I'm in zone 9B and I've had this rose for about 7 years. It is probably the most fragrant rose that I have ever had. It does tend to blow rather quickly,but for a few days the fragrance is wonderful. Like most hybrid Teas it does need to be sprayed to prevent blackspot. So, if you don't intend to spray it then I would return it. If you like cut flowers and are willing to spray it every two weeks or so it will be a winner for you.

I grow ‘William Allen Richardson’ in San Marcos, Tx. It was a band sized plant from Vintage. The plant is now approx 6’ wide x 4.5’ tall- disease resistant, heat tolerant and a free bloomer. His blooms lighten up significantly in the strong Tx sun.

Apparently I have 5 De Ruiter roses. DIORAMA, ESPERANCE, KIMONO, ROSALYN CARTER and SWEET UNIQUE. Two of those are florist roses, and I know they have quite a few florist roses. DIORAMA is a lovely rose I got many yrs ago from Vintage Gardens. Hasn't bloomed a whole lot in recent yrs. But I haven't gotten the bed it's in cleaned out in awhile. Hopefully I haven't lost it! ESPERANCE is one of the florist roses. Got it from Carlton's yrs ago. It's lovely, very-long lasting rose. Got KIMONO from Cliff before he opened up EuroDesert Roses. It's been an "ok" rose. Not really very exciting. ROSALYNN CARTER (aka PRINS CLAUS) is one I got many yrs ago from Hortico. She's a lovely rose. I need to get her in the ground. Been in a pot for over 10yrs. SWEET UNIQUE is the other florist rose, also from Carltons. Been a decent rose, but doesn't repeat as well as I'd like. The blooms are pretty tho.

I would recommend a mix of a few varieties because you have a warm climate and can thus have roses year round if you do a mix of different species. Well except maybe for this last year with your crazy snowstorm! What I have noticed about the Austin roses is that they behave for me as if the winter was a real thing here in Los Angeles. They might be daylight tuned? They bloom through the late fall and then completely stop and go dormant with no blooms from Dec-Mar regardless of whether I prune them. Then they put out an incredible Spring flush and bloom through the summer and into fall, but to a lesser extent. The Teas (and I mean real Teas not Hybrid Teas) pretty much bloom in the complete opposite seasons. Teas come from warmer places in China and they do have a wonderful Spring flush but then it gets hot and they stop blooming. Then the Teas put out an amazing fall flush that continues through the end of February. Basically the Teas bloom all winter and the Austins bloom all summer. I only have one modern Hybrid Tea “Belinda’s Blush” and she blooms with the Austin’s. I also have a collection of Polyantha roses, which seem to bloom year round. The only time they stop is when I prune them back hard in February. Marie Pavie is already setting buds 6 weeks after her hard prune.