Jaime, for me, the best Austin bloomers are Golden Celebration, Munstead Wood, Tamora, and Boscobel. I have two Munsteads, and they have stiff, thorny canes--they don't drape. Diane/nanadoll

Sorry, I wasn’t clear - Diane is correct that the canes on MW are stiff & don‘t drape! What I meant to say is that the flowers on mine tend to nod, which to me can look pretty in a pot. Here’s a MW in a container from last year:

Thanks everyone. I have Munstead wood and love thr flowers but it doesn’t do well where I have it. Maybe moving it to a pot in full sun is thr right idea!

Harlow Carr blooms pretty much continuously for me.

Agree with Munstead Wood as OWN-ROOT in a container & blooms best in full sun. My 29 Austins as own-root ARE MUCH SMALLER than rose parks' Austins as grafted-on-Dr.Huey. Most of my own-root Austins are 10 to 9 year-old.

How continuous-blooming they are depending on how much acidic rain I get for the pale leaves Austins, and how much alkaline tap-water & potassium fertilizer I give for the dark-green leaves (prefer higher pH).

Below is a list of 29 OWN-ROOT Austin roses, plus 1 grafted on Dr.Huey for the past 10 years in my zone 5a shady garden with heavy alkaline clay & 38 to 40" of acidic rain in short summer & 7 months of DRY winter. Dry periods in summer alternate with heavy rain, plus spring flood. Windchill factor down to -20 to -30 F below zero in winter. pH of rain here is acidic like the East coast at pH 4.5.

1) Lilian Austin .. always healthy bought in 2011. Nice scent, killed it due to nasty thorns that poked me when I deadhead the blooms. It's small as own-root in my garden, but HUGE at rose-park as grafted-on-Dr.Huey. Less petals but needs full-sun & long pause between flushes.

2) Charles Darwin ... healthy but stingy in hot & dry & bought in 2012. Gave away since the blooms look like used-toilet paper. Low-thorn & pale leaves so it won't bloom unless fluffy soil or tons of acidic rain.

3) Scepter'd Isle .. healthy & dark-green leaves & gets HUGE as own-root & bought in 2012. Gave away with scent gone in hot weather. Blooms better than Charles Darwin.

4) St. Cecilia .. healthy & compact bush. LOVE ITS fantastic myrrh scent. VERY HEALTHY with pale leaves. Small size best for pot. Continuous blooming since blooms last long.

5) Wise Portia .. lots of blooms in partial shade, healthy, strong scent in cool weather only. Dark-green leaves & compact growth & very prickly. Continuous blooming.

6) Radio Times .. big thorny bush but fantastic damask scent. healthy the first 6 years. Easy-bloomer in partial shade after 10 years. Prefer alkaline soil and DOES NOT LIKE TOO MUCH ACIDIC RAIN, needs fast drainage. Continuous blooming.

7) Golden Celebration ... healthy the first 5 years but decline as 10th-year own root. Amazing scent but long pause between flushes. Likes good drainage but with 24/7 moisture & alkaline.

8) Christopher Marlowe ... need heavy dose of sulfate of potash to control octopus canes. Need full sun & need moist 24/7 & alkaline like Golden Cel. to stay healthy. Long pause in between flushes & stingy like Golden Cel.

9) Evelyn. ALWAYS HEALTHY since 2012, tons of blooms .. likes alkaline clay & big and spreading bush. Blooms last long on the bush & need full sun. Many blooms with very short pause in between.

10) William Morris, best in sandy soil, but NOT in clay, died in its 1st winter & need full-sun.

11) Mary Magdalene: pale leaves & ALWAYS HEALTHY since 2011, super-thorny with frankincense wafting scent. Small bush but TOO PRICKLY for pot. Very short pause in between flushes.

12) The Dark Lady. Big blooms on compact bush. Bush needs constant fertilizer to stay bushy, otherwise it's a few sticks. It has Rugosa heritage so it needs fast-draining & loamy soil Always healthy. Wafting old rose scent. Compact for pot but stingier than W.S. 2000.

13) Princess Anne. Huge thorny bush, 3 distinct flushes with pausing in between & lots of blooms in partial shade. Not much scent. Pale leaves can take lots of acidic rain.

