Of the 65 Austins I have, I believe the largest blooms are those of Brother Cadfael. Very globular and 4-5 inches across.

My Abe Darby blooms are about 3-4 inches with blooms that are very ruffled and cupped but not as rounded as Brother Cadfael.

I just got an own-root Jubilee Celebration last year which is till getting established so I can't say much about it.

Munstead Wood is about the same size as Abe Darby. Both roses are very strongly fragrant!

There are so many wonderful Austins so I wish you luck in choosing just 12!

Ann

WOWWWW! The pictures are sharp and the blooms you have are breathtaking Ann! Thank you for your prompt reply and sharing these pictures. I definitely will add brother cadfael and munstead wood to my list now. But I’m still a little unsure about Abraham Darby because although it has everything I wanted (color, size, shape, foliage etc) the DA website listed it as disease resistance “poor”. I wonder what’s your experience with it?

I live in a warm, dry climate that doesn't incur much disease. We don't get any rain from April until Halloween so the lack of humidity helps keep the black spot and other problems from occurring.

I have heard that Abe Darby is prone to rust in some climates like San Francisco which is near where I live. Where are you located? You'll need to read past reviews of the roses you're interested in on this forum to get a better sense from people who have grown Austins on which ones will do well in your area. If you use the search feature, enter the name of the rose and choose in Roses to get the maximum number of past discussions. In some cases, you can get a rose similar to the Austin rose but a more disease resistant version from another grower.

Ann

'Lichfield Angel', which is a creamy white rose, has large blooms. I should think it would be alright in your climate, it's virtually disease free in mine, and that's saying something. Constantly in bloom too and will grow as a climber if wanted that way. I think it looks better with some support..

Brother Cadfael has the largest bloom out of my Austin’s, and it has a nice fragrance, although it tends to ball in my Chicago weather.

I have heard Ancient Mariner has large blooms, but mine is a new bare root just planted last weekend.

Ann, love your brother cadfael picture! Mine rarely fully open to look like that. Do you plant her in partial shade? I am trying to figure out what factors are making her unhappy....she balls a lot.

Hi palytoxin - I googled balling and got this from gardenersworld:

Rose bloom balling. Balling is triggered by cool, damp conditions, often in a partially shady site, where water-saturated outer petals fail to dry out before being scorched by the sun. The mushy plant tissue dries to form a stiff straightjacket around the petals, preventing the flower from opening.

My BC and some other heavily petaled roses have experienced balling in the spring or fall seasons if our seasonal rainfall lasts longer than usual (spring) or starts earlier than usual (fall). BC is on the edge between a fully sunny and slightly shady area. It was still blooming well into November last year which was its sixth year in the ground but in the first couple of years he promptly quit around Labor Day. The photo below was taken 5-1-2015. BC closes up at night and opens in the morning even as a cut flower like some of my peonies!

Ann

I love the Brother. I have had him for at least 16 years or more. Great blooms but in my heat (where I live), he won't bloom. So the first bloom in spring is the best. After that if I get a couple of blooms, I consider myself lucky. I am in zone 9 and it gets regularly over 110 degrees here in the summer. So, when I say hot, I mean hot. I have him in partial shade and the "mother plant" in full sun. He does better for me in partial shade. He does get big and tall as well. He grows straight up and not so much out. Scent is to die for. My favorite.

Brother Cadfael

For me, Munstead Wood grows more out than up. My first bloom is the darkest. During the heat of summer, he fades out to a nice bright deep pink, In the fall he is back to the deep magenta color. He gets the brunt of my summer heat as he is against the siding of the house and in full west facing sun. Yet, he does well. Neighbors love this rose as well as he is so pretty.

Munstead Wood

Another Austin which gets huge in my weather is Princess Alexandra of Kent. Love this rose but she does have wicked thorns on her. She is beautiful and is a continuous bloomer in my yard. Good scent and she will get big.

Princess Alexandra of Kent

Pretty Jessica is another Austin that gets to about 5 feet tall, where I live. Great flowers, great rose for me. Love her and don't think she gets enough press.

Lady of Shallot also gets big and has big flowers. She is a bit orange for me but she is another favorite of the neighborhood and so she stays. She is variable. There are times when she is more pink than apricot (cooler and wetter weather). For me she does better with a bit of shade in my hot, hot, hot summers.

Abraham Darby has huge blooms, and has a great will to bloom. Add to that his amazing, fruity fragrance, and you have a rose that people continue to be devoted to, despite his tendency to suffer from black spot. If you spray for black spot, he'd probably be a beauty. If you don't (I don't) you can still grow him in an out of the way spot, and enjoy his amazing blooms as really decent cut flowers. Or just put him toward the back of the bed and plant tall-ish companion plants to hide his naked legs.

I am loving this thread!!!! I have no advice...but I am really, really enjoying these glorious blooms!!!!

Caro

Mustbnuts, those are the prettiest Lady of Shallot blooms I’ve ever seen! I always wondered why so many people had that orange-y rose... Wow.

Thanks J. When she first bloomed, I went OMG she is bright a$$ orange!!! Ugh! Not the color I wanted. She has mellowed the older she gets. Thank goodness!

