Yes. I am new to gardening. This is actually my first year with all my flowers. I decided on David Austin roses because of their beautiful cup shape. My daughter's name is Austin and she gets a kick out of having roses with her name. ORA is her favorite because it is pink. Lol!! I also have Jude the Obscure. So far both are far exceeding my expectations. Jude is definitely more robust and the scent is heavily even in its first year. I planted both in early May.

Ben, Sorry Olivia didn’t bloom a lot by 1 1/2 years. I think the 3rd year is considered the mature year, at least for own-roots. 3rd year is tge charm! Lol! My Moonlight in Paris does bloom non-stop huge flushes all the time!!!! MIP may be my best bloomer next to Walking on Sunshine. MIP has blooms all over all the time-she’s a floribunda. Plum Perfect & Kimberlina are blooming all the time all over, too! And a few bush roses like The Fairy are blooming all the time, too. @CeresMer Zone 7a NJ , I am excited to hear that your Olivia bloomed non-stop 2nd year. I think next year will be my Olivias full 2nd year-hoping for lots of blooms!!! Our weather is similar. If I have her in a sunny enough spot she will perform well! We will see! I may get another & put her in a sunnier spot! She has no BS-so she is a super winner for me! Out of my 120 roses, Olivia is one of the few with zero BS ever…. pouring rains damp soil in fall ongoing. Ok, I think Olivia is gorgeous! I have one similar that blooms kinda like Olivia, called Vicontesse Decaux, (a cross of Earth Angel & Winchester Cathedral), but Vicontesse doesn’t have as beautiful a foliage or bloom as much as Olivia.

Diane, I wonder, since Olivia is supposed to be small, if you couldn't move her to the shade where you wouldn't ordinarily plant a rose, like under a tree and see if her color isn't any better. The shade might also keep her smaller. You would have her spot for RR, and you wouldn't really have lost anything whether she lives or dies. The VS Hydrangeas are just blossoming. They're white and chartreuse right now. When I have a progression of the color change, I will post pics. I thought they would be the first to go in this heat. My big leafs are totally cooked, but these paniculatas are fine. I will probably have to move the Blue Enchantresses to total shade. The Endless Summer Originals are doing ok. My grandson cut them back to the lowest node because they fried, but they're coming back beautifully as long as I keep them floating in an over watered bed. I wish we knew if this year is typical of what to expect from now on, or if it is an anomaly. I'm still planting and feeding. I don't want a bunch of baby roses to keep over winter in the garage. Only about half of the rose garden got fed before the heat started, so I waited, but it's been steadily hot, so I'm giving them a light feeding before it's too late this year.

My Olivia is a first year grafted. So far I love her. Repeat and number of blooms are above average for an Austin, super disease resistant (not a single black spot, which is amazing in my no spray garden), nice bloom shape and color, good vase life for an Austin, medium fragrance. With local bunnies helping with occasional pruning, she is barely 2x2’ In size, fairly rounded shape, but i am in zone 5b, and I can see her getting bigger in warmer areas. She did throw a much longer cane last month, which i cut off before it had the chance to get to 4 ft. claire