14) Pat Austin. LOVE IT even after 10 years. Short pause in between flushes and long blooming. Dark-green but glossy leaves like it wet & alkaline. Tall but compact.

15) Lady of Shalott. Huge thorny bush, stingy in partial shade. Small blooms. Always healthy for the past 5 years with pale leaves. Not much blooms in partial shade like Crown Princess Mag.

16) Crown Princess mag. LOVE it even after 9 years. HUGE BUSH but blooms are gorgeous with best fruity scent. Dark-green leaves prefer alkaline pH. Bloom well in partial shade & need tons of water.

17) Jude the Obscure. I tried this 4 times as own-roots .. bought it TWICE as own-root, and a friend gave 2 rootings. Most wimpy ever as own-root, kept dying in 2nd winter. Jude died on Andrea in zone 7, England. Pale leaves & best with acidic rain. Tiny & stingy as own-root.

18) Eglantyne. Amazing scent, tried this TWICE as own-root. Band size didn't survive winter, but gallon-size did, then died after 2 winters. Many reported stingy as own-root. Tiny as own-root thus best grafted.

19) Munstead Wood. LOVE it as own-root. Constant bloomer & always healthy. Dense & many thistles but compact bush. Pale leaves like acidic rain. Blooms best in full-sun.

20) Sharifa Asma: LOVE its fantastic scent. This is best in fluffy & loamy & wet soil. Most tiny among my Austin roses. Pale leaves like acidic rain. Bloom only with tons of acidic rain.

21) Carding Mill: LOVE this bush, but it's most black-spot prone. It blooms so much that potassium is depleted. This needs lots of fertilizer to stay healthy. Compact but tall.

22) Queen Nefertiti: Very thorny. it's a child of Tamora and Lilian Austin so it needs excellent drainage. Mine was in heavy clay so it dropped all its leaves with recent heavy rain. Dug up recently and fixed my clay with sand. My experience with thorny roses: need fast drainage.

23) Queen of Sweden: Gave it away, tiny blooms that shatter with zero scent. Tall bush that shot up to 5 feet. It's VERY HEALTHY but needs tons of acidic rain to produce blooms (like Kordes roses).

24) William Shakespeare 2000, MOST FAVORITE AUSTIN, most compact & always blooming and MOST HEALTHY, never see any diseases for the past 10 years. Blooms last long on the bush and up to 5 days in the vase. Pale leaves need acidic rain. Needs partial shade.

25) Darcey Bussell: Zero scent & but bloomed lots in partial shade & VERY HEALTHY. Got winter-killed since I made the hole too acidic with pine bark & got flooded with acidic rain in winter. Don't miss it. Dark leaves prefer alkaline. Compact for pot. Continuous blooming.

26) James Galway: VERY HEALTHY but SUPER TALL in partial shade. Bloom only with tons of acidic rain, amazing scent of carnation. Long pause between flushes.

27) Tess of the d'Urbervilles: VERY HEALTHY, nice-red color, needs more sun to bloom than 4 hours. Blooms have a nice-myrrh scent, it's a keeper & LOVE IT. Pale leaves can take lots of acidic rain. Grows tall as own-root.

28) A Shoprshire Lad: WORST AUSTIN EVER AS OWN-ROOT !! It has very dark-green leaves so it prefers alkaline pH. It's low thorn so it wants soaking wet 24/7 but NOT acidic rain. Acts like a once-bloomer. It black spotted during acidic rain (spent 1 hour digging for drainage), but improved when I topped it with bio-char (pH 13). Jay-Jay in the Netherlands with DRY pH 8 soil (lots of rocks) stated that Tamora and A Shopshire Lad are his best performers (as grafted). Tamora dropped all its leaves at alkaline-clay rose-park with our spring flood, while their other 1,200 roses were healthy. Tamora can't take our heavy rain (more than 1" per day).

29) The Squire: SUPER-THORNY. Best red-color that lasts long on the bush, can't detect any scent. The bush is a few bare sticks in dry weather, same with The Dark Lady. Bush is bare and leggy & loses leaves in hot & dry. Dark-green leaves bloom well with alkaline tap-water.

