You can't live without Princess Alexanda of Kent. Try to get it own root. The Wedgewood Rose is a beautiful pink but needs dry heat to really show it's stuff. I had it up in my hot humid area for 4 yrs. The only time it didn't ball was in the middle of the summer. When it opened, it was beautiful.

Oh Beth. I'm in the same boat. I just got my catalog and am deciding on the ones I want this year. So far here is my list:

Oliva

Lady Of Shallot

Wedgewood Rose

Crown Princess Margarita

Alnwick

Windermere

I also ordered Golden Celebration and Strawberry Hill from Chamblee's. I'm a sucker for the Austin (and all Austin-like) roses.

Unfortunately I cant tell you about any of the roses on your list, as I've not grown any of them, and even if I had our climates are very different.

You have to get Olivia and Princess Alexandra at least! I'm sure the others are fine also.

The Wedgewood is a climber, you know, don't you? Mine just started blooming this past summer--big luscious pink/white blooms. Seems to be good on the re-bloom also and had very little disease problem. I think you will really like this one if you want a climber.

Kate

I really want PAOK!!!!

Carol

Ok, I just called DA Roses earlier this afternoon to find out if they will replace my PAoK. I was told to email with pictures and an explanation. Soooo... went to do so and was having problems sending emails. Kept getting error messages. After almost 2hours on the phone with AT&T, finally found out I needed to change my password and dump the 5yrs worth of undeleted "sent" mail cache. LOL OMG I'm such a dork. Anyway, hopefully I will get my PAoK replaced with my new order!! Yay! So I can pick out another rose to order instead!!

And NO Kate, I did not realize THE WEDGEWOOD ROSE was a climber. But then, in my climate, about half of the DAs are climbers! Well, might have to rethink, altho... maybe not. I really love the look of it. And Ken, it should do well in my dry heat then.

Ok, come on guys.... somebody has to have pics of these roses!!

Port Sunlight was liquid gold. Blooms were smallish - 3 inches? I was very taken by it.

Ooooh I do like that PORT SUNLIGHT! Very pretty. Thanks Irisgal.

And Bayarea girl that's an impressive THE WEDGEWOOD ROSE for a potted plant! Looks like it will probably be taller than what I want tho. Hmmm.... Gotta think about that one.

Holy crap! That Wedgewood is phenomenal!!! Gorgeous!!!

Carol

OK, Beth, and So FL, I have four of the roses you are considering. I too am zone 9, but I think I get much hotter than you and perhaps colder. I don't know. My weather is very dry so I don't have fungal disease issues at all. In any case, all of these roses are on their own root and one of them started grafted but it was very easy to grow on its own root. My DA roses which came as own root from DA were HUGE when I got them, compared to some I roses I have received on own root in the past. Plants were very healthy and very well developed. OK. Lets start talking varieties.

Princess Alexandra of Kent

Sounds like you will be getting that rose and it may be off your current list. If you get her own her own root, she will get big her first year (unlike other own root roses). Mine got to be around 10 feet her first year! Put her in an area that will give her lots and lots of space. She does have canes that like to bend over like a waterfall. She also has some good size thorns on her as well. All of that is forgiven as I think she is one of the best DA roses there is. She is a non-stop blooming machine and may have stopped blooming only for a day or so when we had 116 degree heat. Her blooms are beautiful and the scent is great. She is not too great as a cut rose as most DA roses blow pretty fast. She stays much better on the bush. I just love this big girl. Bloom size is between 3--4 inches. Much bigger when it is cooler.

Brother Cadfael

The Brother is another one of my favorite roses. He too like to be very tall and upright. Very easy to root. Scent will make you swoon. He prefers cooler weather. Great first flush and then pretty much nothing throughout the summer until the weather cools down again. He is generally 5--7 feet tall unless you keep him pretty well pruned.

Wenlock

Very, very unimpressed with this rose. Granted it is on its first year as a own root, so I don't expect much, but compared to other DA roses on their own root and that were first year, this one is a wimp. If he doesn't improve in the next year or so (I do try to give them three years), out he goes.

I think he has had a handful of blooms on him all year. Appears to be upright and, for now, not super tall like P A of K or the Brother. Blooms blow on the bush in a day. Again, I have extreme heat and it was a record summer for it. However, P A of K didn't do that and neither has Munstead Wood (which is another must have DA rose, nor has Pretty Jessica--another DA favorite of mine). Let me see if I can find a picture of his rare roses.

