Linrose, you should try grafted Austins - get them from DA (on Dr Huey). I've grown a ton of Austins over the years and had only one that failed - it never made out of dormancy: Trevor Griffiths. All the others, most of them grafted, some own root, have done extremely well. They all need a good and regular amount of food (and water in hot and dry conditions) to perform at their best. I also always amended the planting holes thoroughly since we had heavy clay soil in NC. The main problem for all roses in the US Southeast, even more so the coastal Southeast, is blackspot. Even my teas and noisettes suffered from it if I didn't spray fairly regularly. Bourbons, HPs, HTs, floribundas, all got it without protection. To the original poster. If you're willing to spray (and amend the soil, if needed, and fertilize, of course), you should be able to grow any rose without sacrificing anything in the looks department. If you don't want to spray and don't want roses to defoliate from BS you should probably be a bit more picky. You could also try some Romanticas - a friend of mine in coastal NC thinks very highly of them. There's one Austin you should stay away from unless you're willing to spray religiously, and that's Tamora. Mine were very beautiful and great bloomers, but they would completely defoliate when not sprayed (although they were vigorous enough to grow back their leaves rather quickly). The Austins that did especially well for me when I lived in NC (which of course is not the same as coastal SC) were the following: William Shakespeare 2000 (a must) Sharifa Asma (a must) Heritage Molineux Pat Austin (a must, but blooms can wilt in strong afternoon sun) Abraham Darby Crocus Rose The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild Golden Celebration (a must) Fair Bianca Radio Times Portmeirion Jubilee Celebration Sophy's Rose Jude the Obscure Christopher Marlowe Teasing Georgia (needs to time to develop good rebloom, but is absolutely stunning when in full bloom) William Morris James Galway (totally BS and PM free even without spray, very beautiful, but very slow rebloom) The Prince (not a very strong plant, but a good bloomer with terrific scent) Extremely beautiful is also Crown Princess Margareta, but if not sprayed relatively regularly she'll catch BS if she's in a moist location. We live in southeast England now (Cambridge), and interestingly enough, the roses I grow here, Austins and others, perform very similarly compared to ones I had in NC. Among those I find also excellent are: Lady of Megginch The Prilgrim Lady Emma Hamilton (a must, and although it will catch BS without any spray, it does not at all defoliate here) Claire Austin (very healthy, always in bloom even in its first year) Prospero (stays small, but blooms all the time) Summer Song is a beauty of most unusual color with a fantastic banana scent, but its rebloom is a bit slow and it's not that BS resistant. Young Lycidas also looks promising in terms of performance (and is very beautiful and heavily scented), but it's a brand new rose which I got last summer before its official release in the fall, and it's still too early to really tell. Anyway, I hope this helps a little. Andrea

Thanks everyone! I guess most of everything "leaps" on the third year. Thank you Kate for introducing me to David Austins roses with your recommendation of QoS, Lady of Shalott and Munstead Wood. Got hooked on them and then some. :) Ingrida, the orange flower is Oriental Poppy. I don't know the name of it but it returns every year. If you like it, I can send a clump of it to you next year for postage. It is a rapid increaser but not invasive. You can easily pull them.

I don't have any Austins actually together--instead they are scattered all over my backyard in beds with other kinds of roses and other flowers and bushes. However, I do have Munstead Wood not too far from the climbing Austin The Wedgewood--its light pink looks very nice in contrast to MW's dark velvet red-purple. And on the other side of MW, not too far away, are a couple Molineux bushes--another excellent contrast (golden/yellow/apricot vs dark velvet red-purple). I also have Lady of Shalott planted about 10 feet behind the rose bed in front of it. Since the Lady grows 6ft tall (or taller), I can usually easily see her above the bright reds like Double Delight and Braveheart in the bed in front of her. It surprises me sometimes how wonderfully well that combination shines out from afar when I come out of my back door. My various pink Austins (medium to very light pink) all blend in well with whatever combination of flowers I plant them among. Hope that helps. Kate

mustbnuts - I think those are beautiful! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. You reminded me that when I have friends smell this rose, some say that it doesn't have a lot of fragrance, which I find surprising because I can smell it from where I am standing while they are sniffing it with their nose buried in the bloom. So different people might experience it differently. Some of my first blooms 4 years ago: In the heat today (close to 100). May 29 this year: May 9th this year they were little pink cabbages that didn't open up more than this. This is typical for the first flush for me. So as dianela says, the form varies a lot. Even the color varies quite a bit.