oooh… I hope Lisa sees this...

Lisa is one of the forum members that resides in San Diego County (edited… I forgot, like Los Angeles county, and others, there are many cities and geographical differences). She has a beautiful garden filled with roses (including I believe Evelyn) and many flowers! If I am not mistaken, she does get the marine influence where she is…

Lisa lives in northeastern San Diego county as do I, so not in San Diego proper, and our climate is hotter and drier than yours, Jemma. Lisa and I both grow Evelyn and it does well for us, and I think it might also do very well for you. It's so worth trying as it's such a beautiful and also very fragrant rose.

As for cream roses, I grow mostly antique roses, but there are plenty of people here who can advise you about the more modern varieties. Gruss an Aachen is an older rose that is a cream color which has done well for me. For large and healthy roses, older and modern, the Antique Rose Emporium has been stellar for me.

Another picture of Gruss an Aachen.

Beautiful! Enjoy!

Thank you for the lovely pictures. I thought zone 10 is hotter than zone 9? My zip code gave me zone 10A. Please tell me everything about your Evelyn and Gruss. Can they live in containers? Do they have climber tendencies? Do they tolerate shade? How long is their vase life? Which one do you love more? Sorry about all the questions

oh, are antique roses not as strong as modern roses? I love how English roses look so I'm guessing I would like antique roses as well.

Antique roses are actually fairly tough as many have survived in old cemeteries without much care for a long time. The English roses were an attempt to create modern roses with the romantic look of the old roses but more disease resistance. I've grown the old varieties and some Austin roses without any chemicals or spraying, and most have done very well. San Diego is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than the more inland county areas because of the moderating marine influence, so overall the climate is milder, and you should have great success in growing most roses, old and modern.

Most roses do best with early to midday sun and late afternoon shade, but again my experience is with a somewhat different climate from yours. Quite a few roses will develop climbing tendencies if you put them against a wall, but there especially you want to make sure that the roses have afternoon shade so the canes don't get sunburned. From what I've seen of Evelyn it might very well develop cimbing tendencies; I'm not so sure about Gruss an Aachen. A cream-colored rose I love that might climb is Mme. Joseph Schwartz, which is a sport of the pink Duchesse de Brabant. DdB in my garden is against the house wall and has gotten quite tall.

Some people grow roses very successfully in large containers, although I'm not one of them. They do take more care to ensure they don't dry out.

Evelyn is very good in a vase, better than Gruss an Aachen. There are a lot of other roses that last well in a vase.

What roses are those?

There is a lovely rose garden in S.D. - ( The Inez Grant Parker Rose Garden at Balboa Park). They have a lot of beautiful roses on display, including some David Austin Roses. Unfortunately, during my last visit (I am a So. Calif. Native), I did not see many Antique Roses compared to the moderns, but know that these roses perform well in many parts of CA too...

Ingrid - ooooh!!! Sooooo beautiful!!! I think that Evelyn is one of the most beautiful roses there is. Your 3rd picture made me gasp!!

My heart nearly stopped when I saw your 2nd to last picture!!! I'm speechless!!!!

The pink one is Evelyn? I thought it was peach. It is so gorgeous whatever its is.

Evelyn is actually peach/apricot most of the time. I'm not sure Ingrid's mass of beautiful pink roses (middle photo) is Evelyn--but those are gorgeous. As far as zones go, the number represents the "cold hardiness zone" as determined by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture. It's an average over 20 years of your coldest temperature each year. It's not a measurement of heat. In zone 10, you can grow most any rose, though some old roses prefer some colder temps in winter. I doubt you ever have a freeze! Diane

You can see the color variation in Evelyn which is one of the many things I love about this rose. Diane

Diane - I didn't realize it was for a period of 20 years! Interesting. :)

Oh swoon and gasp!!! Diane - that first picture is unbelievable!!! I wish I could grow Austins...mine never do well and then die...except for Bishop's Castle. Your Evelyn makes me want to try it again...Wowza!!!

Don't quote me on this, Carol, but every 20 years, the zones get updated, I think. We moved from zone 6 to zone 7 about 8 or so years ago. We were zone 6 for decades, but as things warmed up, our coldest temps became less cold. There is hope for you yet--heh--with global warming, we will all want to move up your way before long.

