Beautiful! I love hearing about the "new to us" DA roses. If you've ever had Charlotte, how would you say Vanessa Bell compares to Charlotte?

Cyndita… I don't know 'Charlotte'... only seen it in pictures.. always looks nice... I think perhaps this rose should be compared to say, 'Claire Austin'.. but I expect it's better than that one...

I really love Vanessa Bell! You have so many great ones!

For some reason I always though this rose was boring but here it looks positively delightful! I'm tempted to replace my Desdemona with Vanessa Bell...

I am a sucker for soft yellows but VB has not really interested me...until now. It looks wonderful! I am still trialing The Poets Wife (2nd yr) and Imogen (1st year - buds about to open). I think I need to add VB now!

Ohhh this rose is gorgeous. I love my Charlotte and I thought I didn’t need another yellow, but I might have to reconsider.

Marlorena, thank you for the introduction to this new rose. It's a beautiful swirl of petals. It looks like a generous bloomer, with many buds...

What a beautiful rose! I love the button eye, and the rose’s color goes so well with the light colored foliage. Gorgeous, Marlorena! Lisa

Where you have grown both The Poets Wife and Imogen as well, how would you compare them to Vanessa Bell?

Dave... 'The Poet's Wife' is in a class of its own.. it's just a great rose all round for me...albeit quite a spreader and a bit floppy,... but I've had it longer than the others, so can't really compare... 'Imogen' is a pretty floriferous rose but I had to move mine and start again with it... 'VB' has the best growth habit and foliage, and the blooms I think are more attractive of the 3... but I'm not 100 percent how it stands up to all weathers at this stage... but I think I'm really in love with it...

Thanks for your opinion on these three - I appreciate it!

That's stunning! I especially love the second to last photo and the shot of full plant. It's a really nice shape.

Marlorena, your Vanessa Bell is really gorgeous. I have a baby bush planted in February. The recent rain and strong wind sorted of ruined the bloom a bit. Here are some pictures:

..those are great.. I never got such nice blooms in the first year as those..

..soon you will have loads to pick for the house too.. this is a wonderful rose..

Golly, the blooms have a lovely, airy appearance. Darn, On my list now

Most virgous rose obviously is the 1st to bloom up in my new planting. Only one has opened up sofar, in day 2. I gave it a sniff. Nada. Does it need to fully bloom in order to see if there is fragrance to these things

Heh. I'm really glad I came across VB. I was never a huge fan of white - although I love white annuals en-masse in flower beds. And yellows were nice but this color was just-puurfect

How color consistent is VB

When I was looking at different yellows, I was not crazed on how some had a very variegated bloom set - some were one yellow, others were quite faded....

Virtually all David Austin roses fade.. they like them that way, as it gives a two tone effect on the shrub... so VB fades to a creamy white... you can see in the photos above... some of them fade to a not very nice colour [to my eyes],.. but VB is fine with me...

Still looks cream yellow to me ;-)

I just did not like the yellow blossoms mixed with white blossoms......I want each bush to be MONO

I planted one in January and it just died on me :( Austin is sending a replacement but of course not till next january.

I'm sorry to hear that Amanda, but pleased you are getting a replacement... as it should be of course.. let us hope the next one gives better success..

a1an.. you don't get that mono look with Austins… you would need to look at other breeders for roses that don't give the two tone effect... sometimes it's 3 tones.. I quite like it but maybe it's an acquired taste...

Oh boy. We'll see if it's settles the eyes. I did a planting bed of 10 DA's this year (roses are new to me)

These pictures of VB get better and better! Thanks for the treat, Marlorena!

I'm officially a rose gardener. 1st one to bloom, 1st ever deadhead of a rose I've ever done.Hopefully the deadheading will payoff with a return bloom now

I'm not crazed about anything pink but if Eustacia Vyeis is as awesome as VB, take my money.

VB is one helluva champ in our beds. I've said it in other posts in this thread. From a bare root planting, some stems/shoots are at least 32H and it's got the most blooms yet, regardless of rain or 90F heat in FULL SUN siting from the crack of dawn to around 6PM shade. Blooms are a bit too white for me, but I suppose it's just due to the heat..

That’s awesome a1an !!! Do ya have any photos? I’m glad you are enjoying it !

Wow lots of great things about this rose here. I thought I was in love with Charlotte but the BS is making her look very rough this year. Any ideas on BV’s blackspot resistance without spraying? I am slowly liking yellows and peaches more and more every day. This rose looks amazing.

Sorry. No pics until back @ house this weekend.

For those that might have seen my old post, I'm a rose noob. This year was the 1st year of BR plantings. So I don't know what the benchmark delta is.

As just a gardener, these are my layman observations

- blown away that from from a BR planting with maybe 5 inch stubs sticking out from the mulch, I have at least 2 canes that are 5 FEET high and the the rest and just shortly below..... (for comparison, Munstead is still a paltry 15-18 inches high)

- Blooms seem to last on the hot days we have gotten, it's been pretty proliferic compared to other plantings. I've yet to see a flopping cane. All hold the weight of the blooms, even when it rains !

- Can't complain I suppose. psst...looks really pretty next to boscobel. I love the coral against white look.

What to DO. Do I PRUNE a 1st year newly planted rose. I've got 3 stems the are 6 feet high.....

This time of the year + the typical northeast rains, it comes down hard and windy..

I watched the stems whip in the rain. There are fairly stought enough that the blooms on them remain upright.

