hoovb, I'm glad to hear the flowers on SR get even better; they're rather awesome already. We also didn't get nearly enough rain; I have a feeling we're heading into a drought year. michaelg, I like your description of SR's habit, it sounds very attractive. Thank you for the compliments about the landscape view, hoovb and rosefolly. The purple bush and six or seven others I have further along that same stone wall are blooming rosemary bushes, which the bees are having a field day with. I do have two wild ceanothus but one grows out of a crack in a rock formation and the other is near a pepper tree so neither puts on much of a show. Ingrid

mexicanhat, mine are about the same size. Sophie is a bit more upright, Tamora flops a bit. I have them both at the front of the bed and so far they are perfect there. We must have the same taste, because I do have The Prince next to Tamora. It was short and floppy for the first 3 years, but is becoming a bit more upright this year. Others on this site say it does get a bit bigger. I've been in drought conditions for 2 years, so that may have stunted The Prince from getting larger. I do love the color contrast between Tamora and The Prince.

I've ordered Sophy's Rose so your information is very useful, Michael. I love to cut roses for the house but so many of them don't last well. I'll gladly settle for two or three days in the vase, but with the old roses and Austins I grow I often don't even have that. I'm a little disappointed that this rose is a bright cherry red on the bush since I'd always assumed it to be lilac red. Well, it remains to be seen what color it will be in my climate and I'll hope for the best. The compact shape and fast rebloom are exactly what I was looking for. Ingrid

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