I really like climbers, so you must choose what you like! And do you have room for all the roses you have chosen? I hope so!

Katyajini, I have a few Austins and we're only one zone colder, so here's my 2 cents worth. Most of mine are own root, but some are grafted on Dr. Huey. I can't tell the difference. My soil is dense, hard, rocky alkaline clay. I amend heavily with compost. Hot, hot, hot summers and a deep snow cover in winter. Austins seem to like these conditions. I don't have any disease problems with them in a normal year. This year was exceptionally rainy and humid, and I had some black spot for the first time. They all have good winter cane survival with no protection. Generally, I have no complaints with Austins. Except for Jude. He refuses to cooperate.

Pinks...

Evelyn - I have it own root and grafted. No difference. As much as I love this rose, if I had to choose, I'd take Princess Charlene de Monaco instead, because of the amount of blooms. Thankfully, we can have both.

Eglantyne - get it! She has the most romantic looking blooms. Heavenly fragrance.

Princess Alexandra of Kent - huge perfumed blooms. Always healthy. Upright and full. One of Austin's hardiest.

Also in this category...

St. Swithun - upright, tallish, but not a climber here. Similar to Eglantyne in bloom and size.

Wildeve - unusual in that it has no fragrance, but blooms constantly and is healthy.

The Alnwick Rose - very upright. Not as fragrant. Smaller blooms, but nicely cup shaped. Always healthy.

Mary Magdalene - highly recommend. Very light pink blooms are ever changing from pink to peach with touches of yellow. Never the same. I love it.

Spirit of Freedom - own root and grafted, no difference. Very cupped, very full. Strong fragrance. Can climb, but mine are shrubs.

Royal Jubilee - blooms are like big Pomponella blooms. Very cupped and get fuller with age. Good fragrance, healthy. Thornless.

Yellows...

Golden Celebration - seems great for everyone but mine is scrawny. I wouldn't buy it again, but strong yellows aren't my favorites.

Jude - my third try is also a failure. Replacing next spring with another soft yellow, possibly Moonlight in Paris or Nefertiti.

Apricot...

Abraham Darby - love it. Good size bush. Similar to Evelyn. This is one that black spotted in our damp weather.

Also in this category...

Tamora - smaller than most Austins. Good repeat, healthy, huge blooms.

Ambridge Rose - a very favorite. Strong perfume. Nicely shaped, compact bush. Cupped.

Country Living - big pink/peach blooms on a nicely shaped, healthy bush. Stingy bloomer, so I wouldn't recommend.

Dark...

Munstead Wood - definitely get one. Huge, strongly perfumed.

Also recommend...

Wm. Shakespeare 2000 - velvety deep red with hints of purple. More languid than Munstead.

Young Lydicas - a favorite. Deep, dark, rosy mauve that is hard to describe. Hardly a break between flushes. Likes to lean and mingle, but gets stronger every year. Petal packed heavy blooms.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - a very pretty cool, deep red. I love the old fashioned rose fragrance. Tallish. Might climb if given a support. Mine is leaning on a small obelisk.

White/Cream...

Desdemona - can be white or cream or peach or pink depending on weather. Cupped blooms with an indescribable fragrance that I love.

Winchester Cathedral - one of my first Austins and I will always love it. It frequently produces pink and white blooms. Sometimes it's just one petal and once in awhile it's an entire bloom. Very nice fragrance, but not as strong as others. Well shaped bush.

Climbers...

Strawberry Hill - mine is growing as a shrub, but I think it would climb if given support.

St. Swithun - mine is growing as a shrub. Not sure if it would climb. Maybe.

Crown Princess Margareta - I'm trying to get it to grow along a picket fence but it wants to be a shrub. Lots of very pretty blooms, healthy. One of my best.

A few zones can cause such diverse behavior. Your Jude is the way it's supposed to look. It's beautiful in z7 for Diane, too. I don't recall seeing a good report on Jude in colder zones. That is one rose I am really disappointed about not being able to grow. I also removed Gertrude for the same reason. Those thorns were evil and I'm sure she stabbed me on purpose. Her perfume is one of the best. I removed Constance Spry, because she had a short spring bloom and was done. My Golden C has never, ever looked like yours, blooms or bush. Scraggly thing here. I don't get enough blooms to have even noticed if they blow quickly or not.

