You certainly can! I grew lots of them in San Antonio.

You might want to post your question to the Antique Rose Forum also. It seems they are more into David Austin English roses since they look more like 'antique' roses. You'll get lots of good information there.

I do. I'm in a Houston suburb and there are some varieties that do well. ARE is a great place to start, you should visit in the fall.

You got the sun... you put in the good dirt with lots of amenities and compost....you raise the beds... you choose roses that love our heat....you spray, water and fertilize....you got it! I had an English garden in H for 40 yrs started with Hybrid Teas, Floribunda, Grandifloras, miniatures. Moved into D Austin's when they became available in US, added some antiques. The hardest part of creating the English look is the perennials, not the roses. Tropicals and roses are tough together if you want English look . Tropicals and roses mixed I found hard but many in Florida do it well. My talents did not extend to making the look work. I did have success mixing with ground orchids, crossandra, cat whiskers, bonus-many annual that look like the perennials don't freeze. With climbers or tall shrub roses on supports -alamanda henderson, and Sky Flower (the large pale blue one). I understand that many have good success with clematis in Houston but the others bloom continually all year.

I think this is Madame Alfred Carriere. I never had luck with New Dawn, blooms shatter and too few of them. Others like it. This was at Christmas as I recall.

I listed some resources below that I found helpful when starting my first English Gardens. You may already be aware of them.

The Houston Rose Society is great resource. They used to be big on exhibition but also had some good advice for gardeners. They also have a monthly consulting rosarian to answer questions and give advice and a helpful monthly newsletter discussing local rose problems that may be hitting the area.

Southwest Chemical and Fertilizer for products- they have it all and knowledge to boot. They can also fix any yard equipment that breaks. They are in Belaire. Give a discount to Rose Society Members.

Living Earth Technology for rose soil, azalea soil, compost, mulch, etc.. None better, started by some A&M guys first location was in Houston area years and years ago. Now they are all over. You can buy by the bag or have delivered, ck website. Their products at their Houston site are designed just for Houston soils, they do another combo for Dallas soils.

Lot of those rose categories I started with years ago and abandoned now have plants with pretty bush shapes, lots of flowers, old rose flower form, etc. just like the Austins. Many perform better in H than the Austins and of course all bloom better than most of the antiques. I now live in Dallas and I started planting some and have been very impressed. But will never abandon my fav Austins and Antiques. They are like old friends.

Many will say they don't spray. It depends on your tolerance for disease and bugs. I have none and want lush green leaves. Your choice. They might be disease free someplace but don't think it is in Texas.

Google the roses you like on this site but don't be taken in with a pretty flower. All roses are wonderful in spring. Your spring is so short that I often found my best rose garden months were in winter, more like others spring. I always had beautiful displays at Christmas. However, I lived inside the loop or in Memorial where it is warmer and freezes are very rare. When they happen it is short and the ground is still warm so roses aren't harmed. Those warmer temps is also why my perennials didn"t fare well.

Good Luck

Abe Darby

Golden Celebration with tropical vines

Antique Rose Emporium is a great resource, like Rekha said. Many of us buy most of our roses there. David Austin roses sold directly mailorder is great too. Also, Roselee is right that you need to post this on the Antique Rose forum here too where most David Austin rose discussions occur.

Austinkisses, what great photos of your wonderful garden.

I’m in agreement with Austinkisses about joining your local rose society. Although not interested in exhibition I learned a lot about growing roses from attending meetings as well as reading their monthly newsletter.

roselee z8b S.W. Texas did you ever grow Sky vine Flower (Thunbergia grandiflora) in SA. I once visited a home in Alamo Heights where these had grown into smaller trees, covering the canopies and cascading down almost to the ground. It was a like a sea of pale blue. This was at Christmas no less. It left me speechless with the beauty.

Austin kisses, is the sky vine invasive in Houston?

I agree with Austin, Heirloom has great mailorder roses. They do very well here too.

No that San Antonio example was a fluk I think. I was still experimenting with hem when I moved to Dallas so others may hve better info. The first one I planted had started regrowing in March so I cut off dead above new growth. That was not the thing to do that year a late frost killed it. The purple with yellow are easier and even work here in Dallas. But, it is the the large grandiflora pale blue that grabs my heart. Do try the ground orchid if you have not they are so easy and a treat for spring blooms. Shade plant if my memory serves.

i later read not to cut off dead until no frost. It survives winters fine in Houston If left alone instead of early trimming.

I've never grown the sky vine, but several years ago the San Antonio Botanical garden had several beauties planted along and completely covering a 8 or 10 ft tall fence. They were blooming like crazy. I'll look for the photos I took.

Sorry I couldn't find the pictures. Finding anything on Photobucket these days is a pain in the bucket! ... LOL

Thank you so much austinkisses2008, I’m so glad you are able to give me so much valuable information.

I am a member of the Houston Rose Society and I have been purchasing all my spraying supplies from SW fertilizer 😂. We have a living earth literally 10 minutes from my house, and I have been adding more bags of their rose soil to top up every season because I like it so much. We also have another very good compost place called the Ground Up which I also recommend to my Rose society friends. I love the Rosette and all the valuable information it has in it but as you mentioned they do want members to exhibit which is why I don’t attend the meetings.

