It really is perfection—I just love your photos, too! :-)

Thank you Perma. This rose is amazing. Helen

Goodness, what a gorgeous rose!

Wow WOW =) This is more than perfect. Does it bloom at a lot?

Dianela, yes, the repeat is excellent. Helen

Beautiful pictures! Thank you again.

Ooo, I like this one

Seeing pictures like yours, bayareagirl,really make me want this rose. But I'm not very enthusiastic about Austins as a group,and am concerned about this one's ability to cope with the heat and drought of my garden. All those petals! really beautiful, but how much water and fertilizer are needed to produce and maintain flowers like that?

I think you make a great point, Bart. I do know I read about SoF blooming well in high humid heat, which makes it exceptional, but I don’t think most Austins do well in high dry heat, without lots of extra inputs. Another reason to grow the right roses in the right climates, or be prepared to work really hard to keep it going. :-)

Bart, DA loves water and ferterlizer. As long as you water them daily , you will be fine. In Summers , water them twice . I learn that alot from Lisa. Just place them closest to your door for easy access. If i remember correctly, Lisa also put water absorb crytals that gives out water when soil gets dried. You got to ask her that question bec i did not pay much attention since we get tons of rain. They love water and whenever i water my DA roses they get little extra.

Try one and also check the web for their caring on DA site. If it grows in CA and Fl, it should grow for you too.

Helen, your rose is beautiful. That is one rose i dont have and i hope to get her.

Bart, roses with petal packed blooms need sun and water to produce that many petals. My area has no rain from April to November so I have to water twice a week if they are in the ground. I water once per day or once per 2 days for roses in pots depend on the weather. I should fertilize my roses more to get more blooms out of them but with a busy schedule, I fertilize them once or twice per year with Alaska Fish Emulsion (got it from Home Depot) and once every few months with Osmocote Plus (got it from Amazon). I have a few favorite roses in my garden, so I gave them extra water and fertilizer and they will bloom more.

Roses are pretty smart. If you give them less of their needed resources, they will use those to survive. If you give them enough of their needed resources, they will maximize their potential and give you a lot of blooms. I think Diane gives her roses all that they need, so her roses like Julia Child, Jude the Obscure... are amazing.

You should check with people in your area to see how Spirit of Freedom performs in their gardens. If it doesn't work well, there are always alternative roses. Helen

SoF does awesome here in our heat and humidity. Hardly any black spot (no spray) and it hasn't balled for me, during cool rainy early spring weather - like we had this past spring, which is excellent for a 200+ petaled rose. Its definitely a climber here (grafted on Doc Huey).

I dont see it listed at DA. I have heard different reports on if it will be available from them again. I think we need to put the pressure on them and request it lol.

Sultry, I called and they it wasn’t available yet. Said to call back beginning of December so I’m hoping the girl on the phone knows what she’s talking about.

She didn‘t say a hundred percent they would have it, just that they’ll know for sure what they have then. Fingers crossed!

Oh, I should probably have said I called the third week in October.....

beautiful pictures of a beautiful rose, Helen. I enjoyed this thread about SoF and Bart's comments about Charles Rennie McIntosh as well--I have a few Austins but they are not thrilling me and to stay in my small garden a rose needs to speak to me in some way... I will look into these two.

The bloom form is amazing, I love the petal packed look.

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