Liz I think you are going to be very happy with this rose. Although I only got it last year it has really put on a show. I can't imagine what it might do when mature!!!! Ingrid--thank you. Buford--I agree, fragrance would be so nice....but right now I can't get low enough to sniff her anyway. lol

I grow both of these roses and have for three years. Both bloom almost constantly, much more than most of my other Austins. Neither have much fragrance. I prefer the blooms of Sophy's Rose to John Clare. I don't consider John Clare's semi-double blooms anything special but I definitely appreciate him in my garden during those times when nothing else is blooming. He got rather tall at the end of this season, shooting up to about 5 feet. Sophy's Rose has blooms that look more like dahlias to me. They are a darker, deeper pink with many petals. They do not look typical of other Austin Roses, to me, they look more modern. Still, I find them beautiful and appreciate their frequency. Neither of these two roses are anywhere near my favorites, however, I value both for their reliable, constant color and bloom. I do spray and find them both to be more disease resistant than other Austins. HOpe this helps, Shelley

Certainly I would agree that Sophy does well in the heat. It gets stinking hot and very, very dry here every summer. I've got Sophy planted in an area with some well established plum trees and it doesn't get watered very often in summer, maybe every ten days or so if the temperature is under about 36 degrees Celsius. Once it gets into the high 30s and 40s then it might get watered once a week. My aim in late summer is just to keep my garden alive. This rose doesn't bloom as prolifically then, but makes up for it now. I rescued a few buds out of the garden today, it's ice-cold (literally snow fell on the high peaks today, that's unusual!) and really wet. The dark pinks are Sophy, the very light bloom on the left is St Cecelia, the globular one at right is Gruss an Aachen and I'm not sure if it's going to open at all Mid winter next week. I feel very lucky, really!

I don't know why I do this to myself. I bought Sir John Betjeman and just discovered it has no fragrance. An Austin without a fragrance. I've own two: Sophy's Rose and LD Braithwaite. Will I like SJB more? How does SJB compare to SR?