I would appreciate any recommendations that you make about varieties and guidance because I do get surprised by their size afterwards. I ordered 3 roses from Heirloom this year, and I have noticed that own root roses struggle with spraying or it might just be that particular variety Poseidon. I’m not sure.

Hummm not sure spray problems and own root related. If you share your rose choices myself and others in Texas can tell you our experiences. Several knowledgable people on this site that know more and I and for sure have grown more varieties. I stayed with Austins so long I am behind on the moderns but catching up fast. Many moderns now have the characteristics I loved in the Austins but I think may be better plants for us.

Austin's that do well for me are Sharifa Asma, Desdemona, lady of shallot, spectre d isle. I just ordered Olivia after rave reviews here.

@Rekha, my Lady of Shallot is 3 years old and it is also sending out long canes and no blooms. I may not keep it because of that.

@Austin

My David Austins:

I have Munstead Wood, Strawberry Hill, Jude the Obscure, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lichfield Angel, Crown Princess Margareta,Poet's Wife, Tess of D'Urbervilles, and Alnwick, and I just ordered a Roald Dahl Standard, Spirit of Freedom, and an Olivia Rose Austin Standard for spring.

I also have the following in my garden:

Summer Romance, Moonlight Romantica, Earth Angel, Eden, Red Eden, Poseidon, Margaret Merril, Plum Perfect, Charlene De Monaco, Michelangelo, Neptune, Koko Loko, Blue Girl, Twilight Zone, Celestial Night

@Sumera 9a_Houston I'm surprised your LOS is not blooming...is it in full sun? Mine blooms all the time, even through the brutal summer.

Desdemona and Sharifa asma also bloom a lot for me. These two are in planters.

We have a group of rose lovers in Houston in FB called "Growing roses in Houston Texas". We grow non-DA roses as well. We are not experts though, many of us started last year and we enjoy learning and sharing how each variety does in our area as we grow and go.

Good idea to contact local rose lovers; every climate is different. My advice would be, however, to NOT limit yourself to DA roses. In Houston I bet that Teas, Noisettes, and Chinas could do splendidly,would be very healthy, floriferous, and MUCH less greedy about water and fert than Austins.

I’m so thankful for your suggestion, I started with DA roses and have expanded to many different varieties now. In fact as you stated, they’re doing better in garden!!

So glad to hear this,Sumera. DAs tend to be over-rated, and it's a crying shame to see people in warm climates that are just starting out with roses being seduced by the aggressive marketing of the DA company,overlooking roses that,as you yourself are noticing,just are better plants, at least for warmer climates. Chapeau!!!

@ bart bart. Totally agree!!

I would recommend a mix of a few varieties because you have a warm climate and can thus have roses year round if you do a mix of different species. Well except maybe for this last year with your crazy snowstorm! What I have noticed about the Austin roses is that they behave for me as if the winter was a real thing here in Los Angeles. They might be daylight tuned? They bloom through the late fall and then completely stop and go dormant with no blooms from Dec-Mar regardless of whether I prune them. Then they put out an incredible Spring flush and bloom through the summer and into fall, but to a lesser extent. The Teas (and I mean real Teas not Hybrid Teas) pretty much bloom in the complete opposite seasons. Teas come from warmer places in China and they do have a wonderful Spring flush but then it gets hot and they stop blooming. Then the Teas put out an amazing fall flush that continues through the end of February. Basically the Teas bloom all winter and the Austins bloom all summer. I only have one modern Hybrid Tea “Belinda’s Blush” and she blooms with the Austin’s. I also have a collection of Polyantha roses, which seem to bloom year round. The only time they stop is when I prune them back hard in February. Marie Pavie is already setting buds 6 weeks after her hard prune.

Marie Pavie from Burlington. Roses Unlimited apparently has this nice double form too. The MP version ARE has is more of a single or semi double. Also this is Valentine from ARE that is a Hybrid Tea but the leaves look like a Tea Rose except that it stays very small at 2-3 feet. The uniqueness of this rose is that it also acts like the Polyanthas and blooms continuously year round. I literally don’t think I have ever seen it without a bloom in the two years in my garden. It gets 8-12 hours of sun a day and plenty of water. I have also never pruned it because it just doesn’t grow much, just keeps getting bushier. Only drawback is Valentine has no fragrance, but MP, a few feet away, more than makes up for Vs fragrance lack with her fragrance that wafts 20 feet. Pic of V last fall and today.

Stephanie: Valentine looks and sounds like such an AMAZING rose!!! I didn’t realize there was and entire class of roses that bloom year round in our area called Polyanthas. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and beautiful roses.

I agree with Stephanie's recommendation of a mix. I have had the same results regarding growth and dormancy with Austin and tea roses here in Houston that Stephanie reports in Los Angeles. I do get some tea rose blossoms in the summer- probably due to Houston's higher humidity and rainfall - although usually they tend to be smaller.

By the same token, my Austin roses sailed through last month's polar vortex, many with little die back at all. My tea roses were some of my hardest hit roses by the unusual cold, and several of them had to be cut back to less than a foot tall. I believe this is directly related to whether they were dormant (Austin) or actively growing and blooming (tea roses).

@plantloverkat I didn’t lose any David Austin’s either. They all leafed out beautifully and are now budding up ready to flower. I lost 2-3 newly planted Palatine bareroot roses since they were not dormant and the survivors had to pruned down close to soil line.