..I should add that Thomas a Becket is a thorny brute.... but I still love him...

...I realise these may not be appropriate for American rose growers, so I'm sorry to interrupt here... and I can see you've already got plenty to choose from.... sometimes I think there are too many of these roses that are quite similar in appearance...and it's difficult to know which to choose...

Munstead wood

Teasing georgia

And last but not least. My lovely Abe Darby.

Ooooh that is gorgeous!!! Okay, going on my list, thank you!!

For beauty and garden performance in most U.S. gardens my top five picks are:

1. HERITAGE - shell pink, not too thorny, good reliable bloomer and wonderful fragrance; belongs in every cottage garden.
2. MOLINEUX - yellow blend, upright Floribunda-like growth habit, not too thorny, always in bloom, nice (but not great) fragrance, and very easy to grow.
3. MUNSTEAD WOOD - David Austin's best crimson rose.
4) ROSE-MARIE - white sport of Heritage and every bit as good, difficult to find but worth the effort.
5) TAMORA - apricot blend, intense myrrh & fruit fragrance, short bush that will fit in every garden, thorny but worth the trouble.

Image of Heritage by Twinkletoad (love the name!) at the Hortiplex Database.

I am SOOOO sold on Munstead Wood. It's nice to see that it's in just about everyone's list. And Heritage is lovely!!

My favorites are munstead wood, jubilee celebration and the prince. I took this picture of jubilee yesterday.

I've grown very intolerant of the stingy jolly green giants many of them become here. My list maintain a reasonable habit and bloom well into the fall.

MOLINEAUX
LADY EMMA HAMILTON
DARCY BUSSELL
MUNSTEAD WOOD
TAMORA

My five favorite plants/shrubs are different from my five favorite blooms regarding Austins, but I'll stick to the plants I've seen do well.

1. Darcey Bussell
2. Lady of Shallot
3. Lady Emma Hamilton
4. Ambridge Rose
5. Crocus Rose

Tamora is a close runner up. I hope to try one of the more fragrant reds (Munstead Wood, The Prince, Prospero) in the future and perhaps Boscobel which seems very appealing.

After a clean start, Bishop's Castle has regularly shown symptoms of anthracnose in my mom's garden which is rarely an issue. I hesitate to speak positively of it yet despite its lovely blooms. Her Tea Clipper has also become a rusty, mildewy mess in its first year, so it's on watch for the shovel.

Jay

Look who opened up just today! Tea Clipper!

Tea clipper is gorgeous. And I love jubilee celebration for the wonderful smell and color. Didn't realize it was an Austin. Great post jujigirl.

Tamora and Ambridge Rose both rust like old buckets in my conditions.

We haven't added any Austins in a long time, because of their water needs -- and we won't be. But of the ones we HAVE, if they get the extra water they WANT, the two best we've ever grown are at opposite ends of the spectrum:

Golden Celebration, and Prospero. :-)

I guess it is true that most D.A. roses are waterhogged? Hmmm, I think mine were screaming for water and I just ignored them. I give them like most of my other roses a good watering three times a week. I've read that you want your roses to spread their roots deeper into the ground for water so they will thrive better. Was I misinformed then?

@ Jujigirl

I add cow manure in the spring on older roses or bone meals when the weather is cooler. I don't really fertilize when summer is hot up here.

I don't grow my GC as a climber but more as a shrub and she is a prolific bloomer. I wish I knew that GC can be grown as a climber. It is not ideal as a climber however in its current location.

I agree they're water hogs! The times I've planted away from my usual watering routine (ie they'd get slightly less that my other flowers, but pretty much what you SHOULD water roses) they've all pouted and dropped leaves and looked sad. Then I move them to a watery location and they spring alive.

And Jerijen those golden celebration roses are gorgeous!!! Mine hasn't bloomed enough all at once to make an arrangement - this year. :( Here it is, you can see she's on the arch and also has big climber canes heading the other direction as well. Basically she's attempting to take over the world.

I'd love any pics of your Prosperos, if anyone has them?

