They look completely different, from shape to petal arrangement. They won't blend together but may compliment each other. Both are vigorous, but spirit of freedom is much stronger, due to being a climber I suppose.

I don;t have picture of my Spirit of Freedom but here is my the Wedgewood in pot and blooming.

They should look lovely together!

I have both coming as well and can't wait to see them bloom !

I grow both. Spirit of freedom is a much bigger and stronger plant. They look nothing like each other, but both are lovely. Spirit performs much better in my climate, I have 4 of them as it’s one of my favorite roses of all time. The roses start off pink, but turn lavenderish. The flowers are very full and large and they never ball. the plant is large and vigorous and very disease resistant. The blooms are also very fragrant.

Wedgwood is not nearly as strong a grower. Mine never got to climbing height, however the blooms are very pretty, a soft and warm pale pink. It has decent resistance to disease but it’s not very vigorous. Mine also doesn’t bloom as much as I’d like it to. But I’m still very fond of it. The flowers have an informal shape to them that I find very charming. Overall a good rose.

Thanks you guys!

Phuong, your Wedgewood Rose is lovely! It is blooming really good for a young plant. I am glad they look different from each other.

Sheila, Thanks I am really excited to be getting them!

Hey Lily! We can grow our together Yeah! lol. Are yours coming from the DA website?

SoFL Rose, I am happy to hear that SoF is really happy in Florida and the Wedgewood Rose will also do okay. Is your SoF and Wedgewood both on fortuniana? Mine are coming from DA so will be on DH. I guess I will grow the SoF on a separate trellis and see if the Wedgewood will climb here or not. If so, maybe I will put them together later.

So cool that the SoF actually really does have a lavender hue. Its hard to know for sure from photos if that lavender is really true in real life. I also ordered Charles Rennie Mackintosh which is supposed to have a pink lilac hue as well.

Sofl rose , I'm glad for the note about wedgewood. I can plant it out of my main bed then and enjoy it when it's nice but not fret at it !

Sultry , mine is coming from DA as well ! I cannot wait . It's going to be like Christmas!

I have SoF on fortuniana and own root and I have wedge wood own root and on drH. Wedge own root is somewhat weak here. I wish I could get her on fortuniana. SoF is strong on both it’s own roots and on fortuniana. Obviously a big more vigorous on fortuniana, but amazing on its own roots too.

SJN - The Wedgwood Rose may be slow to establish so definitely give it time.

This is the 6th year it has been in my garden. It did nothing for 4 years and was on the eviction list particularly the year that it had only a few measly blooms that were the size of a quarter.

It decided two years ago that it wanted to be a climber with 12’ canes - not octopus canes like several other Austins have in my garden, but serious climbing canes (watch out, Phuong!). It also started blooming well. It has been healthy in my garden where anthracnose, cercospora and powdery mildew are prevalent, and rust and blackspot can also occur when conditions are right. I don’t spray. A few pics for you so you get an idea of the color and shape of the blooms - cool summer climate. The petals are thin but the blooms don’t ball even in spring when balling is an issue. It faces south and gets full sun. And, oh, it’s grafted.

I no longer have pics of the spring flush on my phone but here are pics from July and later in the year.

Closer up:

Darker pink and fuller in November:

I don’t seem to have pics of the whole plant so you can get an idea of it’s growth habit. BayAreaGirl had posted a pic from Regan Nursery of it being trained as a pillar. Mine is fanned out along my garage wall as that was the easiest way to handle the thick canes and the sharp thorns.

Lilyfinch - lucky you to be getting both! And lucky you, SoFl, to have both!!

I have run out of space.

Jo

Oh my gosh jo! How fortunate it missed the shovel and you got to see it grow so lovely !! I'm so impatient... I hope I remember to give it lots of time . Totally worth it ! What is that blue plant in the top photo ? Is that agapanthus? I need more fillers so I have been nebby about background flowers :)

Jo, haven’t seen you in the forums for awhile. Welcome back! Here is the pic that I took at Regan that you mentioned in the previous post. Helen

Yes, that’s agapanthus. I am still working on adding background, foreground and companion plants to my roses. I am a complete dud when it comes to color combos (sigh). I like to add ‘spiky’ plants to contrast the rose shapes. I have 45 roses crammed into a very small back and side yard and the first two years the garden looked like a boring blob with no dimensionality when the roses were not in bloom.