30) Young Lycidas. THIS IS THE ONLY AUSTIN that I have as grafted-on-Dr.Huey, since I could not get it as own-root. Leaves are crinkled like Sharifa Asma and also wimpy & tiny as a plant. It died in its 1st winter. The blooms are prettier than Princess Ann with amazing scent. Long pause in between flushes. Dr.Huey declines drastically in wet & freezing heavy clay in zone 5a. Nearby rose park (alkaline clay) replaces their Austin roses in 2nd or 3rd year (grafted-on-Dr.Huey).

StrawChicago in zone 5a with dense alkaline clay, 38" to 40" of heavy acidic rain in short summer, but dry & long winter, and flash floods in spring.

I would add Crocus Rose blooms pretty much all summer, although not nearly in the same quantity of blooms as in spring.

My Poet's Wife blooms almost non stop. My Desdemona, Claire Austin, and Darcey Bussell are new but seem to be in bloom most of the time too.

Oh and how could I forget Queen Nefertiti...always blooming!

Another vote for Queen Nefertiti, nonstop blooms and gorgeous fragrance.

Among my 29 own-root Austins, here's my vote for CONTINUOUS and most blooms in dense & heavy alkaline clay with humid summer alternate with heavy rain, zone 5.

Below Wise Portia as 8th-year-own-root in only 4 hours of sun (twice more blooms than Queen Nefertiti). Perhaps Queen Nefertiti needs full sun like Munstead Wood or loamy soil?

W.S. 2000 below is a constant-bloomer as 10th-year-own-root in 4 hours of morning sun:

Radio Times is also a constant bloomer as 10th-year-own-root in 4 hours of sun thanks to its being aggressive as own-root, forming a huge & wide bush:

Pat Austin, 10-year-own-root is a constant bloomer with very short pause, in 4 hours of sun.

Munstead Wood as 6th-year-own-root, constant-bloomer once moved to full sun:

Carding Mill, 9th-year-own-root is constant bloomer in full-sun, but stems are very prickly & can't cut for the vase. It give blooms continuously one at a time, rather than 3 distinct flushes like Princess Anne.

Evelyn as 9th-year-own-root is a constant bloomer in full sun with so many blooms that takes a long time before a flush is finished, very short pause before pumping out many blooms. Below is Evelyn, 1 month after being moved to full-sun. Now bush is denser & loaded with 20+ buds in hot & dry August.

the lady gardener blooms a lot! She is very upright tho, but so far, more blooms than Olivia

I don't grow these in containers, but I can help with best bloomers.

St. Cecilia - new this year as a bare root on multiflora. Such a delicate pink. Blooming like crazy. Starts pink and fades to white. Became chlorotic right away, but a little iron turned her green again..

Geoff Hamilton - new this year. Bare root on multiflora. Rounded bush form. Still small. I think it will be a favorite and I plan to get another one. Good bloomer. Like most Austins, responds well to water.

Wollerton Old Hall - new bare root, grafted on Huey from Rosarium Garden Center this year. Needed iron. Was probably in it’s pot too long in the heat. Has greened up and looks healthy.

Crown Princess Margarita - great bloomer, healthy. One of my best. Will be a short climber here.

Young Lycidas - took a couple years to straighten up. Still a little floppy. Love the bloom color and scent. Older one is deep raspberry, new one is medium pink. I hope it’s just because it’s young. Great bloomer

Strawberry Hill - a lanky shrub here. Lovely blooms, sweet scent. Takes a rest between cycles.

Evelyn - one grafted on Huey, one own root. No big difference. Seem to like the conditions here. Not prolific bloomers but they do respond quickly to food and water.

Winchester Cathedral - both grafted on Huey, the one in more sun is a great bloomer. The one in too much shade needs to be moved.

St. Swithun - moderate bloomer, but love the blooms. Great fragrance.

Eglantyne - most romantic Austin in my opinion. Mine is loosely branched, but blooms well. Healthy and has a strong fragrance.

Jude the Obscure - FINALLY blooming this year. Given another reprieve. He's fussy. Best scent!!!