Oh, and just b/c these guys opened just yesterday too....LD Braithwaite, which is suffering with some powdery mildew issues right now, but still lovely. :(

Oh, well my roses didn't drop leaves so maybe it wasn't that water starved. Well my vegetable garden is right in front of my rose garden so maybe they get water from the vegetables side.

Where do you live Jujigirl? I never have mildew on my L.D. Braithwaite. FYI: I live in Canada.

hi everyone :)

only have a few david austins ...

1. Prospero. Love the dark, rich purple and the stiff, star-like petal shape. When it blooms it blooms a lot. It is in a bad position but it is still trying.

2. Golden celebration: the strange yellow is amazing. it smells wonderful. it blooms a lot. it is a large plant and is a nice shape.

3. Othello. wonderful smell. beautiful rose. gorgeous colour. very large rose with monster thorns, which is fine for me where I have it, but is crowded and sun deprived. It struggles but it tries.

None of the austins get any more water/food/care than any of the other roses and they're all mostly neglected, though in good soil.

In Brisbane, Australia I have pretty jessica and it's beautiful with a wonderful smell too. Not very strong smelling though.

My favorite has always been Heritage, but I have to say I am falling in love with Tradescant quickly. AND, i have a Jude the Obscure coming in the mail! whoo hoo!

I'm in Los Angeles. I think my powdery mildew/LD Braithwaite issue might be because I have him in a pot next to the house, and we tend to collect water there - that combined with the draft from the dryer might be creating a humid environment. I'm actually going to rescue the other two LD's I have in the yard where they're not doing well, and put them in pots on the back patio but away from the house. Hopefully they'll fare better!!

Thanks for the pics folks. They are great and it is always nice to see it in a "real life" environment. You know what I mean. On professional garden or garden books, roses looks perfect but they are grown by experts. I rather look at fellow gardener's pictures to have a real feel of what it would look like in my regular garden.

Good Luck jujigirl. I agree that I think the one near the dryer draft would be too humid. I wish I had your resilience because I can't imagine growing roses in pots and move them around. Too much work...lol.

I've grown maybe 30 different Austins over the past 20 years.
Of those, these are my current favorites. To make this list, the rose needs to be vigorous, repeat bloom reliably and frequently and be moderately resistant to black spot.

The Generous Gardener-- It's a vigorous climber, moderately black spot resistant, and repeats well and has good foliage.

Abraham Darby -- Old faithful repeats quickly, big fragrant cupcake blooms. Moderately disease resistant.

Teasing Georgia -- Disease resistant (no-spray, even here in Black Spot Central), gorgeous buff-yellow blooms and lots of them.

Ditto for Crown Princess Margareta.

Idixie, love the big fragrant cupcake description. So true.

Tried a number of Austins over the years, but only 3 remain in this seasonally hot & humid garden under no spray conditions - Golden Celebration, The Endeavour & Abe Darby. Planted in the center of a mixed perennial bed running between the front porch & walkway, Golden Celebration's matured into an excellent happy rose. Impressive abundant bloom early till late without pause, lovely nuanced fragrance & color, graceful presence & great health earn this delight first place. Notable that GC thrives in such different climates as Jeri's & mine.

Second place goes to The Endeavour, an end-of-season whim still sporting an enchanting bloom a few years back. Appreciative of roses that bloom late into the Autumn through frosty nights, took a chance & lucked out. (This rose along with Aloha '49 & Easy Does It were still budding & blooming when the temps dropped to the low 20's repeatedly last week, and their leaves are still fresh & green.) The Endeavour seems rather a dark horse out of the Austin stable, seldom mentioned, originally released in Australia & later the US but not the UK. Heard Weeks selected it but see it's currently on Austin's US website.
http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/showrose.asp?showr=4342
The blooms open on the salmon side of coral pink, with tints of amber & apricot that increase as the flower opens wider & becomes overlaid with lavender, unique & exquisite. Tend to be larger here than HMF's average, easily 4-5", though the bush has only grown less than 3' without pruning. Short, thin thorns, sparsely spaced, so good near a walkway where it doesn't snag passersby. Powerful fragrance to my nose, like a fine French perfume, rosey with notes of narcissus & sandalwood & hints of gingery cardamom. Nose deep in a blossom, feel suspended in time. Parentage listed as seedling x seedling, suspect Aloha '49 somewhere in its background. Rarely spots on lower leaves only & when those are removed, new ones grow back cleanly. Appreciates a bit more in the groceries department, blooms often, loves the heat of Summer yet continues to bloom in the cool days & cold nights of Autumn, petals unfazed by frequent rain (though nod when soaked), grows in a graceful leafy bush form.