I have a love-hate relationship with agapanthus. Hate the short bloom time in my garden and the clumps harbor snails like you would not believe. Also the clumps get huge here very quickly so I have a few dwarf ones - what you see in the pic is a dwarf.

I love pics you post of your garden, Lilyfinch. Your clematis, particularly - oh my! You have created much beauty.

Jo

Hello Helen! Yeah, things have been busy....been lurking though; just not had the time to comment or post.

Thanks for sharing the pic again. It’s even more gorgeous than I remembered!!

Jo

Yes, it looks amazing, doen’t it? That is the reason I got mine last year from Regan 50% off sale in a pot in September and it is perfection in my opinion. It blooms all the time since I bought it and the blooms are delicate and unique and last quite well on a bush. Love it. Helen

Are you going to pillar it, Helen, the way Regan did?

Joe, Oh Wow! I had no idea the wedgewood flowers were that beautiful. Those are prettier than on the DA site. I adore those first photos where the bloom is darker pink in the center with lighter outside petals kinda reflexed back, almost butterfly-like. So pretty! I don't spray here either so I am glad its a good disease resistant rose. Black spot is the biggest problem here.

Helen, I think I've seen your lovely photo of wedgewood on another post because that is the picture I had in my mind when I ordered it. I was thinking I had seen it as a beautiful climber on this forum. I could not decide between SoF or Wedgewood for the life of me lol. So I had to get both. I hope I can find a trellis worthy (and sturdy) enough for them.

I love the way that Lily of the Nile/Agapanthus looks. I always see them for sale here. I am going to get a couple next time I see some.

I wonder if plumbago kept shorter under the tall climbers would also look nice? It has pretty blue flowers.

Can anyone comment on the fragrance of Wedgewood and/or SoF?

Jo, I’m not sure yet. It is planted 3ft away from Teasing Georgia and closed to a shed. Yes, 3ft distance between 2 climbers, lol. That is what happened when we couldn’t stop ourselves from buying those gorgeous climbers and tried to squeeze them in a small garden. I’m trying to have both of them go on the side of a shed but because of the hard surface area, Wedgewood is 4 ft away from the shed so if it doesn’t work, I will pillar the Wedgewood.

Sjn, I just got 2 SoF a few days ago from DA, too. I will put them in place of 2 America over an arbor. Helen

LOL, Helen! I have 3 feet between Night Owl and Lady of Shalott and neither are happy about it!

last year I finally removed Lady Emma Hamilton from where she was crammed between Young Lycidas and Princess Alexandria of Kent - planted at 3’ centers.

At least you know that Wedgwood can be pillared and you won’t have to move it.

Jo

Wow, jo & bayarea_girl - amazing pics! I’ve wanted Wedgewood rose and I think you’ve convinced me I have to get her. Last year I was debating between her and The Generous Gardener. My local garden center had the later and so I went with that one but still want Wedgewood. Great to know she can be pillared. Now to decide between her and Strawberry Hill - only room for one.

Sultry - SoF has a fragrance different from any other rose I now have or have grown. To me, it is a mixture of old rose, fruit, and myrrh - very nice. One single fragrance is not predominant.

Dave, I have both Wedgewood and Strawberry Hill. Even though I like my ST a lot because it is very healthy and blooms all the time, but if I have to pick one I will choose Wedgewood because of its unique and more gorgeous blooms. Helen

Wow these photos !! Just wow . I need to make notes on these so I place them correctly. Wouldn't that wedgewood look so lovely climbing one of those fancy dovecotes?

Jo, thank you so much for the compliment, that really brightened my day !! :)

Dave I really like my strawberry hill . It would be a tough choice to make !

Lily that would look fabulous on a dovecote. I was looking up diy dovecote plans. There's some you tube videos on making them too.

Thank you for the report on fragrance. I can't wait to smell them both! We do have warm humid air most of the year here. Even the teas are fairly fragrant some days.

I have Strawberry Hill as well. It is a own root and came as a gallon size plant last year. Its grown but hardly bloomed. I'm sure it will get better with age but it hasn't done much yet.

Dave - I also have Strawberry Hill and would be hard pressed to choose between it and The Wedgwood Rose. The fragrance of SH, to my nose, is far stronger, more complex and intriguing, and more consistent in my climate. The mistake I made was to put SH against the back fence in a raised bed and I can't get to it easily to smell the gorgeous blooms. It's also grafted and I bought the same year as I did The Wedgwood Rose (Helen - the Regan 50% off sale in Sept), so it also in its 6th year in my garden. Unlike The Wedgwood Rose which sulked for 4 years, Strawberry Hill just took off. And, it too wanted to climb - it's fanned out on that back fence. The canes are much thinner than Wedgwood's, and it also has sharp thorns.

