Absolutely gorgeous!

Beautiful !

Gorgeous, and I've just turned green with envy. That's Abe in the second pic, right? Love him. And the Angel, all five inches of her, is just luscious.

We're having a big snowstorm right now with nothing but snow for the next week. This is not like the desert Idaho I know. I guess Mother Nature is going to make up for the rain deficit we have been running. Meanwhile, I have cabin fever--not used to this. Keep posting your beautiful bouquets. Diane

Hi thanks, I am enjoying the fragrance. They are right next to my bed :)

Diane, Yes that's Abe in the second pic, both the big fat open one and the partially opened bud. Abe is one of my very best roses here. Gets a little black spot during the worst humid dog days of summer but makes up for it with lots of luscious blooms. It performs better than Evelyn for me but I love them both. I admit I am a little jealous of your snow!

I remember the long snowy winters. I have lived in quite a few colder zones. Outside of Yellowstone Park in NW WY, Eastern ID (Pocatello area), NW NE up near the border of SD. I kinda liked shoveling snow (something wrong with me, I know lol) but those long winters really killed me. You can only hike in the snow so long then you're bored and wanna plant something! I had a lot of indoor plant shelves and lights to get me through the winters back then. I was in major zone denial.

I just came in from feeding the birds, and hacking at the frozen birdbath. Usually, I don't have to hack. You have really lived in some of the coldest places in the US, short of North Dakota. Our winters aren't usually that bad here (Pocatello has some bad weather), so this snow doesn't bode well. How did you end up in Florida? Such extremes in weather for you.

Abe is so highly recommended by many, I am tempted to grow him. But I have four Evelyn roses taking up a lot of space that I don't want to give up. I need more room! Diane

Hi Diane, DH took a job at a hospital here so that's how we came to live in FL lol, been here for about 7yrs now. I like it okay except the hot humid summers. The late fall, winter, and spring are nice.

Yes you do need Abe Darby!! Hes so yummy!

Every once in a while he gets more apricot-ish tones. The flowers are large and heavy.

I love abe! I just planted 2 on Fortuniana recently (replaced some Hybrid Teas that were always looking horrid). I also recently got Litchfield Angel on Fort. I have one on Dr. H that always performed well and ordered one on Fort from K&M. They are both doing really well and have great resistance to disease.

My favorite is Evelyn though. Mine is huge, like 10 feet tall and has about 15 long canes. Her growth habit is not that great but I'm starting to train her as a climber and she's giving me some nice laterals now.

Pat Austin loves my garden. I don't think I have a rose that blooms more often for me than Pat. Its too bad she doesn't make a good cut flower, but I love her anyways.

Have you tried Spirit Of Freedom? She's done well for me and boy are her blooms gorgeous! I don't know why she's not grown more often.

I also have a very young William Morris that even though he's small, its growing very well and shows good resistance to disease. :)

Sultry, those are stunning photos of Abe, and they make a good case for growing him! How is the rebloom on Abe (sorry if you have already answered this)? I will say that my close gardening friend grows both Abe and Evelyn at her huge and beautiful garden, and she says Evelyn is her best bloomer (at least among Austins). Her Abe always looks great, though, so I need to quiz her again. I know she's never said anything bad about Abe. I need to pay attention about the differences and strong points of both of these roses as I consider growing Abe.

SoFL, I can't imagine Evelyn in that size! But I've read about how large she gets in California, too. I would consider her a semi large rose in my garden. Nothing on the order of Ascot who is 10 feet tall here. Evelyn is a heat lover, and the blooms do well in our hot summers (she likes Florida heat, too, it's obvious).

Diane

Diane, Abe is one of my best re bloomers. I am sure he will be awesome for you because the roses in your yard are way more gorgeous than mine lol! Abe and Pat Austin are crazy bloomers. Pat (I have 2 bushes) has flowers on her just about every day of the year. They blow quickly in a vase but she is so worth it because they are beautiful on the bush just the way they are. I didn't even care that much for orange roses before seeing Daisy's pics of Pat Austin and falling in love with her lol. I am so glad she does well in the deep south.

Evelyn is truly beautiful and sweet smelling but she just doesn't bloom for me the way Abe does. I even gave Evelyn a prime spot and her own fence to be espaliered on but Abe is outperforming her thus far. I originally wanted Evelyn more than Abe lol. I love them both though.

I am getting a couple Ascot this spring. I love the photos you show of that one.

SoFL , That Lichfield Angel bloom opened further and flattened out to almost 7 inches across. Just crazy! Its such a great bloomer. Some of the blooms are quartered once in a while. Green tree frogs love to hide in the LA rose blossoms because little gnats are so attracted to its blooms.

Where did you buy your Evelyn on fortuniana? Was the shipping expensive? would love to have an Evelyn that was 10 feet and a great bloomer. I have a feeling she might rather be in the ground on fort here than in a pot on Doc Huey lol. I would probably get about 4 of them!

I am trying to get my Austins on fortuniana now. I really am getting tired of how much I have to water potted roses lol. I would rather just run a drip system on a timer. I can just imagine how well Pat Austin and Abe would perform on fort in the ground. Other super great bloomers here (that are Austins) are: Princess Alexandria of Kent, Munstead Wood, Lilian Austin (in a pot-own root), Teasing Georgia, Lady of Shalott. Olivia might be really good too but I just got her this year but she is really shaping up to be a big girl and good bloomer.

I don't have Spirit of Freedom but have been wondering how it would do. Thank you for the report on this beauty. I got Shropshire Lad and have had it over a year. Hardly blooms at all but is super green and healthy and I never spray anything lol. Kinda depressed it never blooms. Maybe it just needs more time.

I have been thinking of getting the Wedgewood Austin climber. Anyone have experience with that one? Does it repeat well? How large will it get?

Here's a few of my typical Evelyn blooms. She has a nice big bloom but just not that many of them lol. She has a 10 foot section of fence all to herself.

I have been dying to get David Austins, but hadn't found them on Fortuiana. I was going to get them anyway when SoFl said her Lowes had them. Unfortunately, my Lowes didn't have them. But just the other day. I found out Cool Roses has them on Fort. I am so excited.... Here that Santa. I want DA on Fort! :)

Does anyone know what the prices are for the Austins on fort from Cool Roses? I can't seem to find a price list on the web page. I could possibly pick them up in March because I will probably go to Fairchild down in Miami around that time and could pick them up on the way home lol. Do they allow people to pick up roses at the nursery or is it strictly online?

They do allow people to pick up roses. However, they do not have many varieties always available so be sure to ask before hand. They times I have asked they've never had any of the varieties I've wanted in stock so their supply is highly limited. K&M has more variety in stock, but is also much more expensive. I believe their DA's (cool roses) start at $25 but if you wait for their annual sale in June you can get them as cheap as $10-$15 :)