Abe Darby has yet to display the vigor & sturdy health of GC, so was isolated at a distance downwind of other roses some years back. The breezy position improved his constitution greatly & he only shows sniffles of leaf spot sporadically, sheds a few leaves & keeps on blooming those magnificent scented blossoms. Rather lonely by himself, he'll be getting a twin to keep him company on the other side of his arch come Spring,

Here is a link that might be useful: The Endeavour

This post was edited by vasue on Mon, Nov 24, 14 at 19:20

prospero jujigirl!

I am a bit surprised that not many of the recent D.A. roses are being mentioned. Is it not available yet or it does not live up to your expectations?

@Jerijen Holy that is one good yellow GC. Love the picture colour. Too bad mine look beigey. Is it the picture or is it really that golden yellow for you?

JJPeace I have Heathcliff and Boscobel from last year. Of the two, Boscobel produced more, but both did their thing over the summer and then pretty much stopped. Of course both are young plants, so that could be it, but I'm hopeful to get more out of them next year. They both were really beautiful. I'll try and post a pic of boscobel!

this is about my best picture of 'Prospero'

{{gwi:222243}}

This is the typical color here--a dark, dark magenta. With certain types of weather occasionally nearly crimson (red), but not very often.

This post was edited by hoovb on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 14:43

oooooh gorgeous!!! would you say it has a lot of purple in it? Or is that just the picture? I have such a hard time capturing my red roses true colors.

Princess Alexandria of Kent
Munstead Wood
Darcey Bussel
Alnwick Rose
Mollineaux

These were chosen for their frequency of blooms and hardiness in a Texas summer.No specific order was chosen.

Here's a pic of Boscobel. Really loved that one, wish it would flower more...it was going very strong in the summer, but has totally tapered out.

Beautiful pictures everybody. I have quite a lot of the DA's but many don't do well for one reason or another. The best ones I have are these mainly because they bloom the best.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN - grows tall and blooms like a fool
{{gwi:2121073}}

JAMES GALWAY - lots of long-lasting beautiful blooms over a fairly long period, but doesn't have a real great repeat
{{gwi:2121074}}

JANET - I love the coloring and beautiful blooms. Could repeat a little better tho.
{{gwi:2121075}}

SUMMER SONG - One of my favorites. Grows like a climber and blooms alot in the early season with sort of sporadic rebloom.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 2000 - gorgeous blooms that repeat really well and smell pretty good
{{gwi:2121076}}

Beth - Where did you get Summer Song? I've been hunting for that one but as far as I can tell it's discontinued? Ahh! it's beautiful! And so is William Shakespeare!

Well, I looked in my records and I see that I got my SUMMER SONG from Palatine in 2009. I could've sworn I got it from Hortico, but I guess not. I believe it must've only been offered that one season. There was some discussion about it here on the Forum several months ago. Apparently it doesn't do very well over here on our continent, so they quit shipping it here. I guess I'm the only one who's had any luck with it.

Jujigirl, that was my question as well. Where did you get Summer Song? I have seen gorgeous pictures of this rose but was also told it was unavailable here. I will have to check further to see if I can find this rose anywhere here in the US. Thanks for posting this.

Alright, I caved and bought Darcey Bussell. She's now out on my back patio, along with 3 LD Braithwaites, Rouge Royal, Red Eden, and Falstaff. Hoping this spring/summer to sit outside with glass of wine in a sea of red roses!!

English roses have not done well for me where I am now. I suspect they might not like the acid soils. I might try adding lime to the ferts this summer.

