I haven't gotten any of the brand new ones yet but I am holding out for Gabriel oak

I think they are DJD, GO and Eustacia Vye.

I've given up on being Austin's new variety guinea pig for So Cal. So many of them change drastically for our climate. I wait for a few years to get other reports before wasting any more space.

I got Vanessa Bell and Dame Judi Dench in Feb this year. I like both but somewhat prefer Vanessa Bell. VB is the more vigorous of the two roses. DJD will work if you like orange/apricot bloom that is more informal, rosette type. I will post pictures next.

DJD

I want to add that Carding Mill is a very nice apricot rose, and it grows particularly well in Mediterranean climate. Elsewhere outside of California, it can get a lot of blackspots, but Carding Mill own root has been doing very well for me. For apricot color, I actually prefer Carding Mill to DJD. perhaps I like the bloom better. Here is Carding Mill

Those are lovely photos, Rose. I especially like the color of Carding Mill.

Vapor, I had read on the forum, I believe, that Eustacia Vye wasn't coming to the US next year. This is the one I want, so I was disappointed. Have you heard a different story about EV? Thanks. Diane

No. The name just stuck in my mind. I should erase that if it's not the case so as not to raise any hopes. I think someone called and wrote about it on Marlorena's post about the new ones in her yard. Thanks for the correction.

Vanessa Bell is a lovely color of yellow

Wow Vanessa is such a beautiful rose!! It looks like Judi is more orange than I realized so I’m glad I asked . Wonder how Vanessa stacks up to Roald Dahl ?

I wish David Austin would hurry up and get their site in order so I knew what i needed to prepare for .

clearly I’m in total denial about how busy I’ll be !!

Love the cupped shape of VB and the color of CM.

Oh no. I wanted Eustacia Vye next year.

I also have Roald Dahl, and will say VB is as vigorous as Roald Dahl. I have VB in 5 hours of morning sun. I am afraid that all day sun here in Northern California will burn its delicate petals. VB is also really healthy so far. I think Melorena has a really nice thread on It recently.

I remembered also from another thread that said Austin’s new release for next year includes Mill of the Floss and Emily Bronte. No Eustasia Vye. I was disappointed too as i have already reserved a spot for EV.

Dame Judi Dench & Roald Dahl were new to me this year & I prefer RD.

Roald Dahl= vigorous & floriferous out of gate, stays compact, pleasing proportions/looks great in landscape, good moderate fruity fragrance, good disease resistance no spray, few thorns.

Dame Judi = longer thinner canes that don’t (yet) hold up fewer smaller blooms, good moderate fruity fragrance, good disease resistance no spray, sharp thorns.

For context I’ve trialed 2 dozen plus Austin varieties over ~20 years. I’ve tossed 2/3 of them & bought multiples of the half dozen or so I love.

I’ll still give DJD another season or 2 but suspect I’ll replace her with something else down the line. Already plan on purchasing another RD :)

My Dame Judi put out a few leaves and then died. A rep from DA told me they have had many reports of issues with it and recommended I choose a different rose as a replacement. My experience was a little disappointing, but DA gets props for their customer service.

They had a test plot with Roald Dahl at Grace Rose Farm. They also grow Carding Mills in their fields. I was able to see both blooms when I was there a few weeks ago. They both have similar color and shape, but I find Carding Mills to have an amazing myrrh fragrance while RD was just a mild fragrance. Dan, our tour guide, said they both had similar behavior in our climate. I want CM!

I love love love my Carding Mill. I'm in Santa Barbara -- don't get as much direct sun as roses usually like due to my Coast Live Oaks nearby -- and we get our share of May Gray and June Gloom, but CM is a super star for me. I tried James L. Austin this year -- not a huge re-bloomer for me over the summer, but spring was drop dead gorgeous. HOping he perks up for a round of fall blooms. My super star Austins so far are CM, Poet's Wife...and new to me this year (though not a new one) was Munstead Wood. Oh.My.Goodness. What a fantastic color and rebloomer. Smaller blooms than I'd love, but so so so pretty. And I'm pretty happy with my Thomas a Beckett, too.

