Sorry, don't have any of those. Some people who have Young Lycidas complain about its untidy growth habit, with branches leaning every which way and flowers that lean down into the dirt, but the flowers are beautiful. I decided on Darcey Bussell instead because it apparently blooms well, has little disease and can tolerate heat very well. I had YL but it never did well for me. I think I remember it having one bloom.

I have not heard of a single one of these roses. I guess I'm only at level one of rose collecting, lol. Good luck with which ever you choose.

I have Lady Gardener and love her. I believe I got 4 if not 5 good flushes out of her. They are new to me this year but performed well and not much black spot but I do spray. Mine seemed to stay a lot lighter than most pics I've seen of her but I loved her the lighter color. Gorgeous gorgeous rose! Here's a big bouquet I cut off of three bushes. Judy

Sorry, can't help. I only have the Brother and you have decided to get him already. I am curious as to what others say about the rest of the roses.

Thanks Ingrid. YL is one I'mkinda iffy on anyway. I love the color tho.

Jusy, that's a lovely rose! Yeah, she does seem to have quite a range of colors and shades. I'll think about her.

I don't have any of those, but here, Wisley is very popular. Great scent, but I have no idea how it does in the garden.

I was going to get Young Lycidas when it was released here, but the nurseryman at my local rose nursery told me it was a very lax grower and would drag its flowers in the mud or dust, so I gave it a miss. While I am prepared to kneel and stoop to weed and plant, my knees thank me if the rose blooms are closer to nose level. The others I have, Bro. Cadfael and Eglantyne, are good roses, although BC needs pretty hard pruning after the first flush if I don't want flowers 8' up in the air.

The only one I have grown is Mortimer Sackler. It made a very good and very healthy rose in my garden in Cornwall, England. It was trained on a pillar, which it took to easily. Lovely scent and no disease in my damp Zone 8/9 garden. Sorry I can't find a photo.

Daisy

Not much help here either. I have ordered the Lady Gardener for this year and was happy to see the gorgeous photo above.

Judy could I ask what the shape of the bush is like on the Lady Gardener?

Here's Morty:

Here's a couple close-ups:

I have no real complaints about this rose. It is usually a solid, reliable, bs resistant TALL shrub--it really wants to be a climber but I trimmed it off at about 6 ft a couple times a season and grew it as a tall shrub--but after a couple bad winters here, it just did not recover from winter damage one year. I should emphasize that those winters were particularly brutal--it survived winters quite well for a number of years before that. Generally quite floriferous.

I liked the rose a lot, but I never could really "love" it, if you know what I mean. I don't know if I would have replaced it or not. As it was, I needed a place to transplant an extra Queen of Sweden, so she got to take over Morty's place.

Kate

Thanks you guys. I think I'll skip YOUNG LYCIDAS.

Kate thanks for the photos of "MORTY." I think I will pass on him as well. You mentioned QUEEN OF SWEDEN. I may have to replace mine. I moved her this summer from the shady fence area where many of my DAs are/were. In the new bed, she died back, but then grew a bunch of new canes, two of which became dominant. No buds at nearly 4ft. I'm afraid she may be rootstock. I really hate to spend the money on replacing her only to find out this spring that she's just sending up blind shoots in protest for being dug up. So I will wait to see what she does.

Anybody have HYDE HALL or HARLOW CARR? I was thinking about those two as well.

I have ordered own root Young Lycidas from DA. Coming in March 16. After reading the above I might wish it was Darcey Bussell like Ingrid ordered. I think I'll stick with it though and place it appropriately where it's flopping might be OK. At least I was warned.

I just completed my DA order, but I am only ordering those that are available on their own roots. I chose Wollerton Old Hall and Claire Austin. I wish he had Evelyn available on her own roots. I may have to go to Vintage for that one. With Vegas weather, you do not need a rootstock and, in fact, suckers are a huge issue. I swore when I bought this house that I would use primarily, if not exclusively, own root roses. So, I buy them on their own roots, water deeply and watch them bloom away!