Thanks for your nice comment on my Evelyn. E likes heat and sun--I have a tree shade problem affecting some of my Evelyn plants, and this cuts down on the blooming. Did your Evelyn die from the cold? Most of my Austins are very cold hardy. How's the snow going tonight? We haven't had a particularly warm spring, and things are coming along slowly. Hard pruning doesn't help, either (which I did on a lot of my roses). Diane

Hey Diane - the funny thing is that the other side of the city is a zone higher than the side of the city I'm on!! No fair!! LOL But, it really doesn't matter to my roses as long as they're in the garage. No...my Evelyn was really pretty for year 1 and 2...and then just started getting smaller and smaller until it was an inch tall...didn't recover all summer...so I threw it away. Sigh. I think it's stopped...but I'm not sure...it's so dark. But, it's supposed to snow tomorrow...and then starting Thursday...the roses are doing the dance of joy onto the driveway and back and forth, etc! I'm sooooooo excited for rose season to start!!! I've done half of the pruning...my husband asked me why I want to take pots with just dirt outside...welll...that's all that's left...did you read my tale of woe about my daughter leaving the garage door open for 3 hours during a really hard cold spell while she shovelled (bless her for that). Around 25 or so roses died...and most have nothing showing after getting rid of the dead stuff....BUT there's a tiny bit of green...so I know they'll make it.

So you and I both did hard pruning...mine was REALLY hard LOL. Although the roses that did the best (3 feet of live cane - 5 roses like this)...had 3 inch holes drilled out of the sides for air pruning purposes....and I covered those pots (not the roses...just the pots) with bubble wrap....and they're doing wonderfully!!!! I'm thinking maybe I should use bubble wrap on all of them next winter (shudder...winter LOL).

So sorry, I should have named the roses in bouquets. The first one (on the book) is La France (the larger rose) and the smaller roses are, I believe, Souvenir de la Malmaison. I'm not completely certain as those two roses usually are of the same size.

The second vase contains one old Austin rose 'Cottage Rose'. The third bouquet has a half-open bloom of Evelyn at lower left, Jesse Hildreth, Wild Edric, Mrs. B.R. Cant and Souvenir de la Malmaison. I would say that Evelyn is the longest-lasting of these roses in a vase, and likely also outside.

Diane, as I've mentioned before, it was your gorgeous photographs of Evelyn that caused me to order two of my own, and I'm so glad that I did. It's in a class of its own, and right now when SdlM, Baronne Henriette de Snoy and other roses show mildew on their leaves, Evelyn is spotless.

rosecanadian, the rose you so admire in the photos above is 'Cottage Rose' and, in spite of the beautiful blooms in my garden it didn't like the heat, was a rather sparse and gawky bush and its thorns were vicious. I imagine Austin has created better pink roses since this early one, which is why it's rarely mentioned now.

Thanks, Ingrid, and I'm glad you like your two E's. They should do well for you, as long as those awful critters will leave them alone. I wish I had some of your sun right now. What a shame your luscious Cottage Rose had such a downside. Austin may have created some improved pink roses, but those really great oldies are hard to improve on. I'm not a big fan of the "improved" pink, Olivia Rose. She's just good enough to stay for now in my garden--not a real dog for me like PAoK. I hope you're feeling better now, and I know a few gorgeous roses go a long way to help. I actually do pretty well with quarantining, having a strong streak of "hermitism" in my thinking. I made that word up--ha. I have always been comfortable with myself, and if I've got a book in hand, there's my entertainment.

Carol, I did read your tale of woe, and it's hard to imagine such cold that could kill that quickly. When I think "cold", it's a whole different game from your cold. I hope all the new roses you're getting as replacements do beautifully for you. But tomorrow will bring better days, I hope. You can think of all that snow you got as a form of rainwater--something which I always crave. I've spent the last two days adjusting our massive drip system with its complicated little sprinklers in addition to to all the regular emitters we use. It's a high maintenance form of "rain". That's two days of being wet from little sprinklers--yech.

Just one more pic.....Diane

That was two.....guess who? Diane

Expanding the size on those two gorgeous photos is really worth-while. Evelyn is just such an exquisite rose. Diane, I'm just curious, what have been the best Austin roses for you? Other than your Evelyn the one that sticks in my mind in your garden is what I believe is Golden Celebration and then there is a purple one growing near-by I believe, and perhaps also Boscobel. Are there any good recent pink Austins that stand out for you? I'm still partial to my old Potter and Moore, which is growing ever taller to escape the critters.

So sorry, I hit on the wrong picture and this is actually Baronne Henriette de Snoy. The picture below is Potter and Moore.