However.....I'm erring on a side of precaution and I'm thinking maybe it would be a good idea to maybe shorten them by 18 inches +/-. I'm concerned it ~may topple over~ as it grows even longer and a leftover hurricane rain will make it topple and either Splay or SNAP the stem off.

Leave it alone or give it a snip

Or you could give it some temporary support with a stick or obelisk

...after it's finished blooming at the top of those canes, I cut them back to about 3 foot.. it then develops into a nice shrubby form... otherwise it gets lanky with stiff canes..

Marolena -

Do I take the nuclear approach now as the season starts going down (now mid 80's - hard frost closer towards to 3 1/2 months. Or do I shorten it by 1/2 when its winter dormant

Geez. I feel like winter is right around the corner. Started planning my Ornamental Kale for the areas that will be sparse soon. I think I may err on doing the pruning when dormant. We'll see how much more the stems can grow. I was concerned when I saw them --swaying-- in the rain

a1an... I can only suggest, but I would do it sooner... you sound as though you have plenty of time available... this is how mine is right now, having cut back some tall canes a few weeks ago..

..as you can see it's compact and bushy, with no lanky sticks.. all these shoots have buds on them... also note the strong disease resistance in this rose..

Thx for the feedback. Roses are new to me.....I've never pruned a shrub so ~hard~ especially in it's 1st year. I'm always erred on the - let roots sort themselves out- and prune after year 2 and when it's established. But boy, the VB has really taken off, even for a 1st year BR plant. Never would have imaged 6 inch stubs in the ground in the spring and now it's 6 feet up.

Will heed your advice and take it down.

Maybe in 45 days or so, it will start getting dormant. VB just keeps on pumping out production and some stems have reached 6 feet from BR. Maybe even higher if I was not deadheading now and then which I suppose 2 inches - 4 inches were getting nipped in the process ;-) I shortened some 2 weeks and the other long ones that have another flush of blooms on them, I'll shorten them down once we get a hard frost and they start going dormant. While it's 6 feet and shoots are not thin and lanky, I don't want to mess with the winter winds.

As a terrible sidenote comparison, my Munstead Wood is still thin in canes, very ~weepy and wispy~ and maybe from BR, it's about 18-24" tall at max.

Truely amazed on how much -output- it has given me as a 1st year BR planting.

...it's one of the most healthiest Austins I've ever had.... my rose is still in full leafage, most others have lost a fair bit by now, but not this one and top of that, not a single blemish on any leaf... it's also having a good flush, although this time of year the blooms lack the quality of earlier... lower light levels, nights getting colder here... and loads of rain spoil them a bit..

Marlorena - VB is what I'm using as the benchmark compared to all the others that were grown. All stems are thicky, herty and have held every bloom since day one. Can't complain.....

I know not all roses grow at the same speed in establishment.....but the MW stems are like 1/6-1/8 in diameter compared to VB !

Do you have own root Munstead Wood? Mines are own roots 2nd year. 1st year grew slowly to just short of 2 feet. This year some individual thick canes grew to almost 4 feet, but the shape of the bush is very odd. If you look at HMF, another person from the SF Bay also said that own root Munstead Wood grows slowly.

I also have Vanessa Bell grafted on Dr. Huey. I got some thick canes that grew over 6 feet, but I have cut them all down to just above 3 feet after all the flowers were spent early this month. If I don't, it will likely grow into a giant here in California.

Huey. MW is showing some strange growth shape. Hard to spot as it was sooooo slow growing, I planted a annual in mid summer as it just look so bare. So the overall shrub is small, compact and all I see are wispy/weeping long thin stems with flower blooms sitting ontop of it's framework. There is a shoot that is at least 10 inches away from the primary framework of the rose, it's got a thick cane that is taller than the rest of the main shrub. I think this new growth is quite sturdy. I know it's it's 1st year so it's not technically established...but again VB is 6 freaking feet in the same siting

..from May to November, and still going strong with a great flush... I'm finding this to be a gem of an Austin as it's such a shapely plant, with plenty of foliage and exemplary health.. for this time of year in England that's unusual... I've had a couple of light frosts, gales and rain... no problem for VB..... a rose made for my climate... or similar perhaps...

..the scent is nice too... very sniffable..

Wow WOW Marlorena thank you for this update. I really needed to decide on a new yellow Austin even tho I love Charlotte, she isn’t the healthiest. She is pretty good, but after trying roses like Olivia I am demanding much more on the health department. I also really want those super cupped blooms. Thank you, this rose is very beautiful.

I also thank you. I'm try Charlotte as I was sent cuttings and I know she's extremely hardy, but won't hesitate to eventually move her to the "back forty" if I have a good substitute. Dianela, I'm inching toward Olivia day-by day. OT, but does she bleach to white for you or stay pink? I need something smaller with a similar colour where I currently have Summer Romance.

OT: I apologize Marlorena for the OT comment. Vapor never 100 percent white, but very pale. I still love it. No Austin can compete with Olivia on blackspot resistance in my garden so far. She blooms much more than my summer romance, but maybe my summer romance is a dud or it needs more time.

95 degrees Olivia, we rarely go over 100 here.

50s degrees Olivia

I really want to try Vanessa B. All my Charlottes just simply died without any apparent reason this winter. They were never the healthiest.

What are you waiting for. Most vigorious for me. Established in year 2...repeats well. I like the shrubs a bit more rounded and squat so my only thing is after the 1st flush, I cut way back....but you know it, it still sends out another long set before the 2nd flush.