Hi Stasi, I have grown over 120 different Austin roses over the years. In my opinion, the one that has a similar shape is St. Cecilia. It is also has been the most fragrant of all the Austin roses and has the "myrrh" fragrance that some love and some hate. As is the case with many very fragrant roses, it struggles a bit with disease resistance, especially powdery mildew. But it is definitely worth growing. I just planted one at my new house that I got from Pickering and it is thriving. I should see my first blooms in around a week.

Thank you again, for those details. I can't wait for next Spring! I guess it's too late to pinch this season, but I'll be on it in March. I wish I knew what I was doing...I don't even know what half these roses are meant to look like fully grown, much less how encourage it. OT, regarding First Crush...she's a sad specimen of a plant, but her new growth and root system are vigorous. And she was $5!!! My question concerns her growth habit. I really need a very pale pink rose next to Dark Desire, but in the same long beds with New Dawn, Munstead Wood and Summer Romance. I was thinking of Earth Angel, but since I have the FC, I could use it instead. What do you think.I prefer bushy and not hugely tall. There's a 4'-5' space allotted for it, but smaller is OK, too. (I don't mind shifting things in the Spring, but welcome any tips for keeping the rootball intact. It's so much work transplanting.) We're having extended gentle rain so I'm glad I slogged through the mud yesterday getting the last two roses planted so I didn't have to overwinter them in pots. (Don't worry; the soil wasn't too wet.) Noseometer, sorry for the total hijack.

@Liz Bell summer romance prefers full sun here in the south and they do not burn in all day sun. As long as they get 6 or more hours of sun it does well Mine got afternoon dappled shade after 1 pm from a nearby tree until the sun shifted enough in late afternoon to provide more direct sun. So if your areas can provide at least 6 hours it should be great. Kordes here seem to prefer all day sun compared to Austin’s. Our zones are probably not very different since I am in alabama

Marcindy, There has been a pattern of sparse blooming among certain Kordes varieties for years. Some Kordes roses are profuse and quick cycling bloomers, some are not. I am not convinced that hot days accompanied with cool nights makes Summer Romance pump out the blooms. I think that there is genetic drift, unstable characteristics in certain roses. What do you think is the cause of some rose sports (different colors, different fragrances, different growth habits, etc...), unstable genes. Summer Romance plants are all vegetatively propagated from one, original parent plant, but not directly from the original parent. The run of the mill Summer Romance most likely is a cutting taken from a cutting grown SR, taken from a different cutting grown SR, taken from a different cutting grown SR, on and on. Plants with unstable genes mutate very easily. Assuming each and every Summer Romance will grow identically under identical growing conditions should be the case, but with unstable genetic material this is not necessarily so. There is so much mixed heritage in roses that all sorts of unexpected results occur. For example there are many vegetatively grown variations, some subtle, some very observable in the famous daylily, Stella d' Oro. Some were spontaneous mutations, and some artificially induced. I was told years ago that in one acre of a specific, non-hybrid, variety of corn there are 200 mutations present in the corn plants in that one acre. Just a thought of mine. Moses