It might be a combo of RMV and winter stress. If RMV has weakened your plants, they might be declining each year while struggling to return from cold season dormancy, whereas clean plants would bounce right back each spring. I suspect that if all your plants are Austins grafted on Dr. Huey, they may all be infected with RMV. Some plants with RMV exhibit obvious signs and some don't. Also, some plants with RMV thrive for decades while others fade. Who knows why? As mentioned on another thread, Austin continues to send infected plants to customers by the truckload. (I'm paddling in the same pool of victims.) I'd definitely contact Austin with photos of your virus patterned foliage and declining plants. It's inexcusable that the company still propagates on diseased rootstock. Carol

Well, Lilyfinch, APdL hasn't turned out to be a fabulous rose like Bishop's Castle, but I suspect that it is not a problem with the plant, but a problem with my climate or where it is planted. Keep in mind that roses tend to grow very slowly for me (for example Abraham Darby is still quite short for me but for many people, it can be a climber). My Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg is planted right next to Abe, and still has only 3 basals, and those are not well branched and only about 2 feet tall. She doesn't look much like the photo that Vaporvac posted above. She is also one of the roses that were planted at the edge of the drip zone of Vlad the Impaler (English Hawthorn), under which the roses that were planted failed to grow entirely ("the Zone of Death"). The flowers are quite large, about 4 inches across here, but I bet they would be quite a bit larger in a wetter climate like yours. To put it in perspective, the flowers are larger than Abraham Darby, and twice the size of Alnwick Castle. They are probably a little less than twice the size of Souvenir de la Malmaison that grows in the local rose garden. Her colors are a touch brighter than SdlM as well. The flower form is more structured and fuller than Sharifa Asma, and has more durable petals, many more than SdlM. Her flowers do have a worthwhile fragrance, but not as strong as Sharifa and none of the beer-like quality of SdlM. Flowers open rather flat, not cupped. She's not a "covered in flowers" type of plant, but she is not particularly stingy either. The flowering is more steady. For me, she's not overflowing with growth, but I suspect that in a lower elevation with more water and humidity (and without the overhanging Vlad) she would be a great plant. I'm going to try to pamper her a bit more this year and see if ishe takes off, now that I've removed Vlad. I think that for you, she would be worth a try if you like the flower form and color and want a rose with a more traditional fragrance than SdlM. Again, don't take my experience too seriously, because my conditions are particularly challenging, but I like her enough to keep trying to see if I can get her to grow better in my garden. From September 2018 after the huge hailstorm ripped up the leaves: click to embiggen Peter Kukielski describes it in his book as tall and arching or spreading 5-7 feet and vigorous and fragrant. I'm not saying this to try to convince you to get her, but just that my experience with her is probably not a good example. Also worth mentioning is that in his book, the photographs make her look like an HT, but in my garden, she is not very HT-like.

Thank you for the kind words everyone. SaraAnn, you are very sweet. I remember the reason I selected PAoK when I was a rose newbie was because it has one of biggest blooms compared with other DA's :) Karen, I got inspired by the Japanese rose gardeners. If they can do it, why can‘t we? LOL mmmm12/cyndita, Love Song will love the sun. My Love Song only gets noon and afternoon sun. It's in the front yard, so where it was planted is more to make the front yard look pretty than if it is a best spot for it. HalloBlondie, I agree. Both of them are great roses. Helen

I grew PAoK in Las Vegas. It was very heat tolerant and healthy. Sorry, I have not grown Ancient Mariner but if my memory is correct, PAoK is a deeper? shade of pink comparatively. March June... High 90's Faded blooms PAoK- On the bush at the same time - September The above is how the blooms can appear in some conditions. Princess Anne is one of my preferred Austins. It can have long candelabras covered with blooms. The shade of pink is different... I like it! In Las Vegas, PAoK was on her way to becoming huge, Lily. In CA where everything also grows bigger... exercise caution... I do not know if you are going to remain in CA and/or for how long, but PAoK can get large, and quickly. In addition, so many states have agricultural restrictions regarding bringing plants into the state. AG restrictions resulted in my plants being gifted, donated and left behind when we moved to TX. Like CA, NV and many of the states out west are classified as category 1 regarding AG restrictions.