Ruthie,Tamora is also one of my favourites. I don't understand why he would not put it in his latest book. Randy, I ordered Pretty Jessica for this spring after PATRICK raved about her and then said she was being "replaced". Doesn't make sense to me, but I will see how she does in my garden. (Oh, and besides RDV coming this spring, I've also put Gruss An Achen (sp?) on my list, due to your lovely photos and wonderful descriptions. Thank you. And I do mean that sincerely:) Judith

Heritage was the first rose that got me hooked in Austin roses. Mostly clean lush green foliage. A lemony scent that wafts around. Yes, the petals drop very quickly but there are lots of flowering buds waiting to be open. It also have octopus arms - canes that sprout longer than others. But its still beautiful because the canes are flexible, the leaves very nice looking and has few thorns. So with these merits, why wasn't t I satisfied with Heritage and made me go searching for other DA roses? Its because at that time I wanted a rose with deeply cupped bloom form with many petals neatly arranged inside the cup like a piece of art. Such bloom form can only be found in DA florist roses, but luckily over the time I am enchanted by Evelyn, Claire Rose, Tea Clipper, Mayor of Casterbridge, Jude the Obscure and Munstead Wood. Will I grow Heritage again? Maybe if I have a big garden. But i think i have outgrown it. The Generous Garden and Gentle Hermonine resemble like Heritage but both roses are not avaliable in my country. I wish we could have the Generous Garden - looks so scrumptious in photos! I never really consider Sceperd Isle because I don't like the name and the upright roses-sometimes cupped and other times too opened and blouswy. Plus the medium pink is not as soothing than Heritage shell pink which can look delicate and soft to it. Heritage makes a good rose for a cottage garden setting. Very simple and calming look. If you want some "acrobats" in your garden, i.e roses with complex petals arrangements go for Evelyn, The Generous Garden, St Swithun Jude the Obscure etc.

Could it be that like some other DA roses, the later growth will be more upright and you can trim it into a big bush once it is 3 or more years old. Lots of my DAs were floppy at first and later grew stiff canes. Won't help now of course, but staking the canes up might be an option until you see if the rose behaves differently once the roots are grown in. Mine were just like that when they were in the first few years and now look like big bushes. I would wait and see what it does. If you are clever, you can put in some support like bamboo or a painted green wooden cage that will hide in the foliage. Or go for a fancy support and make a statement. I have 3 DAs that I trained on trellises and this winter when I prune, I'm going to remove the trellises. They don't seem to need them anymore to stay upright.

Opps, this is a bit late, but I would say its Scepter'd Isle. Its definately not Pretty Jessica. I grow PJ, and it really is a gobular style bloom ,quite large for the size of the plant, and the bush itself is a fairly upright grower- the fragrance is a very "old rose" style too. I dont grow Scepter'd Isle, but I was just at a rose garden last weekend that has them both; was considering getting SC myself, as its quite different