Well, I'll start with the bad on my side, with the understanding that a lot of folks really like this rose. Harlow Carr was one of only two roses that I've ever deliberately shovel pruned. It was healthy and happy and bloomed a reasonable amount but I just couldn't like the flower form. To me, the roses looked like tiny mums on the end of a gangly armed bush and the whole thing struck me as ugly. That might have been in my yard, since I've liked the photos I've seen in other people's yards. No reason not to try it for you, just aesthetically disturbing to me (and I like nearly all rose forms).

It's still a great deal on an Austin rose and well worth trying it - just don't give it prime real estate till it blooms and you decide if you like the form and shape. Obviously it'll take the usual 3 years to settle in, and as always YMMV.

Cynthia

The flower form is different, which is a okay with me because I like to have variety in regards to blooms. So far it has stayed smaller, which I am glad for because the thorns are horrendous!!! It is the last rose bush in its section to be deadheaded because I really do not like to be near it. I am lukewarm regarding this rose, and right now, probably would not think twice regarding giving its spot to some other rose. Mine is grafted and only two years old....so maybe in time it will really grow on me.

Being a foliage person, the young juvenile leafage on this rose is quite splendid at this time of year. It emerges with a brownish/copper tint, as opposed to the usual reddish tints you get on most other roses.. I like it very much at this stage... it turns green later... I like the blooms too, although my plant is only in its 2nd year with me..

I can only say I haven't forgotten the color after 1 glimpse three springs ago. An orchid pink. Beautiful blooms. Dynamite combined with lavender.

Can't comment on her yet, but I took the chance as well and will be finding out about her along with you. Hopefully she will be happy in my zone and thanks for mentioning the free shipping so I could dig up my catalog for it.

She's been on my fragrance want list so it will be interesting to see if I like her style. I'll be planting her with with lavender much like the picture in the DA catalog because 1. I love lavender and 2. those colors go beautifully together!

I planted one last month, mine was from Hotico. Thanks to this thread, I just ordered 2 more from Burpee, I love the color.

nippstress, a lot of the reviews I've read on this rose have been negative lol. I guess its hit or miss or how it will perform in people's gardens. Thank you for your honest input. Sorry it didnt work out for you. I'm gonna keep it in a pot until I see how its going to grow here.

desertgarden, I read that the thorns are pretty bad. Are there as many thorns as on Munstead Wood? MW has gobs of thorns but its forgiven since it is so beautiful here lol.

Marlorena, Glad to hear that the foliage is beautiful. I do love when the new growth is colorful. A brown copper color is unusual. I will look forward to mine leafing out.

Irisgal, The orchid pink is what drew me to try this rose plus hey, its cheap enough to take the risk. They didnt even charge any tax lol. I do have a few lavender hued roses now that should go nicely with Harlow Carr.

Sonic, Yaayyy! I enabled you lol. I hope it works out for us. I am happy to know that is supposed to be fragrant. We can compare notes!

This is the coupon code for free shipping that I used if anyone wants to try it:

missfs

Summersrhythm, Oh goody another person is going to grow it lol. From some of the threads I read about this rose, some people commented that it may like cooler winter temps for better flowering so it might do better for you than me.

It's sold out, I bought the last 2. :-) We'd better post photos here when they're in bloom, and report back the bloom size. A nice thread.

Sultry, I hope it does well for all of us. :-) When are you going to receive yours?

I got the confirmation email but nothing about shipping yet. Hopefully soon! I will post when I know anything lol.

SultryJ, lol.. I was going to say something about you being an enabler but figured I'd better mind my manners, however, yes, it's your fault. :)

Had I not seen the thread I would not have ordered. I didn't even know they had much in the way of roses because only two are listed in the print catalog and since their seed prices have gotten so high I haven't ordered from them in years.

SummersR you must have ordered right after me. It was showing only 4 left when I ordered 2 of them. Got the confirmation email and thus far haven't gotten an Oopsie, we are out of stock email...yet.

