That's so beautiful, FADI. You captured the color more closely than I can. It is a wonderful rose for us cold zoners. I love it at that stage before it reveals the countless petals tucked inside. Here's mine, more fully open. Munstead is beautiful from bud to full blown. For some reason, the photo is fuzzy until enlarged.

I love the blooms (when they come) but I hate the bush. I also would not recommend it for the hot summer garden. Even pampered in a pot it has given me a hard time growing it. I have 2, one growing in a narrow bed and the other in a pot. Their time here is running out...

Thank you for the hot summer garden input, Nik! MW may be a rose for cooler to cold climates...or at least ones that are not both hot and dry. Did you catch the threads where Cori Ann is having good luck with Falstaff in her hot California garden? Falstaff is not quite the same shade of dark red as MW, but Cori Ann's photos of Falstaff have been very seductive. I believe she gets multiple flushes of bloom from her young plant that has been tidily trained on an obelisk. "Time is running out" sounds like an ominous warning. I hope your MWs snap into shape before the curtain falls! Carol

Nik, I have one in all day sun and another shaded on three sides by tall, over grown roses. They both do well, but the shaded one does better - better growth, better color, everything. My summers are in the 90˚ to 100˚+ range. Before giving up on it, a shady spot might work, but you have probably already tried that. Agreed that the bush form isn't perfect.

yep, it is cold. Adios roses, so sad to see you go

My garden is hot and dry in the summer, cool and humid in the winter, warm and humid in the fall and spring and the soil and water very alkaline. This combination MW seems not to like. Maybe if one of those elements was missing..

I totally agree that roses specially Austins do well in cool summer. We usually have a cool summer in Canada but with few days of heat waves ( 80-85 F) in July & August. I noticed during the heatwaves some of my Austins didn't keep their gorgeous colors long enough.

most of my Austins blooms nicely in part shade but I found the ones in more sun are doing much better

Heritage-FairBianca-Munsteadwood-Pat Austin

We have hot and very dry summers, and my Munstead Wood (I have two now) grows in a sunny location. The color changes and brightens as it heats up, but it's the dry air that is hardest on this rose and its lovely scent. Diane

In late October

In May

In fall with The Prince

Diane, you have truly captured the beauty of Munstead . The richness of his fall color is breathtaking, but I love him in each faze. Summer was hard because it was so horribly hot and he tended to fry a bit but. But Munstead is such a beauty.

I did save the petals from the last bunch of MW that I cut, and dried they retain their good strong sent. This says Gallica to me, here I quote “The Fragrant Year” Wilson, Helen Van Pelt and Bell, Leonie. Chapter 9, page 131, speaking of The French Rose...

”So the petals go into the potpourri whether moist or dry, and are magically sweeter in death than in life”.

By the way Leonie Bell was one of the founding members of The Heritage Roses Group as well as an editor of the early HRG newsletters. She was a tremendously talented botanical artist and a great student of Old Roses. Get the book if you can find one, long out of print, but sometimes available.

cheers

Claire

I planted a Munstead Wood rose in my front yard and we live in Seattle Washington. Thank you so much for your review of this rose. I am just in awe of the Munstead...it wasn't my favorite when I bought it, I wanted a red rose for a particular spot and that was the only David Austin red available in our nursery then. Like you say, he (it feels like a "he" to me for some reason) is rather thorny...but I grew to absolutely love the plant. He has a very good solid frame, rather dark leaves, and the flowers are rich dark red and velvety, he is simply beautiful and very striking. He is incredibly healthy too! I have a bit of an addiction problem, I can't help buying roses and switching them out, therefore not giving any of them enough time to establish, I swear I will stop after this year. Not only that, I like to move them around like I am arranging furniture. But the Munstead wood rose rebound incredibly quickly without problems and blooming like mad within a month of moving, and I did it three times in two years...I am so impressed. I have done this to many other roses and they don't come back like that. The closest one is the Lady of Shallot, also amazing, but she didn't rebound that quickly.

