Great preliminary report, Vicky. I only have a few of these and two are new. First I want to say, I'm sorry that you lost your Dad. I know you are greatly comforted in knowing where he is now:) I don't really do red roses, but I have investigated Rouge Royale because my sons seem to like red roses, and those Romantica Roses by Meilland do so well for me. I'll add what I've observed so far in the roses that I have from your list. Earth Angel: Impulse buy at Lowe's. Potted, big healthy looking bush. Fell in love with the pictures someone posted over on the regular Rose forum. It is still in it's purple Kordes pot.(I know, bad rose lady!) The blooms did bleach out too much in full sun, but once I moved the pot to afternoon shade, I got the blooms I bought it for. They are absolutely perfect! The scent is amazing, too. I did get some funny colored leaves, that looked exactly like iron deficiency. I gave it a bit of ironite, and it cleared up. Others told me later that Earth Angel sometimes does this in response to a sudden overwatering, too. I'm not getting many blooms, but right now I've moved EA into even more shade, just because it's so hot. I'm more concerned with keeping my potted roses alive right now, than bloom production. Once it cools off and I settle this rose in, I believe I'm going to be crazy about it. I cut every bloom it gave me, and kept it by my bedside. Fabulous! Cream Veranda: I have two of them. They are in large baskets with a water reservoir, hanging at the front entrance to my home. I've had them about 2ish years, purchased as quart sized, own root, from Wayside Gardens end of season sale. They have stayed a nice size for the baskets, and are fairly healthy. They just get the usual spring powdery mildew, like many other roses do around here. They don't really seem to bloom in big flushes for me, rather 2-6 blooms on each most of the time. That's fine with me, always some color by the front entrance arches that way. Princess Charlene de Monaco: I only purchased this one in January or February this year, potted from a local nursery. I already love it! You are absolutely right about PCdM wanting to grow straight up and bloom up high on top of those long canes. I decided I'd had enough of that, and I wanted more blooms for cutting and arrangements. This IS a florists rose after all, and I want enough blooms to do something with. She's planted in a raised bed, in full hot sun. She had the usual spring bout of powdery mildew, but shook it off on her own. I tied her canes to trellises about 4 weeks ago. I now have something like 15-20 laterals, each with at least one bud. All that happened in just 4 weeks! There is a post with the details and photos on the regular Roses forum titled, "I'm liking my Princess Charlene de Monaco". This is a great rose for cutting. I would suggest training/tying the canes sideways to produce lots of laterals. Then cut the buds early in the morning when they show color. They will last a long time in the vase, and have beautiful color and fragrance. I'm considering purchasing a second one. I don't have two of many roses, actually only two. I have the two Cream Veranda's for the matching baskets, and I have two Violets Pride roses. They only reason I have two Violets Prides, is because the second one came as part of $13 surprise rainbow of roses collection. Me buying a second Princess Charlene de Monaco is saying a lot about how much I like this one. Try some in a vase! The Pilgrim: I can third the stinginess of The Pilgrim, here in So CA. Mine was also purchased bare root from Wayside Gardens. I think it was bought 5 or 6 years ago. Yes, it is in a difficult spot with blazing afternoon sun. I saw its first bloom last year, and I've gotten a handful of them this year. I'm hoping things will improve shortly, as the adjacent park removed a huge eucalyptus tree that was nearby, and I had Queen Palms and a Texas Privet hedge removed this past spring. I am finally seeing more growth in the past 6 months, than I've seen in the past 5 years, so I'm not giving up yet. Kate, how long are you willing to give your Pilgrim? I'm willing to give mine another year, due to the improved conditions, but that's it. If it doesn't wow me next spring or summer/fall, it's out of here. I don't shovel prune anything in haste, but 7 or 8 years is plenty time to show me what he can do. Vicky, count yourself lucky. At least you've seen some of the Pilgrims blooms already. I didn't see a single one until it was almost 5 years old. And then, it really was a single ONE:) I've seen great pictures of The Pilgrim loaded with blooms, so surely it must bloom well somewhere, for someone? Well, those are the ones I have here in S CA. Please keep us updated on how they are doing, Vicky. And please do check out the Princess Charlene de Monaco thread. I think you could get more roses out of her, and they are best appreciated up close in a vase:) Lisa

