I had a Julia Child rose tree for years while living in Oregon. It was always as pretty as a picture. I never pruned it and it was very healthy.

I just want to point out that sunsprite is a lemon yellow while Julia Child is more golden with different shades of yellow at different stages of the flowers. I love lemon yellow coloured roses but the one thing I do not like is that they become washed out very quickly.

I've only grown Julia Child of the three you had mentioned and I really love it. It is disease free and I love that it is so vigorous with so many blooms that you can see all the different shades of yellow of the flowers.

However in the end, it depends on your taste and subjectivity. After all you are the one that will be enjoying the rose in your garden.

What about the height of these standards? Any opinion about 4.5 ft vs 3 ft tall? The 4.5 ft were leaning in their pots a little but the employee said that should straighten up when planted in the ground...

It depends where you live. All three would be good standards, but be warned that all three are very prone to blackspot, at least in Pennsylvania. Of the three, I would prefer Julia Child because of its awesome fragrance and because it blooms more than any rose I have grown. Sunsprite would be a close second. Sparkle and Shine has bigger blooms, but I don't detect much fragrance.

Subsprite was great for 3.5 years in my garden in terms of bs resistance, but its "vertical" resistance just broke down 2 years ago and has been badly infected by BS for two growing seasons. I have JC, which for now is doing much better than Sunsprite. I would avoid Sunsprite. I am in NJ

The 36" standards are great for miniatures, mini-floras, or short growing Hybrid Teas such as Bolero. They will be at eye & nose level if planted in a 18" tall pot. They look odd planted in the ground, unless it's a mass planting with boxwood or lavender underneath to hide the skinny stem -- or you like the lollipop forest effect. Another attractive option is to use them as an elevated background for shorter rose bushes planted in front.

48" standards (or even taller) are the epitome of formal garden design and look best planted in pairs or in rows. In large pots the flowers are too high up for closer inspection, but rather create an impressive candelabra effect above your head. However, planted in the ground, the 48" standards bring Hybrid Teas to eye & nose level, and make pruning a breeze. They need careful staking and garden placement. Strong winds can knock them sideways or snap the bush right off at the graft union. Frost protection is also more time consuming and labor intensive.

I have bushes of Sunsprite and Sparkle & Shine, with Julia Child as 48" standards in my garden. Ultimately, I don't think your husband will be happy with their coloring. If you are willing to be patient, I highly recommend you order two 48" standards of 'Shockwave' or 'Henry Fonda' from Weeks Roses in the autumn for next year's delivery. Both of those varieties are saturated unfading deep cadmium yellow. David Austin, USA, is offering 'Charlotte' as a standard, it is soft yellow with a white rim and beautiful cabbage flower form. However, my bush of Charlotte in Southern California forms a 15 foot tall climber -- perhaps the tree rose rootstock has a dwarfing effect... or not.

Here's my Henry Fonda. I had to color correct because the picture was taken tonight under LED lighting:

WOW! Thank you! Lots to ponder...

And beautiful garden photos!!!

I forget where you are located. Standards (aka, "tree" roses) usually need to be brought inside in colder zones (that includes my part of NJ).

Cbarkston: your local nursery might be able to order potted Shockwave or Henry Fonda standards from their grower or Week's directly for delivery this month if you ask them. I've seen them around.

Diane: after the final fall pruning have you tried building a big chicken wire tube from the ground up past the standard's graft and filling it with mulch or leaves to over-winter in situ? Or even holding the dead leaves in place with a burlap balloon wrapped in twine.

Sparkle and Shine, fresh scent mixed with a little myrrh:

romogen(CA US10/SSZ15), if that question was directed to me, I do enough for my plants, I'm not willing to go through all of those gyrations to keep one alive, and I hate to see others who want "easy care" plants frustrated when trying to grow standards. The sight of Knock Out standards being sold in this area for outrageous prices makes my blood boil. Oh, and I never do a fall pruning.

Sunsprite is one of the classic rose varieties. If you are looking for a more true yellow hue, Sunsprite would be the one to get because many other so-called "yellow" roses can be more of an orange-tinted golden yellow color. While Sunsprite is an excellent variety, at the same time it's flowers don't really stand out as something really spectacular either.

Sunsprite is very fragrant, but the bloom will only last for 1 day or so, also, you only get a few pedals per period. On the other hand, Julia child is less fragrant than Sunsprite but its bloom last for about 3 days, and it has much more petals over a period.

Winter pruning?