For me, Scepter'd Isle is one of my best Austins for always having at least some blooms on it. The blooms are mostly upright and it's a nicely bushed out 5' or so for me without any winter dieback to speak of. The scent is musk, and it's one of the few roses I can smell reliably. Unfortunately, it's a kind of musk that I really don't like, to the point where I avoid smelling the blooms. To me they have a general "new car smell" that's distinctly chemical in nature, not the anise type scents that I'd enjoy from musk roses. Others have said they like its scent, so it may be just me.

The Lady Gardener is a much more reluctant bloomer in a washed-out sort of apricot beige. St. Cecilia is too new to me to comment. I know hardiness isn't your biggest issue, since you keep the roses in the garage, but I'd rate Scepter'd Isle highly for hardiness compared to the other two (The Lady Gardener didn't overwinter in my cold spot in the yard).

Cynthia

St. Cecilia is one of my top three favorite DA’s. Myrrh Fragrance is excellent, second best to Fair Bianca only (my favorite DA), bloom cycle is consistent throughout the year with good upright stems topped off by medium-large petal filled goblets. It can take some shade but will churn out more flowers in full sun. I like SC’s fleshy blush coloring better than FB’s cream. SC is a tall narrow plant but don’t hide it in the back of the border! Plant it nearby to easily sniff the flowers or to cut for indoors (this is when the long stems are an advantage). I believe it’s hardier than most, but check the comments on HMF to confirm.

Scepter’d Isle is a blooming machine with a strong rose & myrrh fragrance. It’s vigorous and forms a big mounded plant in NorCal. The cupped blush to light pink flowers have less petals with visible stamens. It’s a great garden shrub and excellent performer that is one of DA’s best. I have a group of four 36” SI standards planted in a square where two paths cross.

I haven’t grown TLG yet, but it’s supposed to be a replacement for Evelyn.

By the way, here’s a picture taken today of my 4’ X 4’ Charles Rennie MacKintosh, loaded with buds and ready to burst into bloom for New Year’s. I love this gorgeous but oft overlooked mauve pink rose:

I had a St. Cecilia, but I lost it to rose rosette disease. It had quite a few flowers that never quite wanted to open up correctly. They were quite fragrant. The Lady Gardener for me is a softer apricot color with sometimes large flowers, more so in cooler weather. The bush wants to remain small and tidy. It did not do well at all this year because of a late, hard freeze.

Carol,

Scepter'd Isle, although after only one growing season in my garden, has demonstrated a strong urge to bloom, and bloom, and bloom some more.

I planted two, about 16" apart to get a chunkier look, which now looks like that it was unnecessary. I may remove one this spring because by fall 4' of growth was achieved, not bushy yet, but almost without fail the growths terminated in flowers. No lollygagging around, blooming wise, its first year, like so many Kordes roses do.

The scent is strong. The light pink cupped flowers are not quartered, nor extremely densely petaled. They are still very lovely, not pancake flat like some roses appear in profile, because they are cupped...almost delicate appearing. There is a nice boss of stamens at the blooms' centers, uncharacteristically Austin.

I winterized them this winter as a precaution. This may prove to be unnecessary in the future.

My decision to give SI a try was based partially on its reported habit of holding its blooms upright, unlike so many tired, nodding Austins. It does hold its flowers upright or slightly angled, not nodding.

Now, the rest of the story....

SI suffered from powdery mildew almost all summer, more than any other rose in my garden except for Chantal Merieux. It grew aggressively in spite of it.

Its youth may be a factor, along with the unusual, non typical, persistent appearance of PM this past year in my garden. I rarely have PM issues other than minor outbreaks only in spring and fall. Every year is different, so I evaluate this as an anomaly. I mentioned it because you should know.

Black spot in my garden, on the other hand, is a serious issue every single year. SI gets black spot. It is not particularly resistant nor prone to it in my garden. I spray regularly.

All in all, Scepter's Isle has shown me more promise than any of the other Austins I have tried in their first year: Evelyn, due to be shovel pruned come spring; Carding Mill, gone; Ambridge Rose, gone; Tamora, gone; Graham Thomas, gone; and Molineux, gone.