I already received and planted my 9 Alnwick roses from DA this spring. I have AL arriving from palatine some times this month. Ordered M Isaac C from Heirloom own root and one from David Austin grafted to compare. Also from heirloom Laguna and Antique 89. I really thought I was done ordering stuff for this year, but then I decided I really need to try and get some roses in the ground now so when I am done with residency I can have a more mature garden. So here is what I ended up with. Also got some Christopher Marlow they had left over.

A1an, I haven’t heard anything yet regarding bloom color, but that’s a really interesting idea!! you should start a comparison thread! My knowledge is pretty rudimentary, but what I have learned so far to echo the others: that own-root can be helpful for the northern climates, due to less chance of losing the graft during harsh winter. However, multiflora rootstock is also supposed to add a degree of improved winter hardiness to the scion. Additionally, the bud unions on grafted roses have a high fail rate after a few years in general, so you could potentially shorten the lifespan of the Rose. (You will sometimes read experienced forum members say things about their older roses like “it must have gone own-root by now.”) Dr. Huey was a climber, so those that are grafted to him, particularly Austins, will get taller than own-root counterparts, wanting to climb. I have read from some rose growers I follow on Instagram, that multiflora grafted roses produce bigger and more abundant blooms than those grafted to Huey. I don’t know if that is really something that is commonly agreed upon, though. The big concern with Multiflora is that it doesn’t do well in alkaline soil, basically dampening off. I don’t know what the pH cutoff for this is. Unfortunately, a whole heck of the US is alkaline clay. Multiflora can tolerate wet soil better than Huey(it still doesn’t LIKE it). Consensus seems to be that own-root will catch up to grafted in 2-3 years’ time. In general, however, a lot of DA roses that are own-root just don’t do as well as those grafted, even in the context of time. Presumably due to their extensive breeding programs placing higher priority on other factors. (Which is why, I’m almost every interview he does, Michael Marriott explains why DA wedding roses aren’t available to the general public). If you get the bug badly like I did, and are interested in the more rare roses, or love the French style Delbards/Massads/Tantaus like Diane and I do, you will almost always have to go own-root with those. (I’m so excited for my Versigny I can’t stand it!) Palatine does have some on multiflora, though(I have La Rose de Molinard coming and am very excited). One poster suggested above K&M and Cool roses, however those are grafted to fortuniana, which will not survive in my Zone, 6A. If any of this is incorrect though, the experienced ladies and gentlemen here will set it straight. The knowledge of this forum a truly amazing, and everyone is so kind here!! Diane, we should absolutely compare! I purchased an own-root Quicksilver from Reagan last year, and it went to work just steadily putting down roots(or so I think, because it didn’t grow much). Your roses are always so perfect, I’m sure they will be stunning regardless!

Summers that DOES sound like a dream home for sure. That is going to be spectacular. You can set up a green house and have all kinds of awesome things also in there. What a lovely place that is going to be. I am super excited for you. Vapor unfortunately Kew gardens does get BS here when I don’t spray. To be fair it keeps blooming and I do not think 🤔 i has completely defoliated but not clean like Darlow’s enigma. It has few thorns and it forms a very nicely shaped bush. I will stop spraying it and see what happens and report back. (I have quit spraying certain roses to test them in order to determine if they will qualify to be added to my no spray small garden at the lake). So far spirit of freedom, Olivia, Bathsheba, Claire, Wollerton old hall, Emily, Roal Dahl and Wedgwood are clean enough to get a spot. I much as I love gardening I can barely keep up with one so the other place needs to be lower maintenance.