Taking pics of Strawberry Hill is also difficult now but here's one from early spring last year:

Oh, a note on disease resistance. Strawberry Hill isn't as healthy as The Wedgwood Rose in my garden. Don't let those leaves in the pic fool you because they look like that for 2 weeks in the year. They are then plagued by cercospora and will get blackspot late in the season. It outgrew the terrible rust it had for a few years, thankfully.

And, here's one of my favorite pics of Strawberry Hill from winter 2016, which I think I have posted before - it's set as the Background on my laptop.

Jo

SJN - I would be interested in hearing how your own-root Strawberry Hill does over time.

Lilyfinch - your dovecote idea sounds lovely!

Dave - Strawberry Hill can also look like this:

The Wedgwood Rose is more consistent in color in my garden. It’s always pink here.

Jo

I never thought of making my own dovecote but I'm going to look too ! I certainly have the tools and time . If you decide to make one I'd love to hear about it.

My strawberry hill stayed relatively clean and smelled wonderful but yep it's s climber and I didn't plan for that. It's confusing when DA lists a rose as a shrub or grown as a climber. As if we can choose ? for example my teasing Georgia is a shrub , large for sure but full and tall but not what o would call a climber.

Beautiful photos again jo!!

Thank you, all! I didn’t mean to hijack your thread, Sultry. Awesome pics of SH, Jo! I love the different pink tones SH shows. I think I’m going to go with Wedgewood and put SH on hold for now.

Jo, your Strawberry Hill is how I want mine to look someday <3. I heard that the scent is of violets as in some type of violet candies that were available years ago. I have half a mind to hunt that candy down on Amazon or somewhere and try it lol!

Dave please post anything you like :) I love learning about new things.

~Sjn

For whom need it, Strawberry Hill would last longer under heat, very much less petal but then they aren't burnt to crisp.

That's good to know. We have lots of heat and humidity here. I hope my Strawberry Hill blooms more this year.

Hmmm...I may just have to put SH in a large pot and squeeze her on my deck as well. I think if I pillar her also I can get away with that. I know my local nursery will carry her this spring.

Dave, how is The Generous Gardener doing for you? Does it climb?

Hey Sultry, TGG is still quite young. It was a 3 gallon potted rose when I planted it around late summer 2016. This past year it put out many 6 ft long canes, which I felt was a good start. The blooms are so unique - cupped and quartered initially but very much like a water lily when they open completely. Nice fragrance and good disease resistance so far, too. The bad thing is I need to move it because it is planted near white roses and I didn’t know the color would be such an extremely soft pink that fades to white. I really like her, though, but would also like to know if she is going to act like a true climber and be hardy for me.

Here are a few pics of Wedgewood (1st year) and SH (3rd year). They have been posted in other threads. Helen

Dave, thanks for the great review on TGG. I was wondering how light of pink it would get. I have seen flowers on the web ranging from medium pink, light pink, to white lol. It probably will be lighter in warmer weather here like the rest of my Austins.

I will probably get it in the fall or next spring. I will have to think of where I can put it. It sounds pretty and I love the flower form. I like that it starts out cupped and melds into a waterlily shape. It might look good with my The Ingenious Mr Fairchild with its peony shaped flowers. It is trying to be a climber here..slowly but steadily (own root).

Helen your photos of Wedgewood are delightful! I can't wait to get mine. I have heard the shipping has started for my zone (9). Super excited! I think Wedgewood and SoF are going in large pots to start out. If they get too crazy I might put them in the ground later. I need to figure out a strong trellis and where it will go.

I can only hope my Strawberry Hill will be as beautiful as your photos. It has only had a few tiny blooms thus far. It has skinny canes but is trying to climb. Its still an own root baby and I am impatient lol. At least she's healthy.

~Sjn

SJN - Overall, TGG is very light pink to white. Better color in spring and overcast conditions but fades to white in strong light. But it’s not a bad light cream/white it fades to either, in my opinion.

Ooh! Helen - lovely pics, as always!

I like how you have grown Strawberry Hill. Mine is taller but more sparse.

Dave - I have often regretted that I didn’t pillar Strawberry Hill. The thin long canes seem perfect for a pillar.

Jo