Queen of Sweden is a wonderful rose, but be aware it is more of a light apricot pink, not a pure pink. In other words, it may not blend well with the other pinks.

For the shorty, you might consider one of the fairy roses--polyanthas. They are good bloomers/rebloomers, disease-resistant, and come in several different shades -- from light pink to bright red. Surely one of those shades would blend in with Queen of Sweden.

Sorry, right off hand I can't think of any awkward teenagers. : )

Kate

Kate - Thanks for the color info on Queen of Sweden. If she's more apricot, I've got another place in my garden she might go better. I fell in love with the picture in last year's David Austin catalog and would like to give her a shot somewhere in my yard.

I'm so-so in regards to fairy roses. It seems that next to Knock Outs, they're the next most common rose in my area. I guess I'd like to try something a bit more unusual.

The only one I grow from your list is Wildeve, and I would classify that as one of the shortest Austins, not in the middle.

I have Souvenir de la Malmaison growing in the mixed perennial bed. Works great here because SdlM stays small, clean and green with repeat blooms. Don't know how she would do in your zone but has no dieback here with no winter protection. Rose in back is Peace which also is compact but must be sprayed with fungicide here.

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harryshoe - One picture the rose looks whit and the other it looks pink. Same rose right? HelpMeFind had two Souvenir de la Malmaison (one was jaune) and one was pink and one was white. I think it would work here as I'm a 5b since I'm pretty close to Lake Michigan. Nice that its a repeat bloomer. Disease free?

veilchen - How is your Wildeve? Does it repeat? Hardy? How big does it get? Are you impressed with it overall?

Thanks!

I like my Wildeve. It has average hardiness for an Austin. Also average blackspot.

I grow three Souv de la Malmaisons in my yard. She is pinker in cooler weather (which here isn't very often, and in the heat she's pink in the center when the flower first opens. Here she pretty much fades to a very pale pink when fully open (which looks white in a photo) but can basically be white here when the bloom is well past its prime. She loves heat and humidity and is very healthy. I think the pink and white SdlM's on HMF are the same rose. I hope she can stand your low temps. I love her.

Sherry

So I ordered a Souv de la Malmaison. Internet research showed her to be hardy to 5b which should work here. If not, worth a shot. If someone says she's not hardy enough, I have a sheltered spot on the southside of my house that should stay warmer in winter.

Also interested in Deuil de Dr Reynaud. Anyone familiar with that one and its hardiness or grow it and have an opinion?

Souv de la Malmaison is NOT hardy in 5b. I've killed three of them here in 6b. They never exceeded 18" in height here either and would not meet your requirement for bushy shape.

I would recommended Munstead Woods or Rose de Resht for a short, bushy rose.

For medium height rose, Sharifa Asma is a favorite Austin and Marchessa Boccella for an antique.

For a large rose, Felicite Parmentier is a great one if you don't mind a once-bloomer. Fragrance is superb. For a "gangly teenager" I'd think about one of the awkward but beautiful bourbons like Mme Ernest Calvat or Louise Odier.

Mortimer Sackler might work as your gangly teenager. It wants to grow leggy and long but can be grown as a shrub too. Canes are pliable and you could train a few of them up the light pole if you wanted to. Flowers are a true light pink color with a lovely delicacy and some fragrance too. Planted in full sun, it's likely to bloom and rebloom well. I don't remember any thorns at all on ours, though we had them for less than a year and they might have eventually gotten some thorns. The two we had came from David Austin, and their website and catalog reflects very accurately exactly what the blooms looked like on our plants.

The Mortimer Sacklers here were planted in less than ideal sun conditions, yet they required no spraying for blackspot. I don't recall seeing any powdery mildew either.

David Austin describes Mortimer Sackler as a hardy variety, but you might want to give them a call to get a more specific opinion on the zone 5 winters where you are. What they say about the plant overall seems accurate to me.

Best wishes,
Mary

Aside: we lost our Mortimer Sacklers to Rose Rosette Disease. Interestingly, their flower scent, once they had the disease, was many times stronger than before the disease hit them. The same thing happened with all the other roses that came down with Rose Rosette Disease here: suddenly they had a much stronger flower scent... a wonderful unusually strong scent. Not a new scent, just a much stronger scent than before RRD came along.

Here is a link that might be useful: David Austin's description of his Mortimer Sackler