Omg, these roses!! Thank you for sharing all of your rose pictures with me. Now I can't find someone who is selling Evelyn =( they are all sold out. I'm going to check the antique emporium

You're welcome, Jemma. Anyone named Jemma is a friend of mine--my 17, almost 18 year old granddaughter, is named--Jemma Nelson, and I did a double take when I saw your name. I wish I could help you find Evelyn. I think one small rose seller is growing her (Freedom Roses??), but you'd be on a waiting list, I think. There was a recent thread about the problem of finding Evelyn, which is a regular topic on the forum. I know Austin is out of her, as usual.

Thanks, Ingrid, and your Potter & Moore is scrumptious, really lovely, as usual. Some of my favorite Austins are-- you guessed it--Golden Celebration, as well as Boscobel. I love Munstead Wood, too. Young Lycidas is beautiful, but suffers in the heat more than the above mentioned roses. Of course, Jude the Obscure is lovely, but has its problems in the heat, and doesn't bloom as much as the first three I mentioned. The purple rose near Boscobel is Wild Blue Yonder, and we both don't care for its straight up growth habit, but boy, is it vigorous.

It's time to run outside. The crazy weather is clearing, but changes every 20 minutes. Diane

Diane my grandma's maiden name was Nelson too =-)

I grow Evelyn in zone 10a. Ingrid was correct in her description of my location. My Evelyn seems to love the heat and sun, as long as she gets plenty of water and food. I wasn’t able to prune mine this year, so we’ll see what happens. I usually prune her down a lot in January. Evelyn wouldn’t like living in a pot in our climate. She wants to grow large. Evelyn would climb in this climate, given the chance. Here’s a few shots of mine. I’m not sure if I have a picture of the full plant.

Stunning. I'm going to throw myself down the slope into the gully. Diane

The PAoK stump. And what's left of her roots. This belongs on the Sweet M thread. Diane

Golden Celebration does quite well in the inland heat of Los Angeles county. Of course the Santa Ana winds will still turn all rose petals crispy in the fall. I hate when those hot dry winds come. GC has a fabulous fragrance!!! Picked a bloom yesterday. They last about 4-5 days in a vase.

Also Darcy Bussell, a Purply red color, does even better in heat than GC but no fragrance.

If you want roses that bloom in the winter here get a couple Tea Roses (not the same as a Hybrid Teas!) I have Monsieur Tillier and it loves it here and blooms all winter with scattered blooms. The blooms are 3.5 inches in the cooler weather. When it gets super hot it doesn’t bloom as much and the blooms are only 2 inches. But it gives me blooms when the David Austin roses are mostly dormant. The blooms are medium fragrance and they smell like bananas mixed with black tea leaves. You can see that when they open fully they have lots of petals.

Ingrid - Cottage Rose. Based on your blooms, it's hard to believe the bush could be anything but spectacular...so that's good to know.

Diane - yeah 3 hours of frigid air propelled by a fierce wind to just hammer that cold in there. LOL Plus, the roses were starting to wake up and were ready for warmth. But that's okay....new roses are coming!! I got 6 from Hortico today!!! Yay!!! I'm just hoping that my Holly Bells rose (one I hybridized and named after my daughter) survived. I haven't pruned it yet to see...it's a seedling from John Davis...so it should...it's got that woody look to the tiny canes. It's very young still. Yeah...adjusting your sprinkler hoses sounds like a lot of work at first...and you probably have to keep an eye on them to see if the holes get clogged. Oh wow!! Those are gorgeous!!! I think the first one is Geoff Hamilton (but I'm not good with Austins as I don't grow them) and the 2nd is Evelyn?

Ingrid - both are gorgeous...but I really love your Potter and Moore! Does it have fragrance?

Maybe Jemma, you're related to Diane? Wouldn't that be interesting!

Lisa - Evelyn is just such a scrumptious rose!!! I love your pictures!!

Diane - LOL!! Also...that's a HUGE stump of a rose!!! How in the world did you dig that baby up?

Stephanie - oooh!!! Lovely!! Does it smell of lemons? GASP!!!! SWOON!!!! Your M. Tillier is INCREDIBLE!!!! And it smells like bananas! There's not that many roses that do that!

I potted my 6 bare roots that came from Hortico...and while my husband was digging out dead roses from pots, I noticed that my Violet's Pride was still alive...so I put it back into the pot...although some of the roots were ruined. My Dolly Parton is still alive too!