Moses

Romogen, CRM looks fabulous! How is the scent?

The scent is unique but good. A light to medium smoky sweet rose, not fruity nor myrrh. Goes well with the lilac tones of the petals, and apparently hardy in Toronto according to HMF comments. This rose survives Canadian winters and blooms its head off in SoCal’s summer heat, impressive! I’ve had CRM forever in all my gardens, can’t live without it. In fact, it’s the first rose I see when I open my front door... directly 10 feet away.

Thanks for the fragrance info. I adore the color!

@Carol have you seen this discussion yet?

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1575398/hardy-david-austin-for-zone-3?n=9

Specifically regarding St. Cecilia:

Cynthia - Hmmmm....I don't like the thought of a stinky rose...already gave away a stinky Austin - Comte de Champagne. - yuck. I like all the others ways you describe it, though. I'll know The Lady Gardener off my list. I'll think about Scepter'd Isle a bit more. Thank you!

Romogen - Hmmm...you like the smell of Scepter'd Isle and St. Cecilia, like Cynthia suggested may happen. I don't usually like myrrh fragrance (I loathe the myrrh smell of Distant Drums)...but I love!!! the myrrh fragrance of Strawberry Hill. Do you know if the SI's and St. Cecilia's smells are like Strawberry Hill's fragrance? Thanks for your great descriptions. BTW - I love the look of your CRM!! Thanks for the link! I sent the list from there of hardy roses to my friend who grows her roses in the ground.

Thebustopher - I don't like roses that stay really small 2 feet or under...so thanks for the update on The Lady Gardener. I'll skip that one. Did you like the smell of St. Cecilia?

Moses - do you like the scent of Scepter'd Isle? I like what you wrote about its bloomability!! I have lots of Austins that I've given away...but lots that I've kept.

Hmmmm.... St. Cecilia and Scepter'd Isle could still be good ones, depending on whether people like the fragrance. :)

Carol

Scepter’d Isle smells similar to Strawberry Hill.

St. Cecilia’s perfume is more complex. You may or may not like it, but a large part of rose gardening involves trial and error.

However, it’s a beautiful cut flower and any rose can be made scentless by tempering it in the refrigerator.

Carol , I wish it were still summer so I could send you blooms of each .. but st Cecilia is my favorite rose to bury my nose in. It reminds me of a lady at church I always admired as a young girl. She always had the finest makeup and clothes and smelled beautiful. So st Cecilia has a refined fragrance that I would love as a perfume .

I cant remember where I read it but it's failure to open completely is part of its charm. It's not a fault in my eyes . It opens very slowly and because of that it tends to get a little damage on the outer petals . The blooms are huge and fit like a ball in the palm of your hand. Mine bloomed very well all summer for a new rose .

Sceptred isle smells wonderful to me as well. But I can't remember now what I love about it , I just remember that I do love it. Helpful huh ? It has been very clean and bloomed so much for a little rose. Mine came from roses unlimited and grew well but not as fast as my wollerton old hall did from them. Definitely more blooms though and I am not a bloom pincher.

The bees love this rose too . im very happy I have it and think you'll love it !

I love how this spray shows the exact stages of its blooms

I agree it smells similar ( but not the same ) as strawberry hill. St Cecilia is totally different fragrance wise but I love them all . I don't think you will be disappointed.

I had the lady gardener briefly . It died on me from a crack in the graft . It was very short and the blooms always faded and washed out . I don't remember them ever looking like the picture advertisement. I only miss the $30 I spent :)

Carol,

I grow roses for scent, but my old nose just discriminates between weak or strong.

Scepter'd Isle is strong. Sorry I can't provide a more descriptive answer.

Moses

Lilyfinch - on HMF, Scepter'd Isle looks more stuffed with petals than yours. The stuffed look is what I really love...and I don't have very many that are as stuffed as Scepter's Isle looks like on hmf. Maybe yours aren't as stuffed because yours is a younger plant? Yours is definitely lovely though. I love your description of St. Cecilia!! The blooms are so very nicely cupped. I think I'm going to get this one.