Jacqueline, thank you for your feedback on Munstead! It sounds like Munstead is a winner up there in Seattle, too! Mine is currently covered in dark, velvety blooms. Please do post photos if you have some. Carol

Here are a few first of 2018 blooms on my Munstead Wood plants. I have two now, and the little eight month old plant is covered in blooms. I am so pleased. Diane

The Prince is having a good year so far.

I'm mostly happy with my Munstead Wood. It grows well, isn't shy about blooming, has a strong old-rose fragrance. What don't I like about it? How the petals can be all splotchy at times, and how the flowers turn to bright glowing fuchsia pink once the weather warms up, and it loses its form and petal numbers, becoming just a plain pink rose. Here it is, at its best in early season cooler weather, looking dark.

BTW I got a second own-root potted MW from DA and the first one turned yellow after a few days, and then dropped all its leaves and entirely turned black. They sent me a replacement which seemed to survive the winter, then decided it wasn't worth keeping any branches except one. Doesn't seem to want to grow beyond the four inches or so it came as. I don't know if anyone else has had this experience with the DA potted own-roots, but I'm not interested in repeating this experience.

Here is my 2-year-old Munstead Wood in a pot on my deck in Seattle. This rose has stayed very compact, and seems OK in a container so far. It certainly is willing to bloom in such a situation. The leaves show some stress, so undoubtedly the rose would be happier in the ground -- but seems to tolerate its container well enough (so far). This was a bare root, own-root plant from David Austin. It has been very satisfactory, if not very vigorous (but I put that down to the fact that it is in a container in quite a windy, exposed spot). First Crush is the photo bomber.

These are all beautiful photos, please keep them coming. Your gorgeous MWs now make me impatient to see mine blooming soon. In our zone 5/6, it has not yet flowered but it has loads of buds. IMO, this is one of the very best of David Austin's creations.

P.S. Right now I have two MWs in my garden. One is mine, bought grafted from DA through our local nursery, and it has a modest shrub growth, which is surprising given that it's grafted. Still, it's covered with many fabulous blooms when in season and repeats multiple times. The other one is own-root from Roses Unlimited which is still potted but buried in the ground for winter protection. It's still there and I am keeping it as a gift for my friend who will visit me later this month. It's completely covered with buds and shows quite a vigorous growth. I'm frankly hesitant to take it out of the ground because it seems very happy and apparently unfazed that it's still potted there. (This is own-root from RU, not from DA.)

Carol,

Its years later, but Thank you for posting such a beautiful photo of Munstead. Love the quaint setting you have it in!

Ah, delicious! The deep burgandy-wine color of Munstead Wood! Oh, how beautiful in bouquets ! How beautifully old fashioned and elegant! I look forward to its powerful enchanting old fashioned rose fragrance! I just ordered it , coming in April, and now I can enjoy what I have been loving to hear about from all of you on this forum!

Thank you, Friends, for all your gorgeous photos and lovely comments!

I esp love it in the bouquet above with its deep burgandy color along with a pink and white roses. Looks excellent w/yellow, too!

How about a bouquet with creamy “French Lace or Madame Anisette,” roses in it w/Munstead Wood roses and a cup of homemade hot berry tea and honey!

I just finished my hot tea! So yummy in cold NY right now!!

I'm in Sydney Australia and agree with your description of MW. I forgive it it's thorns because of it's beauty, hardiness and purfume. It can be quite humid here in February but MW copes well.

The flowers in this photo are a little past their prime but still beautiful

My new Munstead Wood bloomed yesterday.. More beautiful wine colors in real life in my gardens! Exquisite!

@Deb Cook, Your bouquet of ME-gorgeous! Love its deep wine color-like no other! Definitely a favorite!

