I am in Zone 6 and my best bloomers are Eveyln , Heritage , Graham Thomas , Crown Princess M, Gertrude Jekyll . I have 33 austin varieties out of which 18 i planted last year so cant comment on their floriferousness yet as they are not fully established .

I love DA roses, however the ones you chose dont seem to be the most popular choices and make me wonder if they are among the better performers or not. I grow Shropshire Lad and it has very little vigor so far. No blooms at all in the year that I've grown it. However, Its right next to Spirit of Freedom that has grown about 10x its height, and has bloomed a bunch since planting. I recently got the Generous Gardener, so I cant comment on that one yet, its just leafing out, but for white, I'd choose Litchfield Angel for beauty of bloom and Windermere for mere bloom power (this one is non stop). For peachy roses my best Austin is Evelyn. After that Abe Darby, but Evelyn is much cleaner and healthier for me. For orange, you cannot go wrong with Pat Austin, however the blooms are very fragile and delicate, they dont have much substance and dont make good cut flowers. Regardless, I would never be without it as its the most prolific bloomer of my entire garden.

I've always passed on Crown Princess because the color always seemed muddy to me.

Another good one for me is Teasing Georgia, but its more plant than bloom at the moment. It is said to get better with age though, like most austins,

I'm no-spray Z8 and Sharifa Asma, Evelyn, and Jude the Obscure are great bloomers here but I deadhead constantly. Jude is pink to dark peach in my sandy soil and but more yellow in my clay. These three are also tops in fragrance!

Heritage is a pale pink with tons of blooms, though they shatter quickly. I don't care for the fragrance as much though but if you don't have the time or inclination to deadhead a lot, they stay looking good without a lot of help, both in shade and sun.

Thank you so much, you’ve all given me more to think about. I’m now also researching desdimona and Wollerton old hall because of the upright growth in the description

And Evelyn sounds fabulous and beautiful!!

Carding mill and lichfield angel are both very good choices, probably the best repeating of the dozen or so austins I have now. Heritage might bloom a little more continuously, but the flowers shatter so darned quickly.

The fragrance of Munstead Wood is among the strongest for roses. Nice and complex scent that is downright delicious.

Heritage is my very best Austin for rebloom and a it's a pretty shrubby plant too. Actually it's my favorite of my Austins even though it's blooms shatter quickly in my Texas heat I don't mind because she bloom her silly head off for me. You do have to keep up with the dead heading to keep her blooming and I make sure she gets plenty of water and food but she's worth it. She has beautiful light pink blooms and I love her fragrance. My next pick would be Molineaux, it's yellow but sometimes has a peachy orange color depending on the weather.

Cactus Joe, I thought a shropshire lad was supposed to be pink

In my garden, it doesn't get much better then Lady of Shalott.

I love lady of shallot , wollerton old hall and teasing Georgia . I love them all but I favor these .

Wollerton old hall above

Lady of shallot and flamenco Rosita ( can't say enough good about that one but not an Austin )

One last question, is it best to order directly from the David Austin web site or are there other web sites that are cheaper/better. Lots of thr good ones like Evelyn are sold out on DA’s web site

I've bought DAs from Heirloom, and Hortico, too, and they were good. DA is good, but if they are sold out, what are you going to do?

Lilyfinch- your pics are gorgeous! How close do you plant your roses to get that overlapping look? Do you have any other pics of your garden? I’m looking for inspiration

My favorites are Lady of Shallot and Jude.

Ken, how do you prune your LoS? Yours seems so upright with blooms at various heights. Also shrubby. Mine has long arching canes almost to the ground so the base is not obscured by foliage as yours is. I don't have many short canes so not many blooms at the bottom.

Mine is own root. Is yours grafted? I wonder if that affects it's habit.

Current favorite ( could change when I get Lady of Shallot ) Olivia Austin. Such a pretty pink and very bloomy

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Mark, that is such a pretty bloom

I love my Olivia too but to say It is the best rose is subjective for sure . There are so many really fabulous DAs

I really want to grow Tamora and your glowing recommendation is pushing me closer to making another order.

My Olivia is a great bloomer. It is actually pretty fragrant this spring! It was blooming this spring and I could smell it when I walked up to it. Last year it didnt have much fragrance unless you put your nose in it. It does not smell like Abe or Evelyn they are much more fragrant. Olivia is a lighter blue toned pink where Abe and Evelyn are generally more warm apricot pinks.

Here's LoS a few days ago. She is also developing more fragrance in her 3rd year. These Austins really do get better as they age. Just like fine wine :)

Beautiful LOS!. I have 2 new babies just received. I am so excited to have this rose.

My best Austin for overall performance (flower production, reliability, health, graceful bush form, vigor, fragrance, attractive foliage) is Bishop's Castle. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet; it is in so many other threads. It doesn't have as complex a flower form as many other Austins, but how important that is, is up to you. Claire Austin could have matched it, since my first year plant bloomed almost continuously last summer even through 100 F temps, but I removed her because she bloomed yellow for me, and I don't like yellow. Like you, I'm also in zone 7A, but in a very different climate than yours, at about 7,000 ft elevation desert with 12-15" precipitation in a good year and 5-15% humidity, so your mileage may vary.

I bought bishops castle last year bc of all the great reviews here. I'm very excited for it this spring!

Who am I kidding I am excited for ever single rose

My best Austins are Ambridge (blooms like crazy, non-stop from March-Novemberish) and Lady of Shalott.

Lilyfinch - I love your enthusiasm. I hope you like your Bishop's Castle.

