Apparently they were some that the Queen had that she liked. Don't know how much truth there is to that. It may also have seemed like shameless marketing to use their new rose. The designer that chose the roses wasn't anything to do with DA - she requested the roses she liked. They are selling loads of Jubilee Celebration at the nursery - what is weird though is that you can't actually get Royal Jubilee yet - it is only bare roots from nov onwards. All the other new releases are available - just not that one. It is funny that they have put Jubilee Celebration on one of the beds up near the top where the newer roses are - they know how to place things for extra sales :-)

I found Christopher Marlow not terribly enthusiastic about growing last year too. I'm waiting with bated breath to see what he does this year (I'll see how he likes organic life)....he better get a shuffle on, and better have a nicer colour than he seemed to last year too, there's plenty of other contenders for his position!

Jin, if you really love a rose and don't mind the expense of a gamble, then I think it's worth trying something in your own garden. That's the biggest thing I've learned in my first year gardening. Not that I'm not grateful for the experiences shared here but I've noticed several times now that roses (and other plants) that people complain about, end up performing really well for me. (And conversely, plants other people raved about, turned out really disappointing or riddled with pests in my garden) For example, before I started planting roses last year, I was doing a lot of research into the different David Austin cultivars and based on all the comments on GardenWeb, I wouldn't have touched Abraham Darby with a barge pole! Everyone seemed to be complaining about him and what a disease magnet he is, especially with blackspot, etc, etc... Well, in the end, I decided to take a chance and he has been the healthiest of the 12 DA's I planted. Not one speck of blackspot on him. And he's planted by the lawn so he was getting regularly sprayed by the lawn sprinklers. He's grown to 5 feet in one season, with multiple new basal shoots, and constantly reblooms, with huge flowers, even though he's in partial shade. He's been a fantastic rose. Of course, I do live in a dry Mediterranean climate so BS and other fungal diseases aren't too big an issue in general - but my point is, Abraham Darby wasn't one of the DA's which DID succumb to blackspot in my garden and I'd really expected him to be the worst, based on everyone's comments. If I had just listened to general opinion, I would have missed out on a great rose. (He might still go downhill yet - I've only had him 1 yr and I know that's nothing in gardening terms - but I'm enjoying him so far!) HY

Jubilee Celebration (AUShunter), a David Austin rose, bred by David Austin in 1998 and introduced in 2002 in UK. Blooms have salmon-pink, yellow reverse with strong raspberry fragrance. A very healthy and good repeat rose. Helen