For a small yellow, I love Molineux in all his stages from the yellow bud to apricot shaded bloom that blends well with other colours. It's fairly healthy with a medium fragrance. I am growing small rooted cuttings of Teasing Georgia and Jayne Austin, so will have to wait until at least next year for a critique of those.

Eglantyne is one of my favourites for beauty and scent, if only she didn't defoliate after the first flush. It's one of the few I've considered spraying as I adore her otherwise. She will get tall in your zone and her canes can actually be bent horizontally to encourage more bloom. I have done this, but have never seen her mentioned as a candidate for doing so. I adore Scepter'd Isle, but along with Pretty Jessica, it is way too soon to judge these two.

I feel the reds are where the Austins shine, so consider a few. Darcey is lovely, but a defoliating mess after the first flush never fully regaining her leaves, unlike Eglantyne, although she continues to bloom naked. Of course, MW is a favourite with good reason. You won't regret this one, but don't expect the deep moody shades at summer's height. It tends toward fuchsia adding a certain vibrancy. Mine will also suffer from Chlorosis. I am also in the pro-Tess camp although this is another slight BSer. She and Falstaff, another favourite, grow as small climbers against a balustradem making an effective backdrop for pink roses. One rarely mentioned, but a favourite of mine that is starting to come into his own, is Heathcliff. He's small and bushy remaining healthy with enough water. He Blooms a lot and currently has several buds. This is a rose I would have expected to be more popular in areas where Austins grow large as his flowers last for a while on the bush and he hasn't exceeded his allotment. Mine is in full sun. For me, all the Austins do better with more sun due to BS.

I don't grow any others, but plan to get Olivia someday and am also growing cuttings of quite a few early Austins, but they are tiny. : )) I'll try to add some pics in a bit.

Going OT on Austins, I did want to suggest Curly Pink as a powder-puff of a rose with a crazy romantic look. I only have rooted cuttings, but have admired it in regional gardens for a long while.

Thank you so much Flowers, Ben and Vap. I need to digest this for a while...

BentT how are Evelyn and Abe Darby with black spot? These are some I am dying to try but they are rated as just merely “good” or “poor” health on the Austin site. If some “excellent” rated roses like Tranquility are huge bs messes in my harden I am concerned to try Abe. On the other hand at Helpmefind it days “susceptible to rust” and no mention of black spot. I bought Jude after seeing your and so far it is doing great. I would love to hear more about Abe Darby.

Every body knows my favorite pink is

Olivia, she is still blooming

Such a nice form and disease resistance phenomenal

Young Lycidis is another favorite

The color and the fragrance are Devine . His growth habit is a bit floppy though

I have 4 Desdamona and they repeat well and are very healthy

Teasing Georgia is pretty new but is really taking off

The blooms are so pretty

She is going to be a big girl

Teasing Georgia

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Young Lycidis

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Olivia

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

And Munstead, Wonky plant. delicious color and fragrance

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Munstead of course is unspeakably thorny. But nothing’s perfect. Also, for my money the fragrance cannot be beat.

Boscobel and Princess Alexander of Kent have my favorite salmon pink color. Royal Jubilee has a great globular form and is the most floriferous in my Northern California garden. Queen of Sweden is a pure and luminous delicate pink. These are my favorite.

Dianela,

My area gets a ton of blackspot so I do spray and manage to keep everyone blackspot free. I think if I didn’t spray my only choices would be whether I wanted my Knockout to be Red or Pink. So I can’t say how relatively resistant Evelyn and Abe are, just that they are fabulous growers and bloomers, and smell terrific.

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’m in zone 9 so can’t speak to winter hardiness, but of the ones you listed my favorites are:

Desdemona - graceful plant, pretty, fragrant blooms, sometimes takes on a lovely pink blush.

Evelyn - very fragrant, nice bloom color & shape, blooms last a long time.

