I ordered three GCs a couple weeks ago and can't wait to get them in the ground. I've been growing a few other Austins here in Michigan. Jude the Obscure, Pat Austin, Bishop's Castle, and William Shakespeare 2000. I'm quite a novice, but have had success in Michigan planting bare root with either Austin's Rootgrow that contains mycorrhizal fungi or Espoma's Bio-tone® Starter Plus which is an all natural plant food enhanced with biostimulants, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae. These must be in direct contact with the root to maximize effectiveness at planting. So planting bare root is a great way to go when using this approach. The theory is the fungi tap back into the soil to draw massive quantities of minerals and nutrients, mainly phosphorus, which a Rose desperately requires to bloom. I follow a regular schedule of Bayer All-in-One (3x per season), Rose Tone(3x per season), and Alaska® Fish Emulsion(4x per year). I know I contradict my otherwise organic approach by using the All-in-One, but I'm not a sprayer kind of guy. Someone told me that the Mycorrhizae improve plant growth and help the root system be more resistant to soil borne diseases. The roots give the Mycorrhizae sugars in exchange. They supposedly help improve performance for less-than-perfect soil, watering, and fertilizing. Again, I'm a novice. Very much so, but so far, this has worked for me.

I received mine last year from J&P, I first tried Canada, but they wouldn't ship to the US. I purchased a group of 4 Austins very late in the season, just to get this rose. It was super hot and I killed the Jubilee Celebration, think I fussed over it too much! I actually had a positive experience with the replacement which arrived a couple of months ago, lots of Hugh green canes and very nice roots. I know that others have not had such good results from J&P, but based experience on this I would try them again. Diana

@easysqueezy Wow 4-5 flushes? I'd love to have that many! San Francisco is zone 10, which is 3 zones warmer than me here in zone 7. That's actually a good thing because yours will probably want to be taller than normal, which is what happens here. When you winter prune all the way back, how far back do you go? I did 6in this year. Is that too much? (photo attached) Inbetween flushes do you prune all the way back too? Sorry for all the questions. I'd really like to make this work in a pot haha.

Helen, I‘ll mix up a Neem oil spray from time to time (pure Neem oil, dish soap & water), but generally I try not to spray. JC is clean in my garden and I never have to spray it. There is more space than that picture shows, it was taken from a lower angle to get the salvia. Some of the other plants include CA poppy, Arctotis ‘pink sugar, yellow yarrow, and an Eryngium that hadn’t turned blue yet. My PAoK gets a little PM, I’m not sure if it’s due to stress, or if it’s more susceptible. It gets full sun with afternoon shade, so I suspect it was stress related. I added a larger drip emitter this winter, hopefully it helps this season.