A lot of this depends on what kind of Austin Rose you have. I have 6 Austins in pots currently. I planted them in 20" plastic containers that you can buy at your local Lowe's or elsewhere. Just buy some moisture control potting soil and mix in some RoseTone or other light rose fertilizer and/or compost mix and you should be good to go.

Thank you all for good places to start my research. I did like Charlotte when I had her years ago but the deer killed her and I'm looking for something with a little more of the gold or orange in it this time. It would be so nice if the label or the catalog would tell you how it faded! Of course that would say something like "soft ivory" rather than "grayish parchment" but "fades a lot" and "holds its color well compared to" would be helpful!

I posted elsewhere that I've killed a variety of Austin roses; they blackspot badly here (7b ATL area) and they try and bloom as much as they can but it's a struggle (I don't spray) and they always look kinda sickly. They never look healthy and leafy like the photos I see posted here (looking at you enviously, West Coast!), they just hang in there and make/drop leaves. They blooms are perfect, how, I don't know, but they kinda stay small. I don't spray. It becomes this issue of having a sickly-looking plant year-long to get 5 or 7 flowers/year. I'm stubborn and have kept trying but am starting to learn to let go... because I now know there are so many roses out there! If you won't be spraying, before you pull the trigger on the Austins, do look at some of the Kordes being recommended here and search for posts from others in the hot/humid southeast. As an aside: it would be fun to do a thread on Austins vs. similar roses (full-petal Austin-esque color/look) that actually can thrive in the southeast. Here are some of my "Forget you, David Austin!" roses... I ordered Earth Angel (Kordes) last year; the blooms are gorgeous, and smell good too. Here she is today, probably about 2.5" as is, will be closer to 3" when fully open. She's pale pink and with very delicate petals. Summer Romance and Quicksilver just went on my wish list, bring on the Kordes! I also ordered Star of the Republic (Pioneer series), also based photos/comments from folks who live in the same state/similar zone. This is Star of the Republic, ~4" wide, much thicker petals. This one I can't officially recommend because I got it a couple months ago and it's still in its pot; who knows how it will do the rest of the season... I mention her because she's supposed to make big flowers (she does). She's grown several leaves and they look healthy (I'm already seeing black spot in other parts). It's Reichsprasident von Hindenburg and when I put in my last order to Rogue Valley Roses, I just couldn't resist the photo; the photos on Help Me Find are also just my thing: big, a little messy! I couldn't find much discussions here about this rose, it may be a total disaster for me, we'll see. The fragrance is awesome, reminds me of Zephyrin Drouhin but softer with a citrus note at the end. It has a second bud, I'll try to follow up once that one opens and later in the season regarding how the foliage does. Those are her light green leaves to the right (pea leaves to the left!).

Here it's recommended more for a pergola or very large arch... but in my experience, like so many Austins, you get a choice.. and it can be kept smaller.. even pruning out the climbing canes completely to return it to shrub form if needed... but if left to itself it's capable of 15 foot or so... ...mine was slow to start... and then it threw up 3 of these big thorny canes to 10 foot or so.. ..I then trained it along rope by bending the canes so it broke several laterals.. ..it starts to bloom from early June... you can't see the rope but it's trained from one support to another that way.. [the darker pink is another rose].. top right are blooms appearing from those laterals I made.. ..centre top are blooms from those laterals... it merges with other roses to the right.. typical bloom... sweetly scented... not overpowering, … ..this is the only true climbing rose from David Austin.. all the others that you see on arches etc. are large shrubs trained differently...except for their few ramblers of course.. I know Krista in NY State has this rose.. zone 5... I'm not sure if it climbs for her there but it's a favoured rose of hers I believe... I should also make clear that I can't handle huge monster roses...so anything I grow is kept under strict control... so they are capable of growing larger in another garden if left unattended... this is why I like Austins… I get a choice ….