It looks like Hoang’s mislabeled rose could be Princess Alexandra of Kent. Heres a few pinks from my garden. The Faun Sweet Drif Abe Darby Light pink Sun Rosa Wedding Bells Spirit of Freedom looking a little crispy, but usually a show stopper.

Corrina - I think noseometer is right that most DA roses will grow well where you are. But in thinking about the Oakland microclimate I remembered going to Orchard Nursery in Lafayette when I was first interested in growing fragrant roses eight years ago. The salesperson asked me "which side of the Caldecott (Tunnel) do you live?" She advised that fragrant roses were more susceptible to disease (thinner petals) and would be more vulnerable on the Oakland side of hill because the higher humidity from the Bay influence. I'm in 9b just outside Napa so my climate is warmer - mid 80s with just a touch of morning fog sometimes in the summer. I live in a windy pocket so it's extra dry. Here are my thoughts on your list. The Alnwick Rose did not grow for me for two years but it suddenly started growing and blooming last month in its second flush. I'm not getting much fragrance now but I hope for more after the winds stop after Labor Day and we get the that lovely Indian Summer climate. I've had Pat Austin for a couple of years and love the fragrance. I think she blows a bit more quickly than I like. The middle photo is from Celebration of Old Roses a couple of years ago and is what I hope mine will look like one day! I would recommend Lady Emma Hamilton which I had to baby for a couple of years because it did get some black spot initially even my dry climate when it was very small. I have two because it's compact and I have it as focal point so I needed to be sure there was enough there to fill the space. It has great fragrance, form, color, and the leaves can be purple as well as green with brownish stems. It's probably the most unique DA rose I have. I think it may be a challenge to grow in other areas of the country because of the black spot problem which is minimal here and goes away completely by end of May. Ancient Mariner - I don't have this rose but I've seen many great photos would get it if I had more room. I really enjoyed the description and pics from Rose Lai. Rose - you have a fabulous collection of roses and I enjoyed hearing about your very unusual micro climate in San Ramon. I never would have guessed something like that would exist given former co-worker descriptions of SR and Danville. I also have a Charlotte tree standard which is my largest standard and a really prolific bloomer. Geoff Hamilton - I just planted him this year so I can't say yet. Jude the Obscure - this rose needs to be purchased grafted because own-root takes too long. But here's my OR after five years or so, my largest DA rose. I've seen some lovely photos of newer DA roses like Emily Bronte and Eustacia Vye which I hope is offered this coming year. So I'm looking forward to some new roses. Good luck with your choices! Ann

I'm not much help as I can't smell most fragrant roses (Sharifa Asma being the exquisite exception to that) but I can comment on potential for climbing in a cold zone. I grow or have grown most of the Austins you list - everything except Wedgewood Rose, Bathsheba, and Ancient Mariner. Among the rest of them that you list, the only one that reliably climbs for me is Crown Princess Margaretha and it almost never blooms unless it has surviving cane, and without snow cover it never does. So lots of limp long green canes but no blooms. The Generous Gardener hangs out under an arch and sticks a finger out to reach the arch most years by the end of the season, but it won't climb and has poor rebloom. Teasing Georgia is a big shrubby bush as is The Poet's Wife but not a climber form in my world. A Shropshire Lad is sending out a long cane in its third year and it has reached about 3 feet finally and might climb a bit long term, if you consider 6 feet climbing. It has a reputation for being a very stingy bloomer and none of my experience contradicts that. Strawberry Hill and St. Swithun might climb as they get more maturity, but I doubt The PIlgrim will however. Golden Celebration is supposed to be a good climber, but I can't get one to survive my winters so it would probably be smallish for you. None of these would begin to cover an arch however in my wildest dreams, except maybe CPM but she wouldn't bloom. Some of these roses are amazingly tiny, given that Austins usually do well for me. In about 4-5 years, Boscobel hasn't cleared 6 inches and I always wonder if it has actually survived every year. Winchester Cathedral is about the same height but younger, and Claire Austin never cleared 4-6 inches in 2-3 years before dying. My Abraham Darby lasted about 7 years (grafted from DA no less) and it was maybe a foot high at its best. I think it was a runt plant since a friend in town has a lovely 5X5 bush of Abe in her yard. You also asked for "meh" feedback, and Port Sunlight definitely falls in that category. Not an enthusiastic bloomer and it's a washed out cream color rather than that nice apricot in my zone. The Generous Gardener is muddy grey looking for me and tiny blooms. Princess Alexandra of Kent is in prime location and it has pretty long canes but in about 4 years I've never seen it bloom. Harlow Carr is one of only 4 roses out of 1000 that I've ever shovel pruned because it was downright ugly in bloom. The bush was gangly and scrawny and the blooms were quarter-sized mums on the ends of weirdly branched canes. It looked like something from Dr. Seuss - I even gave it 4 years to look better but I breathed a sigh of relief when I dug it out. Others love it, so YMMV. Jude is the wimpy infrequent bloomer that everyone else reports but it does survive for me. Evelyn and Eglantyne both need protection to survive my winters but they have nice fragrance that I can smell, though pretty tiny bushes. Princess Anne was planted at the same time near Olivia and she can't keep up with her at all - runty bush and no blooms yet at the end of her second year. My most impressive roses among those you list would be Olivia (impressing me mightily with bloom color, frequency and a huge 4' bush already in her 2nd year), Munstead Wood (that dark color to die for, compact 3' bush), The Poet's Wife (nice dark yellow that lasts and a decent sized bush), Teasing Georgia (a survivor in my cold spots and very large bush, though not a ton of rebloom and small flowers). Desdemona is too young to know but I'm looking forward to having her more mature. Heritage is a reliable and large 5' bush with pale flowers, though they don't last long. Scepter'd Isle lasts much better and has a deeper light pink color, but the scent is that like it or hate it myrrh. For additional Austins, I agree with Vapor that Molineux is among the best of his apricot/yellow roses, though I lost mine over winter when the graft failed about 7 years old. Tess survives fine for me but doesn't climb and I had to work hard to get Falstaff to survive a little. Heathcliff blooms a little but it's very short and doesn't recover well from our winters. I agree with Flowers on most of her reactions to the ones she mentions, though some of them don't survive well for me and are much shorter than she describes without snow cover. The Alnwick Rose and Spirit of Freedom get to a good 5' for me and bloom now and then. Tamora is supposed to be small as is Pretty Jessica but I've had them years and they're nice if tiny. I did quite like William Shakespeare 2000 for years before its graft failed, and I could even detect his fragrance. LEH simply will not survive my winters so Ben's lovely pictures won't apply to me Young Lycidias seems to have survived OK but he's still young. Lady of Shalott is quite nice as a modest sized apricot with terrific hardiness, as is Carding Mill (though a paler apricot). You're unlikely to get much consensus to help your decision, since we'll add as many roses to your list as we remove for failure to impress us. You'll clearly have to grow them all and tell us yourself! Cynthia

I mentioned the High Country Rose gift certificate but got zero response. One year I did that getting it as a birthday present 6 months later! But that didn't happen last year and I'm a afraid the feeling is I have enough roses and cuttings as it is. :-( oh well I don't have any more space where I can put them and care for anyway.