Tess of the d’Urbervilles - in too much shade, but still blooms quite a lot. Lanky.

Tamora - one own root, one grafted on Huey. Own root healthier. Small bushes, big blooms, good repeat and great scent.

Darcy Bussell - new this year, grafted bare root from Northland. LOVE this rose. Never stops blooming. Similar color to the other deep red Austins.

Wm. Shakespeare 2000 - gorgeous, strongly scented blooms, but lanky. Moderate bloomer. LOVE it.

Munstead Wood - one own root, one on Huey. Own root is better, bigger, bloomier, healthier. The older it gets, the bigger and better the blooms, they're huge and the bush is always covered in buds and blooms. Grafted one is in too much shade.

Golden Celebration - own root, has never been good here. The few blooms I get are very nice with good perfume. I can't get it to fill out and produce more than a handful of blooms a season. I think it's much better for everyone else.

Spirit of Freedom - one grafted, one own root. Not much difference in the two. Newer, grafted one is a bit bigger and blooms a little more. Not prolific bloomers, but they are spectacular.

Abraham Darby - own root, very bushy, good bloomer with a rest between cycles.

Royal Jubilee - grafted on Huey. 3 years old, already big bush. Good bloomer, good form.

Desdemona - grafted. One of the best in every way.

Mary Magdalene - Grafted. Black spots in this dry climate, but beautiful blooms, and great bush form. Short rest between cycles.

Country Living - a very old one that doesn’t bloom very much. Out of commerce.

Alnwick Castle - the most upright Austin I have. Sturdy canes, great for cutting. Beautiful blooms and perfume. Good repeat.

Wildeve - lanky, probably a climber in warmer zones. Good repeat. One of my best. Needs support.

Ambridge - another one that took a long time to settle in, but it’s a favorite. Upright, good form, beautiful, abundant blooms.

Austin roses do surprisingly well in my climate of very hot summers, cold winters. Rosarium Garden Center (formerly Northland) has a large section of their display gardens devoted to Austins because they seem to love this climate.

Andrea: Fantastic list of Austin, with note on own-root versus grafted. Thank you.

Great advice everyone! I'll be looking through this better when my list of Austins come from Wildwood Express...a Canadian Rose/bulb/seed, etc. that just this year started its on-line mail delivery service.

Jaime, I'm in NY too and this is my first year growing austins. The top bloomers for me are Carding Mill, and then Jubilee Celebration. They seem to always have flowers on them, and they're both beautiful and glow. Both of them are growing stronger stems now too and holding their new, even bigger flowers up better.

Olivia Austin rose has the best shape and is just behind those two, but blooms a lot and they last long on the bush.

I've been avoiding this list because every one of us has quite different rose bloom results, depending on where each of us lives. Climate, which produces disease pressure, severe or mild winter dieback, insect pests (also dependent on climate)--we are all aware of these challenges, and the difference it can make on continuous rose blooming. So, I waited until my season was winding down to assemble a "list", which is the result of observing some of my roses for decades.

Here it is, descending in order of bloom productivity, for you to take with a grain of salt:

1. Tamora has reached the point where she is in a constant flush of blooms--not just a few here and there, but one flush after another, steadily all season. Grafted on multiflora, I have grown her for about 13 years.

2. Weirdly, that picky oddball, The Prince, has become a crazy bloomer, increasing in plant size and bloom production over the last several years, after being fairly a fairly blah bloomer for for close to a decade. What has gotten this old guy going? Grafted on multiflora, I've grown him for maybe 12 years.

3. A reliable, constant bloomer, with big lovely blooms and big plant size, is Boscobel. I got this rose, grafted on Dr Huey 5 or 6 years ago.

4. Gigantic Golden Celebration is always in bloom. It's grafted on Dr Huey, and I've grown him for about 13 years.

5. Munstead wood is almost always in bloom, even in the worst of heat, displaying beauty in scent and looks. I have two MW, and they are equally good. Both are grafted on Dr Huey. One I've grown for about 7-8 years, and the other for about 4 years.

6. Not a favorite, but a goodish bloomer is Olivia, a wimp in my dry heat who always looks faded and blah. Sorry everyone.

