I would first dig a 18 to 24 inch hole, fill it with water, and determine how good of drainage you have. If water is still sitting in there after 6 hours or overnight if done in the evening you have more work to do. Part of that clay soil would have to be removed and replaced with compost, some manure, etc. What preparation you put into each and every planting hole will impact the plant's productivity and health. Are you planning on planting bareroot or potted roses from DA? This article from ARS has some great advice in it, whether you plan on bareroot (full article) or potted (ground prep) roses. http://www.rose.org/rose-care-articles/from-bare-root-to-bloom/ I would also urge caution as well as some roses grow MUCH larger than expected, some varieties may not do so well for you in your setting, some varieties may not interest you in the end, and...the worst of all...you'll always find more varieties you just have to grow. Yes, it's addicting! I just don't want you to be burned out your first year - I enjoy watering, fertilizing, deadheading, etc - spending time in my garden - but when you some disease, pets, etc and the number of roses you are working with it can compound the frustrations and lead to burnout. There are some great disease resistant Austins many already mentioned. A few of the most disease resistant ones I grow: Teasing Georgia, Gentle Hermoine, Claire Austin, Spirit of Freedom, and James Galway. However, Abraham Darby, Crown Princess Margareta, Munstead Wood, and Olivia - this group new this year - all have done quite well. Best of luck!!!

Rebecca- your roses are gorgeous but so much work. I live in Massachusetts. It is so difficult to even dig a hole 10 inches deep with all the rock, boulders and ledge so I try to buy only own root roses. I have gotten some wonderful own root roses from DA and have some more scheduled for delivery next week. I hope they add more own root to their collections. I recently ordered 'Queen of Sweden' and 'Windermere' which is by far my healthiest DA rose and covers herself with delicate soft blush pink blooms from early summer till fall. She is cane hardy in my Z5b-6a garden. The only negative is lack of the "to die for" strong perfume scent that Austins are so known for. sharon

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

Kristine thanks for mentioning that you're not fond of RD the person. I liked many of his books as a kid but since then I have learned that as a person he was very problematic to put it diplomatically. I also would not want. aa rose named after him