Thank you for this update. I've really been enjoying your posts.

Looks great with those dwarf shasta daisies !! What is the tree-rose (pink) behind it? Thanks. Is your Gabriel Oak in full-sun?

strawchicago z5, that that’s the olivia rose asutin tree, yeah thr gabriel oak is in fun sun

What a beautiful oasis!!! The colors in your garden are exquisite!! Everything is top notch!! I would love that as a page of my calendar!!

My Gabriel Oak blooms were quite small -- more like a miniature rose! I'm hoping the next flush will be better. It is fragrant, and the color is pretty -- but if the bloom size doesn't improve, I think I'll move it along to someone else's garden! So far I'm loving my James L. Austin. I just wish he was more fragrant. Did you try Eustacia Vye?

Oh, that's too bad. Hopefully they'll get bigger.

Deborah (10a - Sunset 24), yeah i'm growing Eustacia at the moment, so far so good, it likes to bloom a lot

Good to hear! My EV had about a dozen buds, and then they didn't open, they were all dried up! I don't know what happened. We haven't had any real heat yet...so I trimmed them all of, and we'll start again. Same with Gabriel. Both plants were very small (root ball and canes). I know DA had some issues what with Covid and weather -- but I have to say I was not impressed with what arrived from them. But my Heritage is looking AMAZING. So thrilled I got that one! :-)

People don't talk about Heritage much anymore. I'm glad you're loving yours! Do you have pictures?

Oh Carol! I wish! Maybe today I'll try to get some. I have been so exhausted the last couple of months. I literally work, come home, and fall asleep! I've had no energy for garden. Plus, it's been dispiriting that the deer stole the spring show. I went to give blood last week as usual, and was turned away for low hemoglobin. So I messaged my doctor, who ordered blood work, and it came back low hemoglobin and iron deficient -- so anemia! I've never had that before. No idea what brought it on. But now I'm on iron supplements, so hoping that does the trick. Would be nice to have some energy!

Oh, I get it. I had to have blood transfusions when I was pregnant with Kedra, because of anemia which caused some other issues. It's exhausting, and you can't think properly. I hope the pills help and that your iron can get back up to where it should be. In the meantime...keep on resting...you need it. :)

Thank you, Carol! Sorry to unload on you!

No, don't be sorry. :) :) We all need each other. :):) Rest and read good books. :) Or sit out in a chair and look at your roses. :) :)

Thanks for the new video! I'm enjoying them a lot.

Beautiful, as always.

jc_7a_MiddleTN, yeah, i ordered it because of the color from the marketing pictures on the DA website, it's still pretty though but just not as striking as the "original" color

My colors were pretty -- very similar to James L. Austin. And fragrant blooms. But a small bush and small flowers. Glad I didn't replace my James with Gabriel! Maybe it just needs a year.

@jc_7a_MiddleTN - my Deelish looks lovely on the bush, but the moment I bring the blooms inside, I hate the color! Must be something about lighting. So, DeeLish now stays on the bush! Mine doesn't bloom much/often. It's now in 3rd year. It is at the top of a slope, so it could be that it will take a lot more time to really get deep roots to suck up enough water. I have a couple of other roses on slopes and they took forever to get established, but once they did -- look out. So DeeLish stays.

jc - they look fantastic to me. :) :) But, I'm sorry it's not what you were expecting. Maybe time will change the color. :)

I could tell they won’t look like this later.

The blooms nodded even though they were small. just young.

My Eustascia Vye also had the first flush look when you know its a new plant- petal count was low and color was slightly off.

The rave reviews tell me they just need a little more time. im willing to wait!

@hoang yours looks more robust than mine. im certain mine are just young.

@jc_7a_MiddleTN I was wondering how this would look in actual customers' hands. It looks like it does a similar grayish fade that Benjamin Britten does. I didn't find it appealing to the point where I gave it away :-/

Mine is stil blooming true pink, but much softer than advertised and with fewer petals and tiny blooms.

all my roses were wrecked by japanese beetles and blackspot so im still thinking this one needs a lot more time.

at least its blooming unlike most of the rest

Darn Japanese beetles.

Exactly. They've eaten literally every bloom in my garden. It's maddening! I almost want to go nuclear and kill everything with Sevin, but I'd regret it afterwards.

I'm the same way with lily beetles... I refuse to spray...and even though I love lilies...I won't grow them. :( :(

Good luck.

I have both EV and GO, well to be frank I am not impressed by their performance either， maybe they just need more time.We will see.

I definitely agree that they need more time. Size, petal count and even color & fragrance can be different in a mature vs new plant. I believe most of us received these bareroots late in the planting season, too, which didn‘t help. JB’s are destroying all of my blooms currently as well but I did enjoy the spring blooms and can’t wait to see what GO and EV do in the future.

Agree, @Dave5bWY. My bareroots came super late, and they were very small -- super puny. I know DA had a lot of issues between covid and the weather, so I am trying to be patient. Just got another round of blooms from GO -- they were still small, but very pretty. I think I have some buds coming along on EV -- my last round of buds all dried up and fell off -- way too hot to get bare root started that late. Anyway, Hoping this next year I'll see the blooms I've seen online! :-)

Mine have smallish blooms too. Munstead wood (grafted) did that too but now after 2 years its blooming continously and the blooms are so much bigger, 3-4 inch blooms. Hopefully GO catches up, MW s still my favorite

I love my Gabriel Oak in PNW 8! I totally adore my Munstead Wood but it took threatening him with eviction after 4 years and transplanting to thrive. I'm sure Gabriel Oak will be similar. Patience is a virtue; just hope I live long enough, LOL!

Caroline...That is strange, both my Munsteads are doing well. I have an own root Munstead Wood that is 2 years old about 2 feet and doing well. I also have a grafted Munstead, about the same size and doing well. Grafted is in the ground and own root in a pot. I was thinking how well it did in our climate.

Dave - What a glorious bloom!!! The color is exquisite!!

ann beck I'm 8b which probably doesn't make a difference but garden micro-climates make all the difference I have found. My MW is own root ,but like you, I have no idea why it took so long to come into it's own. On the other hand, Gabriel Oak is thriving with big blooms and it's a first year!

I'm also in 8b and so looking forward to receiving Munstead Wood next spring. I am so late to the party, I fell in love with David Austin's just last year and so have ordered and begun to plant with a vengeance. This spring I planted Golden Celebration, Roald Dahl, Desdemona, Bathsheba, Lady of Shalott and have quite a few more on my planting table for fall planting. All are doing well and have bloomed their heads off all summer long, much to my delight! I am addicted and cannot wait for my bare root spring orders. Hello all, my name is Carol and I am in Washington, very near Portland. I love reading all your posts and your gardening with roses experiences. Thrilled to find this forum!!!

Hi Caroline, I think I live quite near you. I look forward to reading your posts and experiences with David Austin roses since we are pretty much in the same zone. Like you, I hope I live long enough to see all my Austins grow and thrive since I am a latecomer with my addiction for them. I have a large rose garden that finally, just this year has begun to reward us for all our very hard work. I had a thriving crop of thistle that has taken us 12 years to overcome but we won the battle. We have very heavy clay soils and have been hauling trailer loads of horse manure compost in every few weeks to help. We see wonderful results. Maybe we can meet in person one day and share our love of roses.