Need help deciding finalists for David Austin rose beds
Hello, all! I am completely renovating the two beds in front of the
front porch of my home. I have been injured the last two growing
seasons, and done nothing in the yard, and the only things that survived were my glorious Zephrine Drouhin climber (hot pink, wildly fragrant, seen below),
one Little Mischief (deep pink, tiny blossoms), two Crystal Fairies
(white), and one Jude The Obscure.
Now I am well, and my gift to myself is to have the front of my home not look like a scary Halloween house. I would like to complement my lovely survivors with some new DA friends. I have chosen a red-white-pink color scheme, which complements our recently repainted home. I have tried to select varieties that are more clear or bluish than pink or apricot. My husband assures me that he has no problem living in a house that looks like it was landscaped by the Virgin Connie Swail (some of you are laughing now and some of you are saying Whaaa?).
I am in zone 6b in Middle TN where blackspot is an issue, but I am prepared to spray as needed. The front of my house faces full west and will get sun from about noon on during the summer, though one of the beds will be shaded a little longer (the tree seen in the photo above was blown down in a storm this summer). The survivors are all currently grouped on the far right nicely. I have room for 2-3 roses to the left of the walkway (gets shade a bit longer), and 4-5 on the right, between the walkway and the survivors.
I would like varieties that won't shatter or blow too quickly, are heat resistant, are pleasantly fragrant if possible (I prefer old rose, but myrrh is nice as well), and don't make a hideous bush, since they will be in front of my home. I have included a couple of thornless varieties for areas near the walkway. I have grown DAs in the past, including my current Jude The Obscure (who will be relocated out of this area as he does not care for it).
I tried to choose appropriate varieties for my location and conditions, but there are a couple of sentimental choices (St. Swithin, Redoute). I am trying for a pleasant mix of white, light, medium, and deep pinks, and reds that will work well together and with the survivors. Other non-rose plants in the area will be a small Nikko Blue hydrangea (which may need to be relocated since the loss of the tree), two rosemary bushes, some white daisies, and some Old Farmyard variety hollyhocks. Catmint will line the front of the bed (lavender does not do well for me).
Based on ALL this, these are the varieties that I have selected as finalists after exhaustive (obsessive spreadsheet making, etc.) research on this forum and Help Me Find:
Winchester Cathedral
Glamis Castle
Queen of Sweden
Redoute
St. Swithun (July 15 is my birthday)
Olivia Rose Austin
Princess Alexandra of Kent
Darcey Bussell (is she more of a deep pink or a red?)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (climber for the other end of the porch from Zephy)
Munstead Wood (too much purple?)
Runners-up are The Alnwick Rose, Brother Cadfael, and Tradescant (though I cannot find Tradescant for sale anywhere in the US), and Dublin Bay (not an Austin, I know, and I think it would be too big for the area).
Any opinions on which I should pass on? Definitely get? Experience from growers in my area or conditions? Opinions on the varieties? Form issues? Color clashing possibilities?
Sorry so long, I wanted to give plenty on info so you knowledgeable folks could make recommendations. Thanks!