My MW

Beautiful MW and this thread has wealth of information for a newbie rose grower like me. I bought this rose own root from DA and still in the original container. I am debating whether to put him in a container or the ground. Would it do well semi shady area or full sun? Thanks for sharing all this info ❤️🌹. Happy 4th to you, all 🇺🇸😀

Ani,

Most roses esp. Munstead Wood thrive in 6+ hours full sun. Where do you live? Knowing how to care for your rose in your plant zone location determines best planting place.

living in zone 6 or colder plant zones , then roses in pots need put in ground or in garage for warmth during winter. If cold zone 6 or colder then plant next to north facing side of home for wind/freeze protection. If plant zone 6 or colder & you wish to plant in open yard full sun, then use burlap or other protection for winter. .

If living in PNW or anywhere which is zone 7 or warmer, then planting in the open areas of property in full sun is good to plant or anywhete in full sun. Are you in US or somewhete else?

Reading about rose care will help you rose to thrive.

Ani, where are you, generally? What is your USDA zone and general location? For example, I'm zone 7a in Eastern Tennessee. Zone 7 can vary quite a bit across the country so it helps to add a general location. It looks like your rose may be grown on its own roots rather than as a grafted rose. That can make a difference in the advice you receive, too. Hopefully, someone from your general area will respond with their experience.

I do grow Munstead Wood, the only Austin rose that has ever succeeded here. My soil is thin, rocky, acidic, dry and infertile but I strive to improve it every chance I have.` It gets AM sun and some in the late afternoon but dappled shade the rest of the day. Some shade is helpful in this area with this rose to keep its lovely dark shade of red/purple.

Boy howdy can zone 7 vary. It's only a cold hardiness zone (coldest average annual temps over a 20 period as determined by the Dept of Agriculture)) so doesn't say anything about precipitation, summer heat, winter snow, length of growing season. I'm in zone 7, SW Idaho, and it's nothing like Tennessee, I can assure you, from soil type to precipitation. In fact, we were zone 6 for ages until about 10 years ago--global warming. Until this current, endless heat wave, my two Munstead Woods were bloom machines and have always done well. Their blooming is shut down now, but the big plants look good with lots of help from the drip system. I see nanadolll has posted a few bloom pics above from three years ago. That's me. Diane

I have been growing this beauty in zone 10b Florida for about 2 1/2 months. After soaking the roots for 4 days, I started pushing growth and then put it into it's 10 gal pot. In just about 6 or 7 weeks it was forming buds and I have had 13-16 roses already. Next to Lady Emma Hamilton, they make the perfect pairing. I have a new phone and am having trouble sending photo's to my e-mail but will figure it out and post them on here. Further note: We have had temps in the upper 80's and the color remained strong and deep. Of course, the cut flowers I brought in were slightly deeper but I specifically let some stay on the plant to test it out to compare.

Thank you, @chuckurso1! We live in very different areas, so it’s really helpful to read reports of MW’s progress there. Mine turns from velvetty red-purple to a very deep pink in high summer temps of 90s but is still very lovely. We hit record breaking Death Valley temps last year. Munstead was not subjected to afternoon sun, and although it wasn’t at all happy, its blooms did not completely fry. Other roses did…understandably. Carol

Just chiming in again to say that Munstead Wood is one of my best, most dependable bloomers, that keeps on blooming through awful dry heat up until the freezes get so bad, it finally calls it quits for the winter. I have grown two MW for years, and I've never had a bad year with this rose. I've posted some of these pics before (i love the grim, blackish Munstead just hanging on. It was unbelievable). Diane

I totally messed these photos up (sorry about the duplicate), but these are blooms from May to the end of November. And May is the very last photo above. Diane

@portlandmysteryrose More then welcome Carol ! And many thanks to you for starting this thread about such an amazing rose.

Diane, your MW is as gorgeous as everything else in your garden! Your photos are eye candy for sure but also very informative. MW seems to be a surprisingly good rose in a wide range of regions. I also love your black Munstead! Tradescant goes unhappy brown. Munstead goes goth. 😂 Carol

Great photo's Diane! thank you for sharing and wetting our appetite. That color is simply stunning, and to me, one of a kind. I am putting in two in prime spots!

