flowers - I see what you mean about the resemblance to MM. I saw someone’s photo of MA on Facebook and it was a revelation of what this rose could be. I will be trying my best with her next year.

Ann

I was actually drooling over Mary Magdalene! However when getting the info off DA website they list it as poor disease resistance! Well definitely not here then! I was amazed with all the DAs being dropped that they would even carry anything with a poor listing. But apparently they do as William Shakespeare 2000 has a poor rating also. (May be more, but not a pertinent search for me!)

lkayetwvz5 - I heard that MM is susceptible to black spot but not in my 9b garden. I guess DA has enough sales to justify keeping it? I'm glad I have MM but I'm definitely looking forward to a time with this rose gets bigger. My WS2000 also doesn't have disease but is an awkward grower. It grows laterally and unevenly but produces some lovely blooms.

Ann

I've been experimenting with creating close ups of my DA rose photos. Here's a recent example. Can you guess which rose this is?

Ann

'Lady of Shalott'..?

Everyone has such gorgeous Austin's, I've only just caught up with this thread..

so an opportune moment as I picked a few today.... where would we be without our Austins at this time of year ..

Marlorena, thanks for posting these beauties. It's a treat to see James L. Austin in a vase, one of the new Austins…

Ann, I can't decide between Lady Emma Hamilton or Pat Austin, but will go with LEH. Challenging!

Krista... I did wonder if that was 'LEH' although I don't grow it but I trust you to know these, but just to compare how similar these are, here is a close up of 'Lady of Shalott' that I've clipped to a similar size as Ann's... perhaps they're close sisters..[the roses I mean...]

Marlorena, yes, very similar. Another beautiful apricot toned rose! I would not be surprised if these roses are related; I wish Austin would reveal the parentage of his newer roses.

Beautiful Ann! Great photography! I'm going to also guess LEH, only because my lady of shalott has never been that vibrant

This thread has made me want more Austins than I have room for. I have spent the last hour drawing new fences and paths on photos of the sheep paddock in order to extend the garden into it. I will wait until I see how the Austins I already have behave in my climate before actually doing anything but I think the sheep will have less grazing land this time next year.

My fabulous drawing of the proposed garden with paths and a gate to the paddock, vegetable garden, and barn. There are two drainage ditches on the other side of the existing and the proposed fence which is why the garden is triangular.

This shot was taken from the steel electrical pole which would be at the end of a path in the new garden.

I need to stop checking on this thread or the sheep will end up with no pasture. Lola.

I couldn't agree more Tiffany!

Hello Rose Friends - Thank you for your guesses and comments! Here's the photo that I cropped to get the image above. The rose is Pat Austin and Krista almost got it right. :))

Lola - your ranch is spectacular and I wish your sheep well!

Ann

Here's the lovely Lady Emma Hamilton.

Ann

Here's my cropped version of the photo above. Which do you like better?

Ann

We're still having mild temperatures in the low to mid-70s, although the mornings can be chilly. DA roses are finishing up their last flush.

Munstead Wood, having the best flush of the year.

More to come ...

Pat Austin, settling in and producing some incredibly fragrant blooms.

More ...

Jude the Obscure looking more deeply cupped than I've ever seen him.

More...

Teasing Georgia looking much paler than earlier this summer.

More ...

Princess Alexandra of Kent producing the largest blooms of the year, nearly six inches across!

Hope you enjoyed!

Ann

I enjoyed every single picture.

I am so inspired with all of the beauty

Gorgeous Ann! Those blooms of PAoK are especially gorgeous.

Every photo I have seen of Jude is gorgeous but yours is the best I have ever seen, Ann. I have read many reviews that say Jude does not flower well but just one or two blooms like that would be ok with me. Out of all my newly planted Austins Jude is the only one that has been damaged by a critter. The tip was taken off but left on the ground next to it so I think it may have been a bird.

Thanks Kristine! Your roses look great!