Comments (24)
quiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Need help on David Austins for this year
Comments (15)Wow, thanks for all the feedback, that will definitely be a lot to digest! I guess I should add my short summary of the Austin's I've grown for anyone else researching DA's for this season: Ambridge Rose - Started off in a poor location but since I moved it to a pot it has blossomed. Short grower of 2-3 ft. Once I rid it of rust it has done quite well. Beautiful, large cupped flowers of pale pink cream centers. Petal edges are often scalloped. Medium myrhh scent. Fairly thornless, lovely foliage. Benjamin Britten - Very thorny, strong and upright plant. Color is a very intriguing blend of a saturated raspberry with a tint of orange. Amazing cent is fruity and strong, of apples to me. No disease. Tall growth of 5 - 6 ft. Lots or flowers, ok repeat. Brother Cadfael - Grown as climber, very stout and vigorous. 2-3 major flushes. Huge chalice cupped pink to dusty pink blooms. Completely thorn-free. Interestingly this year, the first flush was scented strongly of myrrh, the second flush had lost that scent and was purely tea. Flowers crisp in heat but fail to full open without plenty of sunshine. Jude the Obscure - Doing great now that I removed the ivy and roots around it, took a bit to get established after ridding it of rampant rust. Grown as a climber, around 6-7 ft in partial shade. Beautiful cupped blossoms with a delectable fruity scent. The very tangy scent is probably the favorite of all my Austins. Unfortunately it seems to start losing its petals as soon as it is plucked. Very few thorns. Ok repeat. Kathryn Morely - Fairly thorny, especially around the base canes. Lovely, delicate blossoms of pink fading to white. Repeats well and often. Mine is a bit straggly since it was planted in a relatively sunny/hot area. Grown as climber, must have hit 8-10 ft this summer. Very light, almost undetectable scent. Carding Mill - My current favorite. Very few thorns, no disease. Constant flush of blooms, huge blossoms, very strong myrrh scent. The color of the blooms is amazing, fading from orange to pink to cream. When the blossoms age they turn a pale apricot, but retain its petals all the way until the end. Lovely foliage. Growth of around 5-6 ft. I love how the petal edges are scalloped, and young flowers often remind my of water lilies. Sweet Juliet - Amazing scent when you can get it to bloom. Mine seems much more bent on throwing out canes and vast amounts of foliage after the first year of blooms. Also seems prone to powdery mildew and BS. Lovely multicolor blooms that are medium to small size. Bushy, growth that needs to be well trimmed. The Mary Rose - This is probably the best bloomer I've had, with the entire bush constantly covered in peony like pink blooms - also always my first Austin to bloom each yr. Each flush the plant which I've grown as a nice arching bush (canes arch beautifully) is completely covered in medium pink flowers that gradually fade to very pale pink. Scent to me is like soap from a boutique shop. Fairly thorny and prone to BS and mildew. Generous Gardener - Tiny own root plant, seems to be a pretty good bloomer. I know I'll love the blooms, now if I can just get the plant to grow. Charles Renne Macintosh - Own root, young and struggingly against mildew. Interesting color of flowers Graham Thomas - Own root, doing quite well. Few thorns and very nicely formed yellow flowers. Lovely tea scent. Golden Celebration - Fairly good repeat, lovely scent. Nice bushy growth. Abraham Darby - picked this one up at costco w/ Golden Celebration. Very vigorous growth, although the huge and heavy blooms are too much for he canes to support. Lovely color and strong fruity scent. The Ingenious Mr Fairchild - twiggy growth with a lot of blooms. Problem is that the spindly shoots are too weak to support the heavy blooms. The scent is an interesting mix of raspberry and others. Fairly thorny, vigorous growth. Can't help putting out its unique and lovely blossoms. No disease. Geoff Hamilton - Nice bushy growth, this one has some lovely flowers. A bright pink inside its compact petals fades quickly to quite. Lovely blooms. St Cecilia - The blooms were pretty nice and it was doing pretty well until it looks like it has succumbed to some sort of spider mite, or something. Blooms turn brown in the bud and the canes and leaves are sticky all over - haven't had the time to diagnose what has happened to