I think that's enough for now. There are lots of good suggestions in the many posts above, and Flowers' list is especially full of helpful information. I agree with her on some of the roses we both grow. Diane

Love these lists! I'm not growing in containers, but my Austin bloomers (!) are: The Poet's Wife, almost never out of bloom; Munstead Wood; and then Carding Mill (though I'd say that one goes in flushes more than continuous). My Olivia is finally coming along and may start to live up to all the high praise lavished on her in this forum.

@strawchicago z5 - glad to know I'm not the only one disappointed in Queen of Sweden. My heart melts when she does bloom, but although healthy she almost never blooms, and the flowers have no scent. I think I'm giving up on her this year...but I feel so sad about that.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR . Gasp! Is that one QoS bush??? If so, I'll keep mine in place. I have 2 years in so far. Again, healthy, tall. Some blooms in spring, 2 blooms over the summer. But the blooms are so lovely I just can't even describe how happy they make when they DO appear...so you think I should leave it in a while longer?

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR that's beautiful. Almost looks like a bunch of fireflies or xmas lights scattered over a bush in your photos thumbnail

@joeywyomingzone4 That's a beautiful flower on Queen Nefertiti, do you remember where you got yours? I can't seem to find her on any sites.

@strawchicago z5 Love all of your pictures, the flowers have such good shape and colors. Especially love your WS 2000, Wise Portia and Evelyn. Beautiful

I got Queen Nefertiti from Split Mountain Farms which is supplied by High Country Roses (the owners are siblings). If HCR doesn't have it you could try calling Split Mountain in Jensen, Utah and asking if they have any, they are very obliging.

Joey, beautiful pics! I'll try contacting both to see if they have any available, appreciate it.

Yes, Deborah, one bush. Hang in there.

Sheila, your Queen of Sweden is a wonder, sitting there in all her glory for us to admire. Doesn't she just look like a queen? I love her big, rounded, generous shape and all her court of grasses and other roses at her feet.

Joey, you grow another beautiful queen. What lovely coloring and petals Queen Nerfertiti has. The first bloom is so luscious and subtle in its color. Diane

Flowers, Freedom Garden carries Country Living from time to time in case you'd like another.

Sheila - Your QoS is unbelievable!!!! Holy Hannah!!! :) :)

Joey - I love your QN!! Your 2nd picture is fabulous!!

Sheila, Wow! I've never known Qos could be so big and amazingly gorgeous! How tall is she? I just planted mine in the front of the border and am thinking that maybe I should give her more space to grow.

Well, I thought I'd throw Bishop's Castle into the equation. :) The blooms smell wonderful...old rose...and it's in constant bloom. I had to give it a lot of potassium (Straw recommended) for the canes to be strong enough to hold the blooms up. I'm sure you've all seen these already. :)

Sheila, that's the best QOS I've ever seen.

Rosecanadian, what a beautiful Bishop's Castle! Looks like the color you get is more pale than what I get.

Feiy, my Q of Sweden is 6 ft tall now. Thank you all for all the gorgeous photos.

Shelia, wow! Your Queen if Sweden is fabulous! They prune QoS short each January at Descanso gardens and she doesn’t have that beautiful shape yours has. Do you prune yours or just let her go? It is a quite remarkably beautiful shaped bush.

Thank you, Stephanie. I just let her go. I like her shape getting more graceful and vase shaped over time. She was straight upright the first couple of years.

Sheila, if that's what no pruning can do, I'm tossing my pruners in the trash!

Carol, I'm planning to get Bishop's Castle in the spring and I hope it turns out the color of yours. I don't have any roses that shade.

Noseometer - thanks! :) Really? Usually it's the other way around....we are usually cooler, so we get the darker, less faded blooms.

Sheila - 6 ft tall? Tell Jack to run and get his axe!! Wow!

Flowers - LOL...less work...and looks better....hmmm. :) Yes, BC is a wonderful shade of pink...I love it!! And it's always been that color for me. I hope yours is this color too. :)

Down here, Carol, many roses are that tall, so Q of Sweden, is not extremely outsize compared to others. She is very elegant.