I’m in zone 7B, southern Virginia. We have the typical east coast weather in summer, hot and humid in July & August. I had angel face floribunda and sterling silver hybrid tea roses and they developed black spots badly. I added Kordes quick silver arbor roses and summer romance and also Eden roses last season. They are doing well so far but I will have to see as the temperature goes up.

Kordes quick silver

BenT, mustbnuts and KS, thank you all for the gorgeous pictures. I’m adding golden celebration, lady of shallot and Evelyn to my list. Abe Darby too as I cannot resist her big cupcake look! I’ll give it a try! I don’t think she can get any worst than my angel face or sterling silver roses.

Marlorwna, I’ll check out lichfield angel. That is a rose I saw on DA website but didn’t pay much attention as I was so overwhelmed by other “highly recommended” roses varieties LOL

Are any of these roses mentioned above tend to nod their heads (blooms) down?

zzzone - that's a great question! Oh my goodness!!!! Your Quicksilver is unreally beautiful!!! The color - swoon!!! I love the white edging on your Summer Romance petals!! Such beauty!!

Carol

Ben, your GC is gorgeous! Has it been healthy for you? I think our climates are very similar.

zzzone, quicksliver is a beauty! Can you tell me more about it's growth habit? Scent? I have Summer Romance and Dark Desire...love them! So tough and vigorous!

ZZ, I ordered one! I think it will be perfect along my 4 ft chain link fence! Thanks for the help!

I would also look at some other roses that have the same big bloom like an Austin but are wonderful roses in and of themselves. There are several Barni roses, such as Anna Fendi and Antico Amore that are wonderful and beautiful roses.

ZZ - Thanks! :) :)

Carol

Porntiwa - Lovely AD!!!! Swoon!!! Does your Abraham Darby have canes that are erect or do they flop downward. It looks like yours is upright. How do you manage that? I would love to buy this rose...but I had it before, and it was all floppy. Thanks!

Carol

I posted elsewhere that I've killed a variety of Austin roses; they blackspot badly here (7b ATL area) and they try and bloom as much as they can but it's a struggle (I don't spray) and they always look kinda sickly. They never look healthy and leafy like the photos I see posted here (looking at you enviously, West Coast!), they just hang in there and make/drop leaves. They blooms are perfect, how, I don't know, but they kinda stay small. I don't spray. It becomes this issue of having a sickly-looking plant year-long to get 5 or 7 flowers/year. I'm stubborn and have kept trying but am starting to learn to let go... because I now know there are so many roses out there!

If you won't be spraying, before you pull the trigger on the Austins, do look at some of the Kordes being recommended here and search for posts from others in the hot/humid southeast. As an aside: it would be fun to do a thread on Austins vs. similar roses (full-petal Austin-esque color/look) that actually can thrive in the southeast.

Here are some of my "Forget you, David Austin!" roses...

I ordered Earth Angel (Kordes) last year; the blooms are gorgeous, and smell good too. Here she is today, probably about 2.5" as is, will be closer to 3" when fully open. She's pale pink and with very delicate petals. Summer Romance and Quicksilver just went on my wish list, bring on the Kordes!

I also ordered Star of the Republic (Pioneer series), also based photos/comments from folks who live in the same state/similar zone. This is Star of the Republic, ~4" wide, much thicker petals.

This one I can't officially recommend because I got it a couple months ago and it's still in its pot; who knows how it will do the rest of the season... I mention her because she's supposed to make big flowers (she does). She's grown several leaves and they look healthy (I'm already seeing black spot in other parts). It's Reichsprasident von Hindenburg and when I put in my last order to Rogue Valley Roses, I just couldn't resist the photo; the photos on Help Me Find are also just my thing: big, a little messy! I couldn't find much discussions here about this rose, it may be a total disaster for me, we'll see. The fragrance is awesome, reminds me of Zephyrin Drouhin but softer with a citrus note at the end. It has a second bud, I'll try to follow up once that one opens and later in the season regarding how the foliage does. Those are her light green leaves to the right (pea leaves to the left!).

The two largest bloom Austins I have are Princess Alexandra of Kent, and Young Lycidas (pictured). Blooms are over 4", it's very prolific and very fragrant!

Mustbnuts, I am happy to hear you mention Barni roses, as I ordered Antico Amore this year. In pictures it looks stunning! For those who are interested, Roses Unlimited has it, and several other Barni roses.

Don't want to hyjack this thread, but K S, people on this forum love Antico Amore and other Barni roses. I fell in love with Occhi di Fata and have that one from Roses Unlimited. It is one of my favorites! Disease resistant and just a great rose. Handles the heat of my summers like a champ. It starts out white and then turns a mottled pink to a dark pink as the flower matures. I am a total stripe rose fan so this makes my heart go pitter patter. Great rose!

Let us know how your Antico Amore does. I am so excited for you!

FruitCat, thank you for your thoughts and pics. I have been eyeing on Earth Angel for a while but my local nurseries do not carry them. I will need to do a mail order together with Honeymoon. I do like Korde roses a lot because they seem to be very vigorous, hardy to heat & humidity & disease so far. I agree, we will need a thread talking about all the DA equivalent roses in terms of bloom size, color, form, fragrance etc. That would be some valuable organized info.