All my Austins are still very young. I planted Boscobel March, 2017 as a bare root and it was blooming all summer. It is a wonderful mixture of glowing apricot in the center and more pink on the outside. It also changes colors a bit as it ages giving it a more romantic look. I am in love with this one. This is from last summer after only a few months in the ground. Boscobel is upfront and far right. Sorry for the picture quality (had an older phone then)

dianela - wow!!! That's really, really pretty!! What's the pink taller one in the back?

Carol

Hello rosecanadian,

Thank you! sorry I did not specify, the taller plant is a crape myrtle not a rose. They flower here all summer long without any care. I highly recommend those.

Dianela

Wow, I love everyone gardens and blooms. They all put a smile on my face just seeing them. Truly enjoy them :)

Lily, how close are your roses to have effects like the pic of Flamenco Rosita ( I love that rose) and Lady of Shallot. I am trying to have an effect like over lap roses like many of you guys have and I just saw your post. How far apart are they ?

Thanks

Jin

Kristine, I love Olivia. Feel like getting that rose. Looks gorgeous :)

Dianela, I love your garden. It does have a wow effect. Just love it very much.

I love DA. I know I will be getting more DA roses in future.

Jin

Thank you Jin,

DA roses have a special softness that melts my heart. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s roses in the future.

Jin - hello !' They are spaced anywhere from 2 -3 ft apart . (Mostly 3ft ) And flamenco Rosita is so vigorous I had to move poor lady of shallot out from under her . I had no idea it would get so big ! You should see her now . She grew funny to reach for light so is completely lopsided. but now free to spread a little. Honestly when I plant little new roses I have a hard time imagining they will get large so they often end up cramped !

Lovely photos hallo!!

Hallo, your pics are so gorgeous!!

For best disease resistance try Queen of Sweden.

I have a LOT of DA roses. I'm discovering that most of them don't really do very well unless they are fertilized regularly (something I don't get around to doing very often unfortunately). I'm trying to change that tho, because I'm tired of them not growing or blooming. That being said, I do have a few that perform very well even without the fertilizing.

My absolute best bloomer (so far) is SWEET JULIET. She blooms a lot in large clusters. Grows about 5ft x 2½ft.

My second best one is BENJAMIN BRITTEN. He's a huge thing. About 6ft x 3ft with tons of blooms and fairly decent repeat. But he is in the "red vein" not the pastel colors you asked about... but definitely one to consider

And if you like the brighter pinks, an absolute blooming machine would be PRINCESS ANNE. She's rarely out of bloom. Stays a bit shorter, more like 3-4ft x 3ft

My all-time favorite tho is one that DA will not sell on our continent anymore. Supposedly it doesn't do well. Mine is a great rebloomer and grows like a climber, as do many of them. That would be SUMMER SONG. I'm currently waiting to see if the cuttings I took in Jan are rooting. So far, they look pretty good.

I just got a bunch of DAs from Hortico earlier this week (they're still soaking). Got OLIVIA ROSE AUSTIN, THE LADY GARDENER, THE POET'S WIFE, CROCUS ROSE (to replace the one that died 2yrs ago), CRESSIDA, and JAYNE AUSTIN (also a replacement). I can't wait to see them all bloom!! I'm also still waiting for THE GENEROUS GARDENER that I got last yr to bloom. Didn't do much. It's got lots of new growth coming tho. I'm anxious to see my LADY OF SHALOTT this yr too. I think she's gonna be a good one! She did pretty well last yr, but maybe could've bloomed a bit more, so hopefully this yr she will. Oh crap... come on spring make this winter go away!!

Does anyone grow Benjamin Britten? It's an unusual color, but I think it's very pretty.

Wow Beth, just wow!!!

I’m going to expand to all colors, I just can’t resist!

my DA shipment is arriving Friday, I bought

The generous gardener

Wollerton old hall

Jude the obscure

a local nursery told me they are expecting s big shipment in the next few weeks, Im so excited!

So happy to get out of the deep freeze of winter and see some leaves!

Since this is a new rose bed that I started last year, do you think I should focus on only purchasing the bigger bushes that will go in the back (I want a full lush David Austin, English garden look) unless I see something I can’t resist, or just buy what I love and place smaller in front and hope I’ve left space accordingly? I hate to have to move them around.

Also, regarding companion planting, do I wait till I get most of my roses in place? Although those can be easily moved in winter

I would buy what you love including DAs, and space them for their mature size so you don't have to move them. Don't space them for the size they are when you buy them since they will size up so fast usually. Add fillers of other plants even annuals for a lush immediate look.

Love love all the beautiful rises!! I have yet to plant my bare roots. LoS from ARE will be here today!!! Lily, would looove to see more pix of your garden to get some planting ideas.

Perennialfan, look above at Beth's post. Her second rose pictured is Benjamin Britten. The color is indeed unusual.

Why, or why, do the powers that be at DA think Summer Song wouldn't grow well here? If they were to reintroduce this rose, the lines to purchase it would form immediately, and I would be elbowing my way to the head of the line (not really, I hope) Diane

House decor, thansk! I just posted on the other thread asking for garden shots . My beds aren't old but I hope it helps!

Diane, I'm with you! I totally would buy Summer Song. Maybe we should start a petition lol!

So far for me, the best austins I've grown are: Teasing Georgia, Evelyn, L.D. Braitewaite, Mary Rose and Golden Celebration. The following does not do well are: Graham Thomas, Crown Princess Margarite, Othello, Heritage and Jude the Obscure.