it. Othello - Interesting almost pinkish red blooms. We were hoping for a dark red but this wasn't it. Vigorous growth, but holy crap.. the thorns. I had never seen such a thorny plant.. it was growing double rows of thorns rather like the teeth of a great white shark. The original canes had few thorns, but the new ones you could barely see the cane itself. Unfortunately the thorns and pinkish color caused us to give it away. Scepter'd Isle - Lovely petal formation, but the flowers don't seem to last, especially when cut. Currently throwing 10-14 ft tall canes with few flowers. We're waiting to reposition it at which point it'll probably be pruned back very heavily or turned into a climber. Not much scent to the blooms, although plant is disease free and almost thornless....See MoreDavid Austin roses vs kordes roses
Comments (52)I have a loamy clay here in zone 6. I have tried a number of Austins and I loved them, but I usually ended up with some kind of foliage issue. It's been awhile, so I don't remember what. I keep trying different roses that are thought to be good in a no spray garden and last spring I planted - Savannah and Beverly and Pope John Paul. Savannah is a Kordes - my first. It was enjoyable in it's first season. Pretty foliage and I liked the color and texture of the blooms. It didn't grow too much or produce many flowers, but I didn't expect a lot in it's first year starting off bare root from Palatine. But by the end of the season, it was suddenly showing some problem with one of the canes. Not insects, but disease. I left it alone and just hoped for the best this spring. This spring, it had some leaf buds on it, but they deteriorated as soon as they opened and while the other roses were pushing out more buds and then opening leaves, Savannah did nothing and looked worse. So I decided to cut all the canes back to the ground. And I thought that was the end of it really, but to my surprise, it sprouted new canes - about 3 of them. Right now it's about 6-8" tall and has leafed out and looks okay. Not a great start for a rose though. Beverly is another Kordes and last year it did fine and produced more flowers than Savannah and looked healthy. This year it has filled out with leaves. I usually have roses starting to open by June 1st, so, we'll see how it does this year. The foliage looked clean all season last year and so far this year too. Maybe by the end of this season I'll be able to make a better comparison....See MoreDavid Austin Roses - help me choose!
Comments (21)Kristine thanks for mentioning that you're not fond of RD the person. I liked many of his books as a kid but since then I have learned that as a person he was very problematic to put it diplomatically. I also would not want. aa rose named after him...See MoreK and M roses/David Austin roses
Comments (52)Beth Hana I'm interested in BUYING your cuttings of the Prince & Cymbaline and any Austin that smell good from you. I almost bought the Prince back in 2012 from Chamblee's Nursery in Texas but my daughter didn't like its color !! Now I regret it. Few years ago I bought Young Lycidas and it died in its first winter in my zone 5a as grafted-on-Dr.Huey. Grafted roses don't survive freezing rain in my poor drainage clay. Get tired of $3,000 worth of roses dying through my zone 5a winter for the past 3 decades, so I get into rooting roses to donate to charity instead. pricklycuttingnoca I rooted a few The Squire this year, it's drought & heat tolerant. Here's the list of the year introduced from Facebook David Austin group. Patent expires after 20 yrs. of introduction. 1963 : Constance Spry 1967 : Chianti 1968 : Shropshire Lass, Scintillation 1969 : Wife of Bath, Canterbury, Dame Prudence, The Friar, The Knight, The Prioress, The Yeoman 1970 : Chaucer, The Miller 1973 : Charles Austin, Lilian Austin, Red Coat 1974 : Glastonbury 1977 : The Squire 1979 : The Countryman, The Reeve 1982 : Admired Miranda, Charmian, Fair Bianca, Hero, Leander, Prospero, Proud Titania, Wise Portia 1983 : Graham Thomas, Mary Rose, Cressida, Cymbaline, Jaquenetta, Lordly Oberon, Lucetta, Moonbeam, Perdita, Pretty Jessica, Sir Clough, Tamora, Troilus 1984 : Belle Story, Bredon, Dove, Ellen, Heritage, Hilda Murrell, Mary Webb, Wenlock, Windrush 1985 : Abraham Darby, Emanuel, Mountain Snow, Sir Walter Raleigh 1986 : Symphony, Claire Rose, English Garden, Gertrude Jekyll, Othello, Robbie Burns, Warwick Castle, Wild Flower 1987 : Doctor Jackson, Fisherman's Friend, St. Cecelia, Swan, The Nun, William Shakespeare 1988 : Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Financial Times Centenary, Francine Austin, Leonard Dudley Braithwaite, Potter and Moore, Queen Nefertiti, Snowdon, Winchester Cathedral. 