--but they don't take credit cards, so you will have to mail them a check.

I hope they have it for you--their roses really are wonderful and usually several feet high and very healthy --and possibly blooming--in their pots.

Kate

I inquired with roses unlimited. They are no longer selling it for the reason listed above.

Oh, darn it! Glad I ordered mine several years ago when they were still available.

The only other source I know is Rogue Valley--but all they have available right now is the band size. The larger sizes are sold out. But if you are bound and determined to get a Pretty Jessica, come he!! or high water, Rogue Valley does have a waiting list system--they will notify you when a larger size becomes available. Don't know how long one might have to wait, however, and the service does cost an extra $6.00.

Or you could go to England and buy one. How you would get it back into our country, I don't really know, however.
: (

Sorry I couldn't be of further help.

Kate

Long Ago Roses carries her, I think. I know that's still a band, but her bands are so nice and robust and winter-hardened.

If there is a size that's too small for you, she'll actually check and see how her stock compares of whatever variety it is. She doesn't seem to want folks to buy roses that are smaller than they expect/want, and I think that's so cool of her :)

(I've also bought roses from her that she was concerned might be a little small, but depending on variety and time of year, that's absolutely no problem here, either.)

Thank you for letting me know about Long Ago Roses. I haven't heard of them before, so I will add them to my list of vendors. I saw that Rogue Valley has them in a band size too, but I think I'm going to add myself to there waiting list to see what happens. Thanks for the info!

You're welcome! I stumbled across her looking for vendors close to me, and she has so many things that I want :)

ocbrian, I've spoken to Janet at Rogue Valley Roses and doubt you'll see Pretty Jessica as a larger size because it's popular. RVR prefers to sell bands because they're easier to ship so only the less popular roses stand a chance of making it to a larger size. Suggest you grab one while you can as it's hard to find.

Diane

Thanks Diane! I will have just go ahead and purchase a band from Rogue Valley or Heirloom then. Thanks again!

I purchased Pretty Jessica as a bare root plant from Pickering Nurseries (in Ontario, Canada) in Fall 2011. They are stocking it presently, but cannot ship roses to the US because of a new interpretation of the law regarding the root stock they are using. I suspect that they will correct this problem in 2013.

Another nursery, Hortico (also in Ontario, Canada) also stocks this rose and has it available for shipping now. Many on this site have had bad experiences with this nursery; specifically in being shipped very small or non vialble specimens or mis-labeled specimens. I was trying to obtain a few of the older Austins which have become very difficult to find and placed my first order with Hortico this year.

I was pleasantly surprised with the size and health of the specimens that arrived recently. However, the one rose that I was looking forward to getting, may be a mis-labeled rose. I have the book "100 English Roses for the American Garden", that has detailed photos of the flowers, leaves, and stems of 100 of the earlier English Roses: the prickles/thorns in the photo of Cressida are very different from those on the canes of the specimen that was sent to me.

I notified Hortico the day after the roses arrived, and the told me to plant it and take a photo of the flower, in the event that it did not appear to be correct, and to send it to them. If the rose turned out to be mis-labled, they said that they would replace it with the proper rose. I have read that many who frequent these forums, have had similar experiences in receiving mislabled roses, but never received a replacement or a refund. I do know that there have been more favorable reports more recently from others, and I am hopeful that my experience with this company will go well.

john_ca, 'Cressida' varies quite a lot--some canes are almost thornless, some have huge nasty prickles, some little needle-like prickles, some in between.

Well...thanks....Now I want one too

Does is start well from cuttings?

hoovb:

Thanks for your comment, you made my day! Now I can at least have some reasonable hope that this rose is Cressida. I grew Cressida over 10 years ago and it was my favorite Austin (of over 100 that I grew then): strong fragrance, nice plant size (4.5 to 5.5 feet), vigorous plant, no disease issues, reasonable repeat, high petal count. I had 3 of them. I certainly did not expect that it would be so hard to find replacements when I left my CA home for TX. Other ones that I got are Claire Rose (needs to be pegged), English Garden, and William Morris. I tried to get English Garden twice from Pickering, and they sent me the wrong rose twice-the flower characteristics and the 9 foot canes confirmed my suspicion that it was Charles Austin.

i have just bought pretty jessica and 3 others that are bands i have never grown bands before any hints and a size they will be would be very welcome. Rogue Valley did give me ten % off and a free rose Beltimore Belle! Thanks

ocbrian, glad to be of assistance.

diane

OMG, I placed my order with vintage for a Pretty Jessica & a Claire rose band 2 days ago and decided to maybe add a few more to my order and saw that Vintage is already almost out of all the Austins except for the $45 custom roots. Glad I made my order when I did!

Hi All,
I'm interested in Pretty Jessica as well and saw that it says on Help Me Find that the rose has been "replaced" by david austin. Does anyone know which new rose "replaced" Pretty Jessica? I find it hard to believe they have a better version of her out there, yet everyone seems to want the original Pretty Jessica.

It's still available over here in England and has not been replaced, so perhaps this applies to the States..... I wonder if it has shown not to grow well there for some reason....?