Tiff - thanks for your kind comments! The photo doesn't do justice to how big the PAOK blooms were. My husband who likes really big blooms was very impressed. :)) The fragrance was exceptional too.

Ann

This is my favorite and only DA bloom, Charles Darwin...

It took me a long time to choose what one rose would go in a pot on my patio and I couldn't be happier with this choice...I love the fragrance even more than I imagined I would and it's just so beautiful.

HI Lola - Sorry to hear about your Jude. Hopefully he'll recover because he's very worth growing. Thank you for your kind comments!

pippacovalent - That's a lovely Charles Darwin. The first time I saw CD at a nursery he was that lemony yellow color. In my garden he's got some peach coloring sometimes, other times gold but not lemony yellow.

Ann

Ann is that really your CD? That's so cool how different it can look, it really makes it a surprise every time it blooms lol :). This is only my second bloom on my baby CD. The first was more buff colored and this time lemony so I wonder what next spring will bring. Here he is today...

Can I just say, I had hoped this thread would help me choose which Austin roses to add to my garden next spring but all it has done is add more to my wish list than ever lol :)

pippacovalent - I think of my Austins as a collection where I’m gathering my favorite pinks, reds, etc. over time because there are so many to choose from. Since you are just starting to see what you might like, I’m sure it’s a little overwhelming. You made an excellent choice with CD and hopefully this thread will help a bit, but I can see how it’s also very enabling and maybe turning you into another rose obsessed person like many others on this forum. :))

Ann

At this point I actually think sometimes that I should go out in the middle of the night when I can't sleep and check on my roses. So I probably don't have to worry about becoming obsessed... clearly I'm not the type. ;)

Pippa, lol. you might as well face it, you got it bad. just like the rest of us.

So I love the fragrance of my Charles Darwin and would love more Austins with a similar fragrance. I think I remember CD is described as tea scented with lemon? I wish rose websites would allow filtering searches more specifically by type of scent not just strength...and it would be nice when you view a rose if they would make suggestions like here are other roses with similar fragrance. It's the one thing that's not possible to determine when buying online which makes it hard to choose. There are so many beautiful Austin roses but I'd like to make my final determination of which to get next by lining them up for a fragrance test lol. I guess CD exceeded my fragrance expectations so I would be unlikely to dislike the fragrance of any of the other well reviewed Austin roses. I should just choose some already lol.

pippa - I think DA's Charlotte might be the closest to CD in scent. I also like Pat Austin's strongly fruity scent but with slight tea fragrance too. Here's Charlotte today with a bit more of an orange undertone than usual. She's usually a buttery yellow.

Ann

I haven't sniffed (or seen in person) Charles Darwin, but you describe it as a tea scent with lemon. I can tell you that Windermere and Winchester Cathedral both smell to me like sweet perfume with hints of lemon. I see descriptions of tea, and myrrh for roses, and I have no idea what these scents translate to. I love descriptions like "smells like fruit loops", which I see on (and agree with) Pink Peace descriptions.

Charlotte is a beautiful color. I guess I lolove those yellows

Here is Charles Darwin today in the very cold rain...

Hi pippa - I was on the DA website looking for the most fragrant roses. A chat assistant came on so I asked her what roses have the "tea fragrance". This is was her response: "We don't have a specific list but a couple are A Shropshire Lad, Crocus Rose, Charlotte, Crown Princess Margaretta, Golden Celebration."

She didn't mention Charles Darwin in the tea category but he comes up as exceptionally fragrant. Here's the link to what I was looking at. I have a newly planted Golden Celebration and I do love the tea fragrance. I think my most fragrant DA roses are Munstead Wood, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Jude the Obscure, Jubilee Celebration, Evelyn, and Lady Emma Hamilton off the top of my head.

Most Fragrant DA Roses

Karen - I have Winchester Cathedral and I find the fragrance to be very mild and pleasant but not too distinctive in my climate. We had a forum member, Cori Ann who gave away her WC because the scent reminded her too much of Eucerin hand cream!