Thank you Carol and Chuck. Good luck with those two Munsteads, Chuck. If I had the space, I'd get another. Diane

My last summer Munstead Wood…

Munstead has lovely buds, too! It’s one of those roses which has charming blooms at all stages up to the dropped petals. Carol

That's a lovely bloom, Carol, with an interesting center. I totally agree that this rose always seems to look good. Here's another photo of her at the goth stage, end of November last year. After seven straight months of nonstop bloom, literally our entire season here. Our heat began June 9, nonstop, and no rain all summer. When the freezes started, Munstead hung on. I couldn't believe it. Diane

And a few more pics from last summer.

@Diane Brakefield that is testament indeed! I adore both Tradescant and The Prince, but Munstead really is a tougher rose. Your goth Munstead is so elegant. It must look fantastic in a vase with white blooms as supporting cast! Carol

Thanks, Carol. What a pity these exquisite blooms are so ephemeral. For some reason, I let the last of Munstead's blooms hang on outside rather than make any bouquets. Strangely, I've found that once cut and inside the house in a vase, my Munstead's blooms don't last well. She wants to be outside no matter how harsh the weather. Your blooms from last summer are so richly colored and lush, gorgeous indeed. Does your Munstead hold up well in a vase? My poor The Prince produces lovely blooms that burn up in our dry heat, plus he's susceptible to thrips. Here's not a tower of strength like Munstead, but is an excellent bloomer in spite of his problems. Diane

Diane, my Munstead, when cut in bud, lasts a few days in a vase, but our milder climate may give the blooms a boost both on and off the plant. My The Prince blooms well, too, like yours. I’ve read reports of his stinginess, but that’s not my experience. Tradescant is my shyest bloomer of the three after its big spring flush.

Munstead is gorgeous, but The Prince is still my fav colorwise. That PURPLE! I’m so sorry about the thrips. You have all my sympathy! Knocking wood, my The Prince hasn’t been invaded by the buggers, but they sure love my Botzaris and several other OGRs. Carol

Houzz APP gives our roses a decorative border. My fav Munstead Wood photo last summer 2021….

Ha, ha. At least Houzz recognizes a lovely rose when it’s posted! Thank you for the beautiful photos, Kitty. Carol

I’ve ordered Paul Barden’s Diablo Hawk from Rogue Valley Roses and look forward to comparing it to Munstead Wood, Tradescant and The Prince. I have heard REALLY good things about Diablo Hawk’s deep, rich color, its full bloom form and its fragrance! Carol

It is so sad that they have cancelled this rose. Mine is putting on a spectacular show this year, and is always very healthy.

Carol, this is Diablo Hawk.

Sheila, Your Diablo is beautiful!

My favorite wine colored rose is still Munstead Wood-it is the best!!!!! My photo of it above frw posts….!!! I purchasesd Darcy Bussell to have more wine comired blooms!!!! Love both these roses!!!! Winder when DA will send me my Darcy??????

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR Your Diablo Hawk’s bloom is breathtaking! Your photos are what inspired me to acquire one. My plant is still a baby and hasn’t bloomed yet this spring, but I love the velvety texture, rich color and delicious fragrance at least as much as Munstead Wood. Carol

@KittyNYz6 I hope your Darcy arrives ASAP! You should be basking in her deeply beautiful blooms. I am a total sucker for dark and mysterious red velvet roses. My Souvenir du Dr. Jamain is giving me great joy at the moment. Here are a couple of SdDJ pics to help you hold on until Darcy arrives. Carol

@portlandmysteryrose

Thank you! And SdDJ is gorgeous-sumptous! Wow! That’s an intensely beautiful color! purples & deep reds! Darcy Bussell arrives on this Friday, June 2, 2023, 89F that day!!! Lol! I ordered her just a few weeks ago. Fortunately next 2 days drop to 78F then 72F & cool for while. She will be soaked in a cool area on arrival.

Munstead Wood is very thorny. Other than that it is a great plant with beautiful flowers. I have it climbing on my fence. 'Diabolo Hawk' looks irresistible.