Romogen - I love the smell of Strawberry Hill, but I got rid of mine, because I was tired of the floppy canes that I had spread around a cage. So Scepter'd Isle would be a welcome addition so I could have that fragrance back. How stuffed is your Scepter'd Isle?

Moses - strong is good. :)

Well, I think I'm going to get both of them. Although, I do remember last summer thinking that I need less pink roses LOL. But pink roses are soooo lovely!!

Thank you all for your help...especially in not getting The Lady Gardener.

Carol

Carol,

With Scepter'd Isle you get full, quartered blooms, but also cupped, non-quartered blooms with a beautiful boss showing....all at the same time.

I believe more of the fuller, quartered blooms come earlier in the season, followed later by about half of them being less full blooms with bosses showing.

Look at how beautiful Romogen's S.I.s are! See how they mostly point upward. That's my kind of rose!

Moses.

Mine is new so that may explain the less stuffed look . I'm glad to see those couple the Romogen posted that look like mine , because i can see how maybe it's id would be questioned. I can't wait for it to grow more and look like romogens !! And Moses may be right , my photos were taken in early fall . I'll be watching it closely next year

I think of Scepter'd Isle as a loosely double rose, so most of my blooms on my 6-year old plant are open and showing the stamens like Lily's or like the last of Romogen's photos. I prefer the "stuffed" look of the earlier SI photos Romogen has, but that's not what I get most of the year. On the flip side, SI is one of those roses that keeps blooming through the heat of summer and that's a plus in July and August. Not necessarily an issue in zone 3, so in your cooler climate you might get more of the double blooms.

St. Cecelia looks yummy and she's going on my wish list for 2018. Hardiness and slow to open double blooms are calling my name.

Cynthia

Romogen - Holy Moley!!!! Those pictures are fabulous!!!! I'm so excited to get BOTH of them now!!! I don't mind a variable flower...that way the bees can get in on the action, and then sometimes, I have the big stuffed flowers.

Moses - !!! Yes, I'm so excited to get them now!! Eeeee!! :)

Lilyfinch - exactly!!! I really love the look of yours too, but the option of having more full flowers is enticing!!

Cynthia - Doesn't St. Cecilia look amazing!!?? I love it!! I'll be interested to see what type of roses I get on Scepter'd Isle.

Thanks everyone!

Carol

Scepter'd Isle--what everyone said above.

I love this golden eye looking at us, kinda like a poppy does.

Sometimes lots of golden centers showing!

Sometimes her blooms droop just a bit--but most charmingly--and notice, no golden eye looking at you.

Kate

I planted Scepter'd Isle in my garden this autumn. Can’t wait for the summer to see the blooms! These pics are beautiful! X

Carol, I thought St. Cecilia had a nice smell to it. The problem was that the flowers were balling and not opening correctly for some unknown reason.

Hi, I'm thinking of also buying The Reeve.

Does anyone have thoughts on this rose?

Thanks,

Carol

I’m buying The Reeve to round out my old DA collection. However, it’s a stingy bloomer, suffers blackspot & mildew, and is a rangy sprawling grower. You’re better off getting Huntington Rose or Royal Jubilee... similar looking flowers on improved performance plants.

Im so glad i stumbled across this thread. I would like to hear more about The Lady Gardener. Apparently this rose will be available in Australia next year. Are the blooms really beautiful? Does it have a button eye in the middle? Someone mentioned that this rose is an improvement to Evelyn, is this true? Scepter'd Isle never really enticed me. I prefer Heritage over SI anytime.

Romogen - thanks!! Good to know. I'll leave that one out.

Carol

Tangles, I know you are talking about Lady Gardner, and I don’t have that rose. I do have Evelyn, however and I don’t know if it can be improved upon. I ordered 2 Evelyn from DAR grafted last spring and here is the result... 3 stages of a blossom that fit into my cupped palm.