Kristine - The Poet's Wife is another very lovely yellow DA rose and very fragrant! It doesn't have the multi-petaled look of GC but it's an excellent bloomer.

Ann

Thank you!!!

This thread is so helpful for new rose growers like me. Everyone's photos are so beautiful, and it's great to see so many in one thread to compare colors and growth habits.

@ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9 Ingrid, that last photo you posted of your Cottage Rose from afar has to be one of my favorite photos I've ever seen of a rose. It looks like a painting. The way you have all the different plant types around her, with the textures and colors is really something....and then the mist in the air only adds to the magic and makes your Cottage Rose really shine. Beautiful! Inspiring me to try some roses out in the open on my property with my trees and different plants. I love tall, slender evergreen cyprus type plants, and yours looks great contrasted with the rose and other plantings.

@Ann9BNCalif Ann, curious how your Anne Boleyn rose is doing. I've been eyeing her but can't seem to find many pictures of her growth habit after some years in the ground. Does she do well for you?

Thanks to everyone who posted, inspiring me to hopefully have some great roses over the next few years.

Hi B_zone5b,

Sorry for the slow reply! Anne's growth habit after four years has been low to the ground, about 30 inches high, with an arching and spreading habit that's reached at least 3ft or so. Sometimes I use small stakes to prop up the canes if I want to take a photo. I noticed that you're in 5b and I'm in 9b so I can't vouch for how it would do in your climate. Mine is planted in the ground and lost a year because of being transplanted. Unlike other DA roses, I believe this one needs full sun. I don't have any good shots of the growth habit but my one shot this year happened to be selected for the cover of the American Rose Society 2021 calendar.

More photos of AB are below.

Ann

Anne Boleyn 2020 season:

Lots of soft pastel colors

Sometimes she's more pink than peach

a few more pics to follow

Lots of white on outer petals

A bee friendly rose

Button eye

The fragrance ranges from mild to moderate depending on humidity I think. AB isn't a great cut flower but a very charming addition to the garden. I always marvel at the variety of colors!

Ann

@Ann9BNCalif, I love the pics of AB. I am going to have to give her a try even if she doesn't get very big. I'm going to try putting two of her in front of an Abe Darby and see how their colors do together. I love how flowers can really change color on some roses. Never really saw that before in a plant. My succulents turn pastel colors with temp/sun, but never had a plant outside do it. Carding Mill did it a lot out of all the roses I tried this summer. Have you ever grown it? It has some really bold raspberry reds, but then a lot of lilac, violet pink tones in cooler weather. Your pics of AB made me think of it a little so I'll post some pics in case you haven't seen.

@flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA Beautiful photos. Curious how big/healthy Tamora and Ambridge get for you? I like their colorations but not sure how they'd do in zone 5.

Ann here are some Carding Mill photos

A few more pics that reminded me of Boleyn-

Love your Anne Bolelyn!! Omg so gorgeous!

I got one this spring but for some odd reason that one never came out of dormancy. Usually, I can have them setting buds within a month in FL. This one just sat then turned brown and died. I am gonna have to see if they will replace it.

Wow! I never knew that Carding Mill could be so variable! One of my rose society buddies exhibited one last year and it was a lovely shade of light peach with a strong sweet myrrh scent. I think it won for most fragrant rose. Thanks for sharing the pics! I look forward to seeing photos of your AB when it blooms!

sultry - My AB was the last bare root rose to break dormancy a few years ago when I got it from DA. I was a little worried but when I got my first bloom I was totally hooked on this rose! It was neatly quartered with lots of pink and peach shades. I think it’s worth trying again but just know that it might be slow to break dormancy again for some reason.

Ann

Thanks Ann. I will be trying again if they replace her. I do wish Austin would ship to us a little earlier in the year. I could easily plant in early January here. We barely get any freezes and even if we do, its back up in the 70's-80's during the day in the so called "winter" here.

If I have to wait till late Feb/March to plant, its a lot harder on the bare roots.