Beautiful, jo_pyeweed, I'm guessing you live across the bay from SF, as lived there in the early 60's (yes, okay, I'm old), and can't imagine anything like that growing there. I live in a Dallas TX suburb now, and have been looking into growing more David Austins after having to remove most of my antique roses here due to rose rosette disease. Your pictures are great, and give me some ideas to think about.

Jo, I really enjoyed your Austin tour--especially Molineux, Princes Anne, and in particular, Wollerton old Hall. Wish I had the space to plant a Wollerton--I love it!

Kate

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I love Austins and yours are beautiful!! So sorry about the drought. It def makes it hard. Take care, Judy

Lovely roses- I hope you find out what the problem was with 'Mel's Heritage' and that it isn't anything contagious. I also hope you get some rain sooner rather than later. Strong winds and sandy soil aren't too conducive to water retention... are you able to mulch your plants?

Thanks for the eye candy,

Virginia

If you could see my garden, you would feel blessed to have what's in yours. It's 92 degrees today and the very first bloom on Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux opened today. I was admiring it at 8 o'clock and by 10 it had completely frizzled. Most of my roses aren't blooming at all and the ones that are have loads of thrips. Never having had them to any extent before I'm very bummed that the few roses that are blooming look horrible. I also have mildew, blackspot and dead leaves constantly falling off. Even my crape myrtles and butterfly bushes look awful, with lots of dead wood inside, which has never happened before on the crape myrtles. I wonder what it's going to be like in the heat of summer. If NASA is correct and we're liable to have a drought lasting 20-30 years I now question any effort I'm putting into the garden. I can't stop because I need to have a garden, and I suppose I'm in denial about what's coming down the pike, but you also need to live in the present. Your cooler climate has been so much kinder to your roses than mine, but I am so sorry about the Mel's Heritage that you've lost. Young Lycidas and Strawberry Hill are gorgeous and I also quite like Princess Anne. Your yellows and apricots are beautiful too but they're not my favorite colors, sorry to say. Still, I bought Carding Hill because I know it's good in the heat but this little band has just stopped growing since it became hotter, as have Snowbird and Baronne Henriette de Snoy. I have a feeling that large parts of my garden are going to be devoid of roses before too many seasons have passed. I really blame the politicians who were advised and warned about global warming decades ago and paid no attention whatsoever. I wish you luck in your garden with the decreased water scheduling that's been mandated.

Joe, the roses and garden are magnificent!!

Thank you for this wonderful tour. Your roses and gardens are glorious. I can only imagine the hours upon hours it takes to keep up. Wish I could take a stroll thru your beautiful roses...just once! Lesley

Thank you, everyone, for looking and for your kind comments !

Ogrose - I live mid-peninsula right by the Bay. Sorry to hear that you lost roses to RRD. I don't know what I would do if I faced such a challenge - don't think I would have the fortitude to carry on. My heart cringes whenever I see someone post they have lost a rose to RRD.....

Kate - I thought you might enjoy seeing Molineux :-) He's a favorite, and now Wollerton Old Hall is one too. I wish you could find space for WOH.

Judy - I have always enjoyed the pics you have shared; I still remember the beautiful apricot/peach roses from last year.

Virginia - yes, I mulch heavily. I found that bark nuggets required me to water deeply in order to reach the soil, and so for the last few years I use bagged soil amendment (with fines and small pieces of shredded bark; no added fertilizers) as mulch. I have to replinish very frequently but it does a great job in retaining moisture.

Ingrid - I had misgivings about posting; and it took me a week of deliberation to finally do so. I feared that I might come across as whine-y and ungrateful. I do feel very thankful and blessed. I know you garden in very challenging circumstances, and I have long admired you for it. You have created a beautiful garden in adverse conditions. Many of us will have to think carefully over future plans for our gardens. Over the years I have been adding drought-resistant and water-wise plants, and have purchased just one new rose in the last 3 years (although I did get a few pass-along rose plants).

Seil - your compliment means a lot to me.

Lesley - you are welcome any time! You have such a beautful garden; I fear my pictures may be promising too much and you may be disappointed. I haven't shown you the brown, unplanted and ugly parts !! My backyard is small - less than 30 feet deep and about 60 wide, and a narrow side yard. The upkeep is not too time-consuming.