Munstead Wood - as Kristine said, it’s a “wonky” plant - it’s awkward, thorny, and compact, with okay but not great disease resistance. But the blooms & fragrance are gorgeous - totally worth it!

Not on your list:
Another vote for Molineux!!! Good consistent repeat bloom, nice yellow with an occasional apricot blush, does great own root.

I also really like Bishop’s Castle, if you can grow it in a pot or an elevated planter - it has a lovely draping habit & a beautiful, strong fragrance. Also does great own root. But, if you’re in a cold zone, that might not work for you.

Good luck!!!

Cynthia thank you so much for posting this! My experience is about the same here - I see all the pics of these big blooming shrubs, thought I was doing something wrong. Huge difference between warmer zones with low humidity, and Z5 with high humidity and little snow cover.

Olivia Rose Austin does not get as much blackspot as my other Austins. Highly recommended for beautiful blooms, nice foliage, repeat bloom.

Eglantyne defoliates from blackspot, but quite hardy. It forms a large, dense, twiggy shrub, very thorny.

Princess Alexandra of Kent has a compact growth habit, a fabulous rose with elegant blooms.

The Generous Gardener is a tall shrub here at 4-5 feet, but in your zone perhaps it could form a climber. It has a lovely strong fragrance.

The Wedgewood Rose is a four foot shrub, with a somewhat sprawling habit. It's hardy and repeats better than some of my other Austins. The fragrance is a mix of rose and musk. It's quite hardy.

Mortimer Sackler is one of my best Austins for hardiness, graceful habit, repeat and sweet fragrance. It's 5 feet tall here, with an arching habit.

Olivia Rose Austin

With a petal from William Shakespeare 2000

The Generous Gardener

Glad to be helpful, folks. Krista between your descriptions and great photos Wedgwood Rose and Mortimer Sackler are definitely on my wish list. Now to find them available...

Cynthia

Although you are asking about Austins and are trying to limit your choices, are you considering "almost-Austins"? You already have one, Bolero, has Sharifa Asma as a parent. Sonia Rykiel has Abraham Darby as a parent. Nahema has Heritage as a parent.

You may also narrow down you list by seeing and smelling them in person, if they are growing in your area. If something on your list grows non-blooming octopus canes, or grows in a way you don't like, or is horribly disease-prone in your area, it would be easy to remove from your list. Likewise, if the fragrance is bad or just not to your taste. Youve probably noticed all over this forum that roses perform very differently in different areas, so it is important to see how it grows in your area. Even that is not a guarantee, as they say, YMMV.

This is so hard. The more I look at these roses I would like to grow most of them but I know I cant. Is it the way they write the descriptions? The photography for me is just like bees to nectar!! I am so grateful to you guys! I value your opinion so much. The more input I get the it gets a little easier. I am looking around too....

OK BenT I have to ask about your blackspot. You are obviously an extremely knowledgeable gardener. That is without question. This is in no way a brag but I really get very little blackspot in Dallas. Do you think the difference in Plano vs Dallas, Park Cities? ( I identify where in Dallas because I was told PCities had its own climate different from other Dallas locations- who knows if that is right, I am a Houston gal)

I do go into summer with clean plants because I spray twice before June/ then again in Sept if we have cool nights and fog. Otherwise rarely. So I am saying 4 x's a yr maybe 5. We have such a long growing season that seems minimal to me. I do find my spraying will increase if we have weeks of rainy weather, but this has happened very seldom in my 12 yrs in Dallas. I also have considered that Dallas is just so much easier than humid Houston that it just seems as though I never spray . Maybe I should actually count my sprays as it could be I am comparing rather than remembering. I think I slept with my sprayer back in H. Please I would love your thoughts on this.

I just posted pictures of Dark Lady on the thread about James L Austin. She is a winner for me in Dallas. Currently blooms are larger than Paul Neuron and he can get gigantic flowers. Worth looking into I think, one of my bushes get no more than 4 hrs of sun. She lives happily with an Endless Summer hydrangea so that tells you. She is rarely if ever without a sprays of 4-6" blooms. 4" in summer.