THIS IS EVELYN

I do have St. Cecilia and she was in her second year this year. I MOVED THAT POOR ROSE 3 TIMES!!!! It was during our incredibly hot summer of 90’s and 100’s every day. She came back every time even though I hacked off much of her root system. She was one the last roses to bloom for me this fall. Incredible come back!! Wonderful scent! Lovely blooms!! Not quite Evelyn, but she hasn’t really had a chance to prove herself yet. This year I promise to be nice to her and let her grow in peace.

Rebecca

@Tangles I mentioned that The Lady Gardener is supposed to be a replacement for Evelyn, not an “improvement.” David Austin Inc. replaces older varieties that have expiring plant patents with new ones to recapture propagation royalties. Once a plant such as Evelyn goes off patent, DA no longer makes a profit. It is by no means an improvement on Evelyn, but just a corporate money grab.

So far the reviews for The Lady Gardener have been unkind. There seem to be major structural issues and growth problems, but it’s still too early to tell.

DA prematurely pulled a variety last time, due to early negative reviews from one region of the USA. Turns out Summer Song does perfectly well in California and other parts of the country, but is now no longer available in North America, and neither is its new caramel color sport Carolyn Knight.

If I may, here is a picture of The Lady Gardener that I took in 2016.

I admit to coveting @the_bustopher ‘s plants of Summer Song. I missed the window of opportunity when they were available and now regret not having acted with alacrity. It’s been on my wishlist ever since.

Lilyfinch and Carol, and others who especially love roses packed with petals, have you looked at Spirit of Freedom? They are the most densely packed Austins I have.

Rebecca, what gorgeous, artistic photos of Evelyn. I LOVE that rose.

I am so sorry that Summer Song is not available to the US. I don't mind being patient while a rose settles in. There's nothing else like that color.

Thank you, Flowers!! I will share my secret with you and everyone... I use my iPad and get really close. Sometimes I use my 2 fingers to bring the photo closer by spreading them apart while they are touching the screen. Happy shutterbuging.

Rebecca

It is kind of you, Rebecca, to share your photography secrets. Not everyone is willing to do that. My husband just got an android that surpasses my iphone for photo quality, and he never takes a photo, ever. I told him I will be using it far more than he. I will try your method.

Flowers I love spirit of freedom ! It's in my david Austin shopping cart . Is it a climber for you ?

What a great thread .

Lilyfinch, neither of my Spirit of Freedom plants want to climb. The 6 yr. old is own root, a little more than 4' tall, and vase shaped. The 1 yr. old, is grafted, and much bushier than the older one. I've seen pictures of SofF climbing, so it may in your climate, especially if it's trained onto a structure. It is always healthy, maybe because it's so dry here. I know you will love it regardless of the form it takes.

Rebecca - wow!!! Your Evelyn looks amazing!! Such a beautiful color and form!!! Beautiful!! Mine started to grow backwards...so I got rid of it. Boo hoo...maybe I should try again.

TheBustopher - I love the color on your Summer Song!!! Amazing!

Flowersaremusic - OH!!!! I want that!!!! Darn! I just checked and Hortico doesn't offer SOF! Darn!

Carol

Carol, you always make me feel like a million bucks with your comments. I bow to you because I could never go through the work you must do to grow roses. I drag a measly 3 pots into the garage for winter, and that is 3 pots too many. I honestly don't know how you do it. My potted roses never look as good as the ones in the ground, yet yours seem to thrive in pots.

Flowersaremusic - awwwww :) Thanks! And, not all of them thrive :) Take my Munstead Wood (please). It's just an embarrassing plant. I'm hoping that this summer (3rd year) it will get bigger than 10 inches. Oy vey!!!

Carol

Carol, my experience with The Lady Gardener for about 3 seasons hasn’t been great, BS issues, thrips love it, winter dieback. There is some fragrance, but not strong and I agree with Nippstress’ description.

Kentucky_rose - wow, everyone is in agreement...this is a dog of a rose!! Apologies to all the doggies. :)

Carol

Bump up this thread to check on zone 5 winter hardiness of The Lady Gardener. Thank you.