Jo

What a stunning garden! I love Austin's too and I hope mine will be as beautiful as yours.

Jo, very nice, indeed, to see Austins growing so well SOMEWHERE around here. I imagine it has something to do with your lower temps and relatively higher humidity on the mid-Peninsula. I have noticed that the Austins in Golden Gate Park also look wonderful. (Here in Livermore, -- aka "land of the crispy rose bloom" -- or perhaps it's my soil -- they are mostly a lost cause...). When growing well, as in your garden, they are so beautiful.

As in your garden, here the rose bloom (and other species, too) is somewhat off-kilter, compared to previous years -- a bit out of sequence and oddly spaced-out. The very warm winter -- or perhaps the drought watering last summer -- was no friend to the few European old-garden roses I have (no bloom on 'La Belle Sultane', for example). I imagine I will also not see many flushes after this one on many of the other roses. My focus will be entirely on keeping the plants alive, to flourish in better years.

Please let us know if you find out anything about your "Mel's Heritage". I lost a huge, beautiful Mme. Antoine Mari a few years ago in a similarly mysterious fashion. It was growing and blooming beautifully, then one spring it seemed to suffer a massive death of roots for no discernible reason -- not oak-root fungus.

Appreciate your comments on mature size. Helps me with choices for my small garden. How old is your Wollerton and height?

Love your roses! And have stopped cursing my adobe soil :-)

..a stunning collection.. I hope my WOH looks half as good, and you and everyone else struggling with difficult conditions should be congratulated on getting results like these...
...your plot size is deceptive, it looks much more spacious too...

Wow! I think DA should sponsor you to advertise for them! I'm tempted by PAoK for next year. Pls. disenable me since I promised to myself not to buy too many roses next year and I already have 14 on order..

They are all so beautiful. I especially love your Strawberry Hill ! Is this one a climber and how large does it get (the plant itself and the flower)? I am thinking of ordering this one!

~SJN

Beautiful.

Thanks, everyone!

Re rose sizes - Wollerton Old Hall, grafted, will start its third year in my garden. I grow it freestanding - its 6 feet round and is only 5 feet tall as the canes have arched over. It will make a great climber.

Strawberry Hill is 5 years old and also grafted. I grew it as a shrub and the pencil thin canes couldn't support the trusses of flowers. When it started throwing out canes 6 feet long, I started growing it as a climber by fanning the canes against a fence. It's definitely much better grown that way. The canes are thin and pliable, and if it weren't for the thorns, training this climber would be a dream. Unfortunately, it doesn't get too many laterals. The laterals are long so have to be tied back. It blooms on the ends of canes. It's now 8 feet wide in either direction, and only 2-3 feet deep. Flower size varies from 4 inches to 2 inches.

Let me know if there are other roses you want to know the size of, Iris_gal.

Nik - PAoK has powdery mildew and blackspot all through the year in my garden. Does that help to disenable you ? :-)

Catspa - I started growing Austins for instant gratification and to be replaced once my tea roses were big enough. Well, the teas grew backwards and most of them died, and more than 7 years later the Austins continue on in my garden. I'll PM you. I'd like to know more about what you observed with your Madame Antoine Mari. I checked the roots of Mel's Heritage and there were no visual indications of any problems. I don't have gophers here. I had a daylily blooming in March which has flowered for the last 10 years only in August.

In case you are interested, my post on Mel's Heritage is here.

Your roses are beautiful Jo - I love the foxgloves with Princess Anne. Just out of interest, does your Wollerton ever get any pale pink in its blooms at all? Maybe in colder/warmer weather?

Just wondered because of that tricky ID someone's been looking for for an old tea rose or an Austin - I thought it was somewhat like WOH.

Comtesse :¬)

Hi Comtesse - WOH blooms are indeed pinkish in cooler weather. I know the thread you are referring to, and I don't think the rose is WOH. The bloom form is wrong. Also, WOH tends to bloom in clusters.

I love the light pink color of the foxglove in the picture behind Princess Anne. It disappeared for a few years in my garden, and I am glad to see it back!

Jo

Resurrect this threat for people who are interested in David Austin roses. Helen