Sister Elizabeth

I don't know if I have any pictures of this rose or not. First year, own root. Not from DA so very tiny band. Stays small for a DA rose. I don't think she appreciates the heat much. Maybe got three roses on her this year and that was it. Lost pretty much all her leaves in the heat but when it is 114--116 for days, I can understand. She especially gets the brunt of heat and sun most of the day. I don't think I have a picture, there were that few roses on her this year.

Lady of Shalott

Underwhelmed by this rose. Very floppy canes when flowers are in bloom, which was pretty rare this year. Again, first year, own root. Flowers were bright A$$ orange. I don't know what I was thinking although I did question myself when I ordered her. I am an Anne of Green Gables girl so I had to have this rose. I am on the border about keeping her. Maybe four flowers on her this year. She gets a pass, but if she doesn't tone down her color and bloom a bit more, she will be replaced by my man eating P A of K (I have P A of K in a 24 inch bed and she is way too big for that small of an area).

Must have DA roses--look to P A of K, Munstead Wood, Pretty Jessica (if you live in a heat zone and want continual flowers on a smaller DA rose bush). Munstead is amazingly beautiful. GREAT rose as is Jessica for me.

Munstead on its own root. DA has only offered it on its own root for one year and I am SO GLAD I got them. Everyone oohs and aaahs over this rose.

DA is discontinuing Pretty Jessica if I recall correctly. Too bad. Great rose for our climate.

I had Bishops Castle and loved it. Fabulous fragrance, but must be sprayed. I unfortunately had to dig it up and it died. I would get it again. I would love to have PAOK.

Bayarea--thank you for that wonderful pic of The Wedgwood. I shall show it to mine next spring so that it understands what I expect it to do. This is all I got during its first season (the pale pink in the background). Sorry--that's the only pic I took of it.

By the way, that's Munstead Wood --dark velvet burgundy--in the foreground, in case you were wondering. Another wonderful Austin.

Beth, you might check what Austin has to say about The Wedgwood. Perhaps it is one of those that, with pruning, can be grown as a tall shrub OR as a climber. Austin has a lot of that kind.

Kate

Lovely blooms, Mustbnuts! Well, PAoK is a for sure one. BROTHER CADFAEL I like too, even if it does like cooler temps better. A lot of my DAs are like that. I got LADY OF SHALOTT last yr, and she did ok. Hope she is more orange. And I have MUNSTEAD WOOD, but it hasn't done much of anything in a couple of yrs. My problem is I don't get around to fertilizing them like I should. I think some of these roses are heavy feeders. I must feed mine more. I want my MW to look like yours Kate!!

Here are a few of mine that I like....

Sister Elizabeth

Bishop's Castle

Charles Rennie McIntosh

Oh Ingrid!!! Those are wonderful!!!! I really want to get Bishop's Castle!!! If I ever saw it here, I would get it in a heartbeat!!!! And Sister Elizabeth is gorgeous!!! Sigh!!! :)

Carol

Not available in Canada, Carol? Are you able to order from the US? I would have thought you'd have no trouble getting Austin roses there. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Austin Roses does ship to Canada: ordering is through the US website, then during the checkout, one chooses the Canadian province...

Wow Ingrid, those are some gorgeous shots! Love SISTER ELIZABETH. I'm just not totally convinced on her yet, especially if she's not too good in the heat. And BISHOP'S CASTLE is also quite lovely. Hmmm... Can't make up my mind yet...

I remember when Missy got Charles Rennie McIntosh and posted lots of pics. Now I am interested in this rose. And she no longer posts. Any input for Sunset zone 15 Calif.?

Ingrid, I only order from Greenland Garden Center, Palantine, Hortico or Pickering. I don't want to bother with any place else. :)

It's probably really expensive to order from David Austin???

Carol

Hi Irisgal,

We have grown CRM own root (from Chamblees) for 5 years in USDA zone 9, Sunset 14, which differs from Sunset 15 in that it has less marine influence. It is a fairly vigorous rose here and has grown to around 4.5 feet tall x 3 feet wide. It has rather dense thick twiggy growth. The flowers are an appealing shade of lavender pink. The scent here is strong (although helpmefind says mild) and the fragrance here is not 'old rose' as listed in the DA catalogue, rather it is the somewhat controversial 'myhrr' scent (which we both find appealing).

