Thanks for your replies. I do not have any issues with David Austins with respect to my zone which is actually closer to a US zone 4. (I'm in Canada). I do have 3 David Austins which is a bit of disappointment only because I wanted pink blooms and somehow turned out incorrectly labeled when they were purchased from a seasonal garden centre... long story short, I learned my lesson and will buy them from a rose supplier this time around. David Austins (not own root) do very well in Ontario, for as long as the root graft union is protected. I had forgotten about the Eglantyn and so thanks for pointing out the plant. I wanted old fashioned style, large cupped and repeat blooms. Scepter'd Isle is not something I have heard of (for David Austins) and I'll look it up. In anycase, thanks for the pointers. i will look up every one of your recommendations.

I adore my Munstead, it is well over 5 ft tall (I have only lightly pruned it in it's 3 years here in my garden) it is grafted though so I don't know how much that could affect size, I have a baby own root that is very small but has been growing and blooming like crazy this spring. MW is a great repeat bloomer & has a strong floral fragrance, resists blackspots very well for me ( & trust me it has a lot of opportunity for BS) but it sure is thorny! I don't really mind it, until it's time to deadhead, but it is probably my thorniest rose. Here is mine last week & the week before: Olivia rose looks like it will be a shorter, rounder shrub, I picked a grafted one up from the same local nursery I got MW from, it had a few blooms on it at the time that had a mild old rose fragrance & lovely petal arrangement. Pinks aren't my favorite, but if this one is as healthy as I hear and reblooms as much as MW I will be a very happy gardener. Here is Olivia rose upon arriving home from the nursery: I hate the choosing process, I always want to try them all. I LOVE MW, but I can't wait to see olivia rose in action, she is getting a prime spot because I'm hoping for greatness. Good luck! Jessica

There was a huge forest fire there five years ago. Around 2,000 people lost their homes. Bastrop has a large stand of pine trees called the Lost Pines (unique in Central Texas) and they burned really hot and fast. It was the worst forest fire in Texas history. We happened to be coming home from College Station when it was burning, and 71 was completely shut down. Took us over 6 hours to get home to Austin from Bastrop as we had to detour.

I'm not much help as I can't smell most fragrant roses (Sharifa Asma being the exquisite exception to that) but I can comment on potential for climbing in a cold zone. I grow or have grown most of the Austins you list - everything except Wedgewood Rose, Bathsheba, and Ancient Mariner. Among the rest of them that you list, the only one that reliably climbs for me is Crown Princess Margaretha and it almost never blooms unless it has surviving cane, and without snow cover it never does. So lots of limp long green canes but no blooms. The Generous Gardener hangs out under an arch and sticks a finger out to reach the arch most years by the end of the season, but it won't climb and has poor rebloom. Teasing Georgia is a big shrubby bush as is The Poet's Wife but not a climber form in my world. A Shropshire Lad is sending out a long cane in its third year and it has reached about 3 feet finally and might climb a bit long term, if you consider 6 feet climbing. It has a reputation for being a very stingy bloomer and none of my experience contradicts that. Strawberry Hill and St. Swithun might climb as they get more maturity, but I doubt The PIlgrim will however. Golden Celebration is supposed to be a good climber, but I can't get one to survive my winters so it would probably be smallish for you. None of these would begin to cover an arch however in my wildest dreams, except maybe CPM but she wouldn't bloom. Some of these roses are amazingly tiny, given that Austins usually do well for me. In about 4-5 years, Boscobel hasn't cleared 6 inches and I always wonder if it has actually survived every year. Winchester Cathedral is about the same height but younger, and Claire Austin never cleared 4-6 inches in 2-3 years before dying. My Abraham Darby lasted about 7 years (grafted from DA no less) and it was maybe a foot high at its best. I think it was a runt plant since a friend in town has a lovely 5X5 bush of Abe in her yard. You also asked for "meh" feedback, and Port Sunlight definitely falls in that category. Not an enthusiastic bloomer and it's a washed out cream color rather than that nice apricot in my zone. The Generous Gardener is muddy grey looking for me and tiny blooms. Princess Alexandra of Kent is in prime location and it has pretty long canes but in about 4 years I've never seen it bloom. Harlow Carr is one of only 4 roses out of 1000 that I've ever shovel pruned because it was downright ugly in bloom. The bush was gangly and scrawny and the blooms were quarter-sized mums on the ends of weirdly branched canes. It looked like something from Dr. Seuss - I even gave it 4 years to look better but I breathed a sigh of relief when I dug it out. Others love it, so YMMV. Jude is the wimpy infrequent bloomer that everyone else reports but it does survive for me. Evelyn and Eglantyne both need protection to survive my winters but they have nice fragrance that I can smell, though pretty tiny bushes. Princess Anne was planted at the same time near Olivia and she can't keep up with her at all - runty bush and no blooms yet at the end of her second year. My most impressive roses among those you list would be Olivia (impressing me mightily with bloom color, frequency and a huge 4' bush already in her 2nd year), Munstead Wood (that dark color to die for, compact 3' bush), The Poet's Wife (nice dark yellow that lasts and a decent sized bush), Teasing Georgia (a survivor in my cold spots and very large bush, though not a ton of rebloom and small flowers). Desdemona is too young to know but I'm looking forward to having her more mature. Heritage is a reliable and large 5' bush with pale flowers, though they don't last long. Scepter'd Isle lasts much better and has a deeper light pink color, but the scent is that like it or hate it myrrh. For additional Austins, I agree with Vapor that Molineux is among the best of his apricot/yellow roses, though I lost mine over winter when the graft failed about 7 years old. Tess survives fine for me but doesn't climb and I had to work hard to get Falstaff to survive a little. Heathcliff blooms a little but it's very short and doesn't recover well from our winters. I agree with Flowers on most of her reactions to the ones she mentions, though some of them don't survive well for me and are much shorter than she describes without snow cover. The Alnwick Rose and Spirit of Freedom get to a good 5' for me and bloom now and then. Tamora is supposed to be small as is Pretty Jessica but I've had them years and they're nice if tiny. I did quite like William Shakespeare 2000 for years before its graft failed, and I could even detect his fragrance. LEH simply will not survive my winters so Ben's lovely pictures won't apply to me Young Lycidias seems to have survived OK but he's still young. Lady of Shalott is quite nice as a modest sized apricot with terrific hardiness, as is Carding Mill (though a paler apricot). You're unlikely to get much consensus to help your decision, since we'll add as many roses to your list as we remove for failure to impress us. You'll clearly have to grow them all and tell us yourself! Cynthia