1989 : Sharifa Asma, Sweet Juliet, Bibi Maizoon 1990 : Jayne Austin, Ambridge Rose, Brother Cadfael, Kathryn Morley, Lilac Rose, Peach Blossom, The Prince 1991 : Bow Bells, Evelyn, Cottage Rose, Country Living, The Dark Lady, The Pilgrim 1992 : Sir Edward Elgar, Emily, Glamis Castle, Golden Celebration, Immortal Juno, Redouté , The Alexandra Rose, Tradescant 1993 : Happy Child, Mrs. Doreen Pike, Radio Times, St. Swithun, Proud Bride 1994 : Charlotte, Eglantyne, John Clare, Molineux, The Herbalist 1995 : Pat Austin, Noble Anthony, Jude the Obscure, Pegasus, English Elegance, Heavenly Rosalind 1996 : Morning mist 1997 : Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Sophy's Rose, Scepter'd Isle, Ann, Trevor Griffith, Barbara Austin, Charity, Geoff Hamilton, Mayor Of Casterbridge, Heather Austin, Mistress Quickly, A Shropshire Lad, Snow Goose, Marinette, Rushing Stream, Windflower 1998 : Buttercup, Dr. Herbert Gray, Mary Magdalene, William Morris, Teasing Georgia 1999 : Falstaff, Anne Boleyn, Blythe Spirit, Portmeiron 2000 : Crocus Rose (Syn Emanuel) , William Shakespeare 2000, Crown Princess Margareta, Cordelia, Miss Alice, James Galway, Malvern Hills, Ludlow Castle (syn. England's Rose) 2001 : Benjamin Britten, Alnwick Castle, Charles Darwin, Comtes des Champagne, Corvedale, Grace, The Mayflower 2002 : Christopher Marlowe, Jubilee Celebration, Lochinvar, Mortimer Sackler, Spirit of Freedom, The Generous Gardener 2003 : Janet, Rose-Marie, Scarborough Fair, Wildeve 2004 : Queen of Sweden, Harlow Carr, Rose of Picardy, Rosemoor, Hyde Hall, St. Alban, Wisley, The Ingenious Mr.Fairchild, Carding Mill 2005 : Wild Edric, Summer Song, Gentle Hermione, Darcey Bussell, Lady Emma Hamilton, The Endeavour 2006 : Sister Elizabeth, Strawberry Hill, Tea Clipper, Lichfield Angel, Windermere 2007 : Skylark, Port Sunlight, Munstead Wood, Claire Austin, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Bishop's Castle, The Shepardess, Alan Titchmarch, Lady of Megginch 2008 : Sir John Betjeman, Wisley 2008, Young Lycidas 2009 : The Wedgewood Rose, Kew Gardens, Lady of Shalott, Tam O'Shanter 2010 : Maid Marion, Cariad, Englands Rose, Princess Anne, Susan Williams-Ellis, The Lady's Blush 2011 : Fighting Temeraire, Lady Salisbury, William and Katherine, Queen Anne, Wollerton Old Hall 2012 : Heathcliff, Tranquillity, Boscobel, Royal Jubilee, The Lark Ascending 2013 : Carolyn Knight, The Albrighton Rambler, The Lady Gardener, Thomas`a Becket 2014 : Olivia Rose Austin, The Lady of the Lake, The Poet's Wife 2015 : Desdemona, Sir Walter Scott, The Ancient Mariner 2016 : Bathsheba, Imogen, Roald Dahl 2017 : James L. Austin, Dame Judi Dench, Vanessa Bell 2018 : Emily Bronte, The Mill on the Floss, Tottering-on-Gently 2019 : Eustacia Vue, Gabriel Oak 2020: Silas Marner, The Country Parson 2021: Nye Bevan...See Morequiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
7 years ago
Ninkasi
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI like Winchester Cathedral a lot, my conditions are a bit different than yours though. No blackspot, but I get mildew. Reasons why you might not like it: Scent is not that that strong, blooms do not last long and are not the largest and showiest in the garden. Despite this, it really charms me. Sometimes you get the occasional bloom striped with pink.
quiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a) thanked Ninkasiquiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
7 years ago
noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoquiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a) thanked noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)quiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
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7 years ago
Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoquiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a) thanked Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Countryquiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
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7 years agoquiltkitty (Mid TN - zone 7a)
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida)
6 years agoalameda/zone 8/East Texas
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alameda/zone 8/East Texas