Bishop's Castle is suddenly coming to my attention! I think she is a good match for the color of Summer Romance which is getting huge. My question is will Bishop's Castle get equally huge? I need something about 4 ft tall but in that color healthy and floriferous. I had been considering Olivia or even Cinderella fairy tale but I believe those colors may be too pale and too similar to New Dawn which backs this border.

Darcey Bussell is a great rose in our heat. I also have Golden Celebration, moderate bloomer, James Galway, only Spring and Fall, and Lady of Shallot which is a great bloomer, but the blooms don’t hold up as well as DB in the heat. DB blooms that were forming during 100+ heatwave are semi double but much more fragrant than usual. This rose formed in mid 90s heat a few weeks ago with less petals that the spring blooms but more petals than bloom formed in 100-110F. Maggie is the pink rose with her.

DB in early spring is petal packed with button eye. Shown with GC and JG.

Vaporvac - yeah, I have no idea how big Bishop's Castle would get in your zone....and it wouldn't be confined by a pot. Although hmf says 4 feet. I would definitely give it potassium though ... and lots of water to keep those canes strong.

Sheila - that's a good adjective to use for Queen of Sweden....elegant.

Stephanie - GASP!! Your Darcey Bussell bloom is huge, gorgeous and has a fabulous color!!! Love!! Oh, and it looks great in the garden too! :)

I’ve been wondering if I should have gotten Darcey Bussel instead of Munstead Wood. MW is said to be much more fragrant, but in my garden it is only fragrant when conditions are just right. It’s an okay bloomer, but flowers lose their form, size and color in the heat of summer. The flowers crisp quickly in our dry summer heat. The spring and fall flowers are wonderful though. Sheila, do you have a MW? If so, how does it compare to DB? Stephanie?

Bishop’s Castle would happily grow to 6 feet in my garden if well irrigated. I keep mine rather dry and the flowers are smaller, but it mostly stays about 4 feet and bushy. When the late summer monsoons come and the weather cools down, it shoots up taller basals that get pruned down in the winter.

I grew both Darcey Bussel and Munstead Wood. Darcey bussel has prettier leaves and prettier bush than Munstead Wood. Darcey needs fast drainage so it will do well in sandy soil. Darcey hates my soaking wet clay and died through freezing rain in winter .. don't miss it since it has barely any scent. Munstead Wood fries in full-sun and scent can go away, until I topped with high-potassium compost and high potassium fertlizer ,, that UP the scent considerably. Both bloom equally well but Darcey is a much prettier bush. I rate Munstead wood scent to be 10 times better than Darcey.

I only have MW here, noseometer. I love my two. DB sounds great too. MW always has great color. The bush is prickly of course. Blooms constantly here.

I concur with what Sheila says about Munstead Wood. I grow two, also, and they have great color and bloom well. Nose, in our dry climes, I find the roses with reputed good scent lose a lot of this in the dry air. The hotter and drier the air, the less the scent. Only Rouge Royale stands up well to the hot and dry for me. Diane

Munstead Wood at the local rose gardens is so prickly that it was not allowed in my garden even though he has a great fragrance. DB is low thorn. I personally think a prickly rosebush is ugly. I want the plant to look nice in between flushes. DB always has nice foliage in my garden, with the exception of our 110 day that fried only the old leaves, which were the ones that formed in about February here.

Thorns don't bother me much. I'm pretty prickly myself. Diane

Haha! I love it, Diane! Thorns can be annoying, but with good gloves I'm okay with them. I'm jealous that you have constant blooms, Sheila. Here, everything shuts down in the heat. Well, except for Huntington Rose this year, strangely enough. I get a few blooms on the other roses, but not very many in the heat, and usually small, distorted or with few petals.

I agree with Diane - thorns or no thorns ... I'm okay. What I don 't like are those little prickles that are all over the cane.

Noseometer, things do shut down in some cases with heat, but not MW. We have had 20 days hitting 100F or above this Summer and plenty in the 90s. The garden is not at it's best in August that is for sure.

Nose, yes, some roses do shut down in heat here, while others don't seem to rest much. I didn't mean to give the impression that all roses were blooming all the time. Diane