I purchased a Desdemona for my SIL. She lives in Ventura County, possibly experiencing a little more marine influence, but with the exception of a little blackspot, Desdemona appears to be thriving.

https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.326101

Emily Bronte could be a rose to consider : https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.330665

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5716441/emily-bronte-a-unique-rose-worth-looking-out-for#n=30

My favorite cream rose is Mlle. de Sombreuil

It is a Tea Rose that I would think could perform well in San Diego, however, I have only grown it in the desert… so YMMV

Rosecanadian hmm maybe =)

I'm on 23 and me so my DNA is out there in the open lol

Thank you, Stephanie, those are quite lovely.

Lynn please tell me about Mlle de Sombreuil?

Jemma, my granddaughter's dad's family name is Nelson, so any connection would be through that family. And you know how common the name Nelson is--we even tease son in law about it. The family is Swedish and originally hales from Minnesota. Go Vikes! I'm a totally different amalgamation of family genes. My married name is Brakefield, so there's no genetic connection to me there, either. I hope you liked your results with 23 and me. Was is helpful? At my age and with all the family tree tracking that's been done by various family members from different genetic strands, I've never felt much need to do the 23 and me thing. But it does sound interesting. I hope you continue with the forum--I love seeing your name on your posts. Diane

Carol, I remember well the informal "contest" we had suggesting names for the rose you hybridized, and, of course, you came up with the best name. I hope Holly Bells continues to survive. Can you take a cutting later in the season so you have more than one of her? The little sprinklers (three types) all feed directly into the drip lines. They get shoved out of place when I prune and put compost out, plus there are always new problems that pop up over winter. So placement, adjustment of output and some repair is wet and time consuming. Once they're up, I run them station by station manually (a flip of a few switches on the computer the runs it all); I like to be in charge of how long and when I run each station. More on the stump later. I hope your weather changed, and you are now in the process of moving the roses outside. So exciting. Diane

I'm 43% Swedish! My great-grandparents were from Sweden. So maybe I can be related to your brother in law.

Right now 23 and me groups all Native Americans in one group. That is my second highest ancestor percentage but I wish they could narrow it down to what specific tribe.

How quick can roses produce from a rose cutting? Maybe someone can trade an Evelyn cutting with me =)

Diane - yes, I already took a cutting from the main plant (outside...did it survive our really cold snaps??? Not sure yet...it's wee). The cutting is the one I "thought" would be safe from the cold. Darn. Oh, I see why the hoses, etc have to be readjusted each year. Hopefully, you had nice weather to get wet in. :) As to the roses....it's only 2C/36F...so they have to wait at bit...maybe in a few hours. :)

Jemma - so cool!! Maybe you are? I'm 50% Swedish. But, we're probably not related. LOL My last name is Naslund. I kept my maiden name.

Well, it would take maybe all summer (in my zone anyway) for the cutting to be ready to ship...at least that's what I would estimate.

Rosecanadian. My mother's maiden name was Kanlund. That is very close to Naslund!!! When I got married I took my husband's last name Wilson and made it my middle name and put Kanlund as my last name. My father's first name was Wilson too. This way I would have a bit of everyone in my name. So my full name is Jemma Wilson Kanlund

Maybe we Swedish people are more independent...so want to keep our maiden names... :)

I don't know about that--ha. I'm a big proponent of keeping maiden names, and I'm a mess of British Isles. My daughter kept her maiden name (Brakefield which is English) at my strong encouragement. I only used my married name because it's what I designed under for many years. But I use my maiden name as my middle name--Conley. I've thought about changing back to Conley full time, but it's way too much hassle at this time of my life. Jemma, I was interested in your Native American heritage. My daughter's great grandmother was Cherokee, so daughter is the last generation that can claim to be a "Daughter of the Cherokee Nation"--or something like that. Of course, half the country claims this heritage it seems like. Diane

I didn't know that there was a point where the heritage is lost. I guess that makes sense.

I gave my last name as one of my kids middle names...so they have 2 middle names.

My father was Ecuadorian so I always assumed my heritage would come from the Incas or Spanish. I thought the test would tell me but it just put me in that lump sum. Yeah everybody wants to be Cherokee if they are Native American. That is awesome you and your grandaughter know your roots. Ecuador does not have a good record system so I barely know anything on that side. I'm 36% NA, I would love to claim some of that casino money =)