Deborah, now you have me lusting after The Poets Wife! Helen has some gorgeous pictures of it on HMF. Grace Rose Farms is just a 40 minute drive up the coast from Santa Barbara where you are. Carding Mills in their fields was so very happy and healthy and they use only organic sprays for bugs/fungi so they pick varieties that do well without a lot of help.

Stephainie if you took "The Tour" at GRFs I'd love to hear about it if you have time in the future. ))

I also got Dame Judi Dench this year - I was super excited about it because I love apricot roses & it’s listed as a musk hybrid on the DA site, which tend to do better in my yard. Overall, I would say it‘s interesting & I‘m not sorry I tried it, but it‘s not destined to become a favorite.

Pros:

• Very good disease resistance, especially for an Austin
• Nice spring flush, especially for a first year plant
• Soft apricot color, which complements other garden colors nicely
• Some interesting draping & bloom clusters

Cons:

• Despite being grafted, the bare root was very runty, with short roots & canes - DA customer service said that was “normal for this rose”, but as for one of the posts above, sounds like they were having issues with it (mine did take root & grow)
• Floppy canes - looked nice draped over the side of a pot or when staked, but might end up in the dirt if planted in the ground?
• Color had more yellow in it than I anticipated
• Blooms age to that “pom-pom” shape, which isn’t my favorite
• Thorny (long, prominent thorns, as opposed to lots of small thorns)
• Did well in spring & through the first part of summer, but then just sat there. But, I have it in a relatively short pot & it looked yellowed & chlorotic, so that could very likely have been my fault!

I’ll post some pictures in the next comment, if Houzz lets me....

DJD pictures - all are from May to July:

Cyndita your DJD is gorgeous. Could you please tell me about her health? Do you get blackspot normally?

Thanks, dianela! I don’t normally get blackspot beyond just a few leaves here & there, so can’t speak to that. But, I live within the coastal “marine layer” (think cool, grey, & windy), so get a lot of powdery mildew, rust, & what I think is anthracnose. Most of my yard is also partly shady in various ways - DJD was in one of the better spots, that gets morning & mid-day sun, with afternoon shade.

So, definitely different than the warm, humid southeast summers that you experience! But, DJD did hold up well to the diseases in this area.

Stephanie -- I just looked up Grace Rose Farms! Wow! That's only 40 minutes from me! I am so excited to go there now. Is the tour worth the price tag? I just did a tour yesterday of THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM (yes, of the documentary that came out this last summer). What a delightful space. No roses, but did meet Emma the pig, the chickens, the cows, the ducks, and the owners. We spent 2 1/2 hours there. Hard to re-enter real world today!

Another new rose from David Austin, introduced in the US in 2017, is the Ancient Mariner. I like this one even more than the Olivia Rose.

Contrast with the look of Olivia Rose

There are only a few HMF entries on TAM, but the review is positive as "excellent". TAM looks rather like the new rose Scentuous from Tantau discussed in another thread.

Thank you Rose Lai. I could use more of that colour! : )) I wonder how it does in my neck of the woods.

Vaporvac and Deborah, I purchased the GRF tour when they first started offering them about half the price as now. It was a fabulous tour that includes lunch and making your own bouquet of roses from what they have in their coldroom that day. So considering the price of a bouquet purchased online, the price is right and upped to reflect that. They are in the middle of making a new display garden that we didn’t go into, but it was at least and acre or two. They also have an AirB&B guest house that they were absolutely filling with bouquets of roses as they were getting ready for guest to arrive. A huge bouquet in each bedroom and two in the living room. The tour of the guest house had me swooning as it was filled with the scent of roses. It would be a lovely weekend getaway for any rose lover. Grace and Ryan were out of town that weekend, but their right hand man, Dan, gave the tour. All the staff there were the loveliest and sweetest people. It was a day to remember!

Thank you! I will have to do this. Woohoo! I can imagine the tour followed by wine tasting as a perfect day!

I also posted this on the more recent thread re the new DA’s for 2020, but just to follow-up here, it looks like Dame Judi Dench is currently no longer available on the DA US website. Based on the posts above, sounds like it didn’t do well here & they had too many problems with it? (Just a guess.)