In CA, my five favorites were Gold Celebration, which made a huge freestanding bush, Graham Thomas, Evelyn, Radio Times and Othello.

since this topic has been revived....

Golden Celebration- One thing I like about this rose, which is not true of all austins is that it does not drop all the petals when you cut them for the dinner table.

Austin roses have always been favorites, and the five I love most of all, in no particular order are:

Evelyn, for her beauty, luscious color, and yummy scent.

Golden Celebration, for continually producing huge, richly colored blooms in our awful summer heat.

Tamora for subtle color and being a parent of Evelyn.

Princess Alexandra of Kent for being such a workhorse and producing such beauty at the same time.

And last is a tie between Jude the Obscure with its exquisite cup shaped blooms, and The Prince, the mysterious dark
knight of the Austin roses.

Of course most of this list may change in 2015, but their will always be the same two that remain at the top of the list for me--Evelyn and Golden Celebration. Diane

Here is a pic of Tamora in 2014.

Mine are:
Jude the obscure (not a great bloomer yet, but that scent.) Just can't be without it.
Huntington rose: such an overlooked DA rose in my opinion. One of my favorites. Does well as a cut flower IF you "cure" it by placing it in the fridge for a few hours. Just luscious full cool pink blooms.
Darcy Bussel: for her constant bloom
Jubilee Celebraton: no bloom compares as of yet
Lady Emma Hamilton: her color, even her foliage she's just a beauty!

I just ordered:
princess Alex of Kent
Moleneux
Bell story
Gentle Hermione
Boscobel and
Geoff Hamilton
I'm seriously thinking of adding Evelyn and Alnwick to this order after this post.
I have queen of Sweden and she's lovely but quite a stingy bloomer for me. Anyone else have that issue with her?

Below: Huntington Rose

This post was edited by dsd2682 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 11:15

You will love Princess Alexandra, I'm sure. she is a constant bloomer. Evelyn doesn't bloom as much for me, but makes up for it with her beauty.

That's a STUNNING!!! picture of Evelyn!!!! Wow!!!! That, to me, is the look of the perfect rose shape/color. Glorious!!!

I had Evelyn for the first time this summer. I adored it, and can't wait to see it mature. Man, what a rose!!

I can't stop looking at your photo. Sigh. Wow!!
Carol

Patrick,
Tamora was our portal into this joyful madness, although we had owned roses for 20+ odd years prior to that- just color blah!
My wife's FAV is Charlotte and it does well for us here in Eastern Iowa.
My FAV rose --- sometimes-- is Gertrude Jekyll. When she is good she is very good. When she is bad she is horrid. This is a rose one does not forget and those very good years of massive bloom and scent lingers in one's memory.

Thanks, Carol, I love my Evelyn roses. I hope your Evelyn continues to make you happy. Diane

Can you guys help ID this one for me. I was told it was "happy child" but happy child supposedly has bright yellow flowers and dark green glossy foliage. Not at all what i have. I have soft yellow flowers that fade to almost pure white and light green leaves. I was thinking maybe it could be Charlotte? I know the place that I got it also distributes Charlotte. So far its stayed pretty compact, although its too soon to tell how large she will eventually get so I cant comment too much on its habit.
Any thoughts?'

That's probably not Happy Child--which is a nice sunny yellow and does some fading, but never that white. My HC never got very tall, but I would not describe the leaves as dark green. On my plant they were a light green--in fact, I sometimes worried that the leaves weren't healthy enough because they didn't get more dark green.

Basically, I'd describe Happy Child as gorgeous yellow blooms on a really wimpy plant.

Sorry, but I have no idea what Austin it may be.

Kate

Dublinbay I've come to the conclusion that it has to be Charlotte. I looked it up on HMF and the pics I see there seem to match mine perfectly. :)

Dublinbay, whatever rose you have---- enjoy. Life and beauty are fleeting. I believe those of us who enjoy roses are truly blessed. It must gladden the heart of David Austin to know his roses are so loved.
Here is a photo of my dear Jane with her beloved Charlotte rose. Whatever, don't let someone move it to the back 40.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:2121072}}