I figure if I can survive Gertrude's thorns (she's young and I'm still naive) and all the wild sticker bushes here I can survive HC. *fingers crossed*

Thanks Sonic for not buying 4, :-) and thanks Sultry for the shopping news. :-) Now we can all grow it together and compare results from different zones. Sultry is a shopper, I can tell. Please let us know about other bargains in the future. :-)

I grow it with Lavenders. It stays small, and just slightly above the lavenders. The effect is quite lovely. Reasonably blackspot resistance, and somewhat interesting flower form. Overall, just a so so rose.... covered with small thorns. I suppose that this is one rose you would want to mix with other plants. Not something worth going out of the way for

Yippe! Just got shipping notice that they should be here on Thursday. I sure hope they arrive in as good of shape as DA and J&P roses usually do.

I got a UPS shipping notice for Thursday's delivery too, I have 2 orders with them, not sure if they combined them in one package. Will have to wait and see.

Darn I havent recieved anything yet lol. I got Falstaff from Burpee on sale last year and it was pretty much the same as the ones I had ordered straight from Austins website.

YAYYYYYY! I emailed Burpee and they sent me a tracking # saying it should be here by Thursday/tomorrow end of day. Oh goody we can take pics and compare notes. I need to go get a pot and dirt..I am out of pots because I bought way too many plants this spring plus had to bump a lot of smaller roses up into my remaining bigger pots. :/

farmerduck, your HC sounds lovely with the lavenders except maybe the thorns lol. I am definitely gonna grow it by Love Song which is my only lavender that does not want to climb so far.

I wonder if HC would go okay with apricot colors since it has some lilac hues? What do you guys think?

Thats what I read when I was researching this rose, that is does really well in cold climates. We gets some freezes here most winters. Every blue moon we get into the upper teens but last winter it froze twice so it varies. I dont know if it will like it here lol.

Back to $23 now? Do I needs coupon code? Thx

It's sold out.....check again, you can't add it to your cart.

I had it own root but it never was vigorous. If I remember correctly it had decent disease resistance in my no-spray garden. Very little scent and, if I'm remembering right, brutal thorns, almost like a rugosa rose.

sharon

Thx@summer. I didn't go to the page.

Watch the sales after Mothers Day on all the rose seller sites. The ones still selling bare roots should put them on sale to clear them out then.

You're welcome. Wayside Gardens will soon have DAs on sale, in the past 2 years they marked them down to $9-14 per rose. More bargains are coming. :-)

My HCs arrived late yesterday (I seem to be at the very end of the UPS run) but there was enough light outside to open the box and take a look see. The packing wasn't bad, but not as nice as DA, J&P, or Starks (fruit trees.)

They were tied top and bottom, and had shavings around the roots in a pretty tight bag. One bag of shavings were totally dry and the other barely damp. Both bareroots looked and seemed very dry. I put them in a 5 gallon bucket filled to the rim with water to soak over night and had intended to plant today but it's been pouring so they get to stay in the pool a little longer.

What did you all think of the condition of your roses on arrival?

Mine were dry too, I emailed Burpee some photos, but haven't heard from them yet. I think the roses are long gone just by looking at the winkles on the canes, dried up.....

Mine was also dry. The one I got from them last year on clearance was so nice. This one is really iffy dead branches maybe a few viable roots. I have it soaking :(

Summers did you hear back yet? I've been inspecting mine and one looks like it will be ok. It's green and has a few pink nubs on the canes. The other is more of a grey green and there is one nub near the base, but nothing otherwise looking alive on that one. I'm going to leave them soak for a while before I put them into pots.

Sultry how long are you going to soak yours? When my J&P order came in earlier this spring I had planned to plant within a few days but go side tracked with wicked weather and inadvertently left them in water for about a week-ish and they are growing just fine now. Figure I might let these new ones soak for a while too since I've seen others post about doing that and having the roses be just fine.

Sonic mine has been soaking since i got it Thurs eve. I can see one little nub that looks like the beginning of a sprout way down low on a branch that I wasnt sure was alive. I was gonna plant it in a 5 gallon nursery pot I just bought this morning but we got a huge thunderstorm out of nowhere. So now it got a lot of rainwater to soak in lol. I am planting it tomorrow.

Sonic, I called them today, and they refunded me. Good luck with yours.

Hmm, maybe I should call them too for a refund on the one at least. I just checked their policy and it looks like they have a 1 year satisfaction guarantee. I'm not experienced enough yet to be able to determine if the grey one will make it and if I should even try. I've had luck reviving the sorriest looking things before, but those were usually cheap clearance plants or twigs.