I have grown most of the Romanticas and over half of all of the Austin roses ever introduced. Many of the Austin roses grow much bigger in the parts of CA that are blessed with long growing seasons; Graham Thomas, Wenlock, Gertrude Jeckyll and The Pilgrim, which are nice sized sized shrubs in the UK, will all top 10 feet here. But I agree with Kate, that there are a good number of them that will remain much more compact here, such as Sophy's Rose, Ambridge Rose, Tamora, The Prince, Prospero, Happy Child, Glamis Castle, Mary Webb, Windemere, Wife of Bath, Pretty Jessica,Lady Hamilton, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Munstead Woods, Fair Bianca, and so many more. I have just received 3 of the new releases this year: Boscobel, Heathcliff, and Tranquility, which I believe are also supposed to be compact, but time will tell. I also agree with Ingrid that some of the old garden roses such the non-climbing version of Souv. de la Malmaison are worth consideration as well as Marquise Bochella/Jacques Cartier and Comte de Chambord. I can also recommend a number of the roses that were bred by John Clements of Heirloom Roses would do well for you and remain compact. Some of my favorites from this collection are: Star of the Nile, Safari, Joan Fontaine, Memories, and Tranquility. Good luck in your choices, John

By all means, do plant them in your garden now. Make sure you water them in well. Since it is so warm there, I'd provide them with some afternoon shade for about a week. Place a lawn chair over them or buy some shade cloth and rig up some stakes to attach it to. Since it is so warm, keep an eye on the roses so they don't dry out during the next week or two--but don't drown them either. That can kill them as easily as too little water can. You have some beauties there. Good luck! Kate

Here are some paths and designs that I like... obviously very large gardens, but I think you can take these ideas and place them in a smaller garden... ..in this photo the shingled path is straight but softened with edging plants, and the path is tapered towards to end, which draws the visitor to it, I think... ..the same view 10 days later..... I like the way the blue Geraniums have now been replaced by the pink ones... but the yellows still draw me to the end of the path... ..another garden, another example of how I like to be drawn forward.... the very straight path narrowing in the distance to what appears to be a pair of dark green pillars.. ..but it is in fact a Hop covered archway, the path softened and the gazebo enticing the visitor forward... I like this one very much... and I think could be replicated in a small garden... ..with a grass path, I like to see curves with plantings that hide the view ahead... and absolutely no spillage onto the paths... I don't like to see that with grass... preferring a nice clean sharp edge.. ..with high straight walls, I think it's important to bring the borders outwards towards the centre... but I don't like these island beds here... although they serve a purpose in this particular garden... ..finally, I rather like the way the hedges here have been shaped to invite the visitor to take a turn right or left... it flows and I find it relaxing... and I wouldn't like it if it was sharp... ...hope you found something of interest in those...

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!