I looked up the pedigree for CRM and one parent, Mary Rose, has the "old rose" scent; the other (Chaucer x Conrad Ferdinand Meyer) has the myhrr scent. I just picked a bud from our plant today and confirmed the myhrr scent. As a geneticist/plant breeder (tomatoes), I find this interesting because this rose may have genes of both the old rose and myhrr fragrances. Here we detect the myhrr scent and the DA team in England detects old rose. Could this difference be due to differences in our sense of smell, or could it be due to the genotype x environmental interaction resulting in the production of different scent in my part of CA vs. the UK?

Perhaps one of the most striking attributes of this plant, is that it seems to bloom more than most other Austin roses. It is rarely out of bloom. Many of our roses have shut down here after several nights of freezing temperatures and lower day temperatures, but there are at least 30 or so buds on this plant as I type this on December 20th. CRM is definitely a keeper in our garden.

Thanks John. The size sounds good. And the bloom rate. Do you do a yearly prune? Or an ongoing trim with the deadheading? Oh, how long do the blooms last? I have a yr. old Charles Darwin from Chamblee's and it's putting Heritage to shame.

irisgal - what is the fragrance like on Charles Darwin, and is the color deep yellow or light? Thanks!

Carol

RoseCanadian, I have bad allergies so someone else will have to respond.

The color changed from a medium ochre to buttermilk in perhaps 3 days from bud. It stayed that glistening cream color until finished, 4-5 days. I'm not sure I'd even call it light yellow. It was during a 90 degree heat wave. Hope it behaves like that in the 70's. I put a pic on the gallery under Roses C 2015. And Beth posted one also with buff yellow to a center of peach that is scrumptous. Mine never showed those colors. Yet.

roses c 2015

Thanks irisgal!

Might be a lot darker color here in the 70s. Might try it.

Carol

Irisgal- When I deadhead during the season, I usually prune around 6 inches or so, of stem. I do prune in late winter and usually remove around a foot or so of growth. Blooms last around 4-6 days, perhaps less when the temperature is in triple digits. We are getting a fair amount of rain now, so most of the blossoms are balling.

Hi Beth

Since no one else has chimed in about The Generous Gardener, I'll put in my two cents. In my garden it's more or less a once-bloomer, and in some years a "none-ce" bloomer. The blooms are a muddy cream and don't particularly stand out or smell nice when they bloom. It wants to be huge - I wind the canes around the base of an arch to its back - and I shudder to think how big it would get in your zone. What it doesn't want to do much is, um, bloom. Some of that might be a reluctance to bloom after being cut to the ground until it puts on massively long canes, so it might be better in your zone. Still, I don't think the blooms are anything to write home about, and if it weren't in a low-traffic spot in my yard it might be my second shovel-pruned rose ever. Most Austins do quite well in my cold climate even being pruned to the ground, but this isn't one of them.

Here's the most attractive bloom shot of a bush of TGG I could find. The blooms open up like this and blow pretty quickly, but I do notice that the bush is blooming when only knee high in July here, so it doesn't seem to need all those large canes it wants to grow.

Here's the best bloom shot I've got, and even this one has that nasty browning on the edges as soon as the weather gets at all hot.

Of course your results may vary, but I think the other roses you have listed are a more reliable and interesting option for you.
Cynthia

Wow, thanks Cynthia. That helps a lot. I was afraid of that. I like the pics on HMF, but if it's that stingy, I guess I'll skip it.

The more I look at Charles Rennie Mackintosh I think it is probably going to be at the top of my wish list. HMF ratings were EXCELLENT in almost all the categories. The color is so strange and ghostly in some of the photos I absolutely am taken by it.

Fantastic photos of your DA roses everyone! :-)

This is Charles Darwin. It looked like that in its first year and then deteriorated the next year and the next. However, I'm ordering two from Chamblee's because I really loved the color and shape of the bloom.

I'm very happy with my own-root Charles Rennie McIntosh. It began to put out blooms as a baby which of course I took off to make the plant grow faster. I can't wait to see it perform the coming spring.

Thank You John. Your information confirms Chas.Rennie Mack. a place. Appreciate the specifics on pruning. I think I'm taking Heritage down by 3-4 feet this winter. And then Craig's List for someone to dig and adopt.

Abraham Darby is not liking the drizzly weather either. 2 about-to-open buds are sodden balls.

Ingrid, Having heart palpitations looking at your Chas. Darwin.