...I have Lady Gardener, Sir John Betjeman and did have Mortimer Sackler.... which I miss but I got annoyed with the blooms going discoloured during hot weather, rather too quickly...

'The Lady G' I got because of Prettypetals photos, it's forming a shapely rounded bush.. the blooms vary in colour a bit, sometimes lighter or more apricot...

'Sir John Betjeman' has a more modern look to it, and redder than pink... it's becoming a favourite as it is never without a bloom during the season, it's continuous and so far has remained a short bush, so it doesn't get in my way.. I've always liked this rose since I first clapped eyes on it... although not a huge amount of scent...

..I've seen, and almost bought, 'Harlow Carr'.... I was taken by the strong scent, old rose... the blooms were numerous in clusters if a bit small, on a quite thorny bush... I think it would make quite a show..

'Sir John B.'...

Pretty Petals--Lady Gardener is a very attractive rose!

Beth--if it was the color of Young Lycidas that attracted you, you might check out Princess Anne--similar color but not floppy. Rather upright, in fact, to about 3 ft. Very disease resistant also.

Or consider Princess Alexandra of Kent or Boscobel--both somewhat different shades of pink, not very tall, and very disease resistant.

I'd happily take any one of those three--if I had any room left for more roses. : (

My son wisely suggests buy them all so you're sure you got what you wanted, and if any of them don't do well you'll have lots of advice to write about to us.

Here's my own perspective from an entirely different climate - fwiw. I love Young Lycidas! I'd read some bad reviews but really wanted the color, and it was my surprise favorite of the year. Yes it's lax, but I find that can be graceful. It has personality. Some have suggested Darcey as an alternative and I'll agree she's an absolutely wonderful rose, tidier and more compact if that suits your garden design better.

I'm discovering that my favorite DAs are those which do not have thick canes and vey upright growth. I don't want my English roses to look like Grandifloras. Not that I hate modern roses... For those with similar tastes, I will offer that so far I'm not pleased with the growth of the Lady Gardener. Too erect. Maybe maturity will round it out.

Concerning the "modern" character of Sir John B, I haven't figured out yet. Mine have begun as low, broad, sturdy branching plants. The foliage is a bit shiny, but not the shiny plastic look of some Kordes roses, for example. The color is bright, but not garish. Deeper than bright. Medium pompon blooms with good substance. They're both rain and heat tolerant and last a long while without fading. I think it's a rose that could make a nice bridge between modern and old style roses.

I grew a Hyde Hall hedge that didn't work out. It had dramatically uneven growth, much winter die back, and terrible back spot. It might like a drier or more temperate climate. Beautiful, plentiful blooms, very little fragrance.

Sorry for no pics, my hard drive crashed recently :(

Thank you for the comment, ratdogheads. I'm also thinking lax and floppy might have a certain charm in Young Lycidas. We'll see. I think my garden is wilder than Ingrid's and I don't have her grace I'm sure, so mine will be maybe OK in it's own way. I'm hoping to develop more grace going forward but it's probably like the lady said to "Elaine" on Seinfeld "You either have grace or you don't".

Beth, I forgot to add above that I think Queen of Sweden is a sun and water lover, water especially. Whenever I would get annoyed that she wasn't re-blooming as fast as I'd like, I would give her a really good watering (mainly because I couldn't think of anything else to do), and almost immediately she would start making buds and shortly thereafter start blooming.

It's worth a try anyway. : )

Kate

I agree with what ratdogheads said about Young Lycidas. I discovered that if I plopped YL among more upright things, YL fit in and filled the border nicely without stiffly elbowing out other roses, which PAOK does, I'm sorry to say. I like them both, but they have different space requirements. I have found YL to be on the tender side and his rebloom isn't the best, but those blooms are gorgeous. So far, they don't photograph well, but we'll have to keep trying for that accurate photo. Diane

Young Lycidas is not this harshly colored.