Heritage is one of my favorites. Scepter'd Isle was less impressive to me. It is shorter in statue and more prone to blackspot here. The smell is a strong myhrr scent which some people like but I wasn't crazy about it, while I love the scent of Heritage. The flowers are good for cutting though. Repeat was good, but Heritage is more continuous.

I have grown both roses in zone 5.

Heritage was a stingy bloomer for me but very beautiful when she did bloom.

Scepter'd Isle is one of my favorites. I just love her loose shaped blooms, color and health here in my Nova Scotia garden. In my old garden I had an old ladder back chair that she grew up through, she was my 'chair rose'. When I moved I had to replace her and am delighted I did.

That's my two cents worth, for what its worth, LOL.

Valerie

I grew both. Here they were both big green monsters with lousy rebloom. Heritage had extremely poor rust resistance with exquisitely gorgeous flowers that fell apart about two hours after they opened. Scepter'd Isle had much better rust resistance but the flowers were not as beautiful.

Scepter'd Isle was a medium pink here, Heritage a delicate shell pink. I've not yet had a satisfying pink Austin in this garden--the apricots and yellows have been wonderful here--the pinks, not. Bishop's Castle has been ok. Mary Rose, kind of ok.

Heritage was the first Austin I "met," and I was, and remain, utterly enchanted by the bloom form. It's almost enough to make me consider buying something in shell pink (and if it were a stronger, more disease-resistant plant, I probably would have it).

I have nothing whatever to say about Scepter'd Isle, just wanted to throw in that recollection.

-Greta

Linrose,

If you love shell-pink cupped roses, have you thought about getting St. Cecilia?

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Ceilia at Helpmefind rose

I grow both here in Northern Michigan (2 Heritages and 1 Scepter 'd Isle tree rose). For me, Heritage is a very quick rebloomer - the first and last to bloom of almost all my roses, with a number of reblooms in between. Scepter 'd Isle has been pretty consistent also, but not as much as Heritage. Both get some blackspot later in the season, but both seem to grow right through it without defoliating. Heritage's blooms shatter more quickly than Scepter's, but seem to rebloom quicker.

I wonder why it is that Heritage doesn't seem to bloom as often for some people as others? It blooms like crazy here, pretty much non-stop, rapid-fire, constantly reloading for another round. I already have buds on my two Heritage roses, and they won't stop blooming until a freeze gets them in the early winter.

Randy

My Heritage is always blooming - strange how some people get great bloom from this rose, and others not! Anyway, its hands down one of my best roses, and the flowers are just stunning. Its a big plant. Scepter'd Isle is much smaller for me, and does not bloom as much (although to be fair, its in a shadier spot than Heritage). It too is very, very beautiful. A somewhat darker pink than Heritage.

I would not be with out either of these roses. I love Heritage but Scepter'd Isle is my favorite pink Austin. They both are very healthy for me. I would get both if I were you.

Wow, I guess I can't go wrong either way. It's funny how people have opposite experiences with them. My current Heritage got whacked down to the ground this year, it's a first year own-root. I'll see if it rebounds. I was under the impression that SI grew taller than Heritage, but not so? The Scepter'd Isle that's coming is grafted. I'll be putting it near Heritage so I can compare.

So it sounds like Heritage has better rebloom but shatters quicker and SI is darker and shorter. Both have similar (so-so) disease resistance. Is this right?

Thanks jj for reminding me of St. Cecelia. I forgot about her. I used to grow it in Vermont. I loved it, I do remember the deep cupped shape. If one of these two give up, I'll try her next year.

Linrose, I have two Heritages - the one I grow on the sheltered East wall reaches up to the roof line if I don't keep it pruned back. The one in the meadow, where it gets a lot of wind, usually stays around 4 l/2 feet tall.

Linrose, I think it depends upon the climate regarding the health of these two roses.
'Heritage' is healthy for me here. It gets some blackspot late in the summer, but shrugs it off and keeps on blooming.
It's about as healthy as any rose I grow, except of course the china roses and old tea roses (those two set the standard for health here).

Randy

I would vote for Heritage. I don't like how SI quickly opens up to reveal its stamens--that always seems rude to me.

I do like my Scepter'd Isle here. It seems to love the climate as it is completely hardy and vigorous. It blooms throughout the season and produces a strong myhrr scent. I think the showy yellow stamens make this rose special.

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I like those stamens too! Kind of reminds me of the old Austin Belle Story. I don't think that rose is around anymore. I liked it though. SI is supposed to have more petals (45) than Heritage (40) so I guess it just opens up more that Heritage. Still confused on heights. I suppose YMMV is the rule here. DA lists SI as from 3 to 6 feet in height but also says its a nice rose for the front of the border(???) and calls it a shorter version of Heritage. So you can see my confusion.

So many people like Heritage, it is a tried and true Austin. I'm hoping mine comes back OK. SI is going in a pot today, it came from Pickering yesterday. Thanks for all your input. And thanks for those wonderful photos of SI Harry, hope mine grows up to be like yours!

Linda

The blooms may be similar but the plant forms are not. Scepter'd Isle grows in that far-flung octopus arm shape. You might almost want to train it against a wall. Or maybe you could peg it. I don't have mine anymore and I don't remember how docile the tentacles, er, canes, are.

Rosefolly

It being almost a decade since this thread, anyone have updated opinions? It seems like there are recent discussions of Scepter'd Isle, but not of Heritage (which is such an old rose, people probably don't have more to say!).

Acrobats! I love it! And yes, they are my favorites. But I'm growing fond of those that are only loosely doubled, like Heritage.

Between Heritage and SI which might do better with some dappled shade?

Poking to see if I can get this thread going again! Still hoping to learn if one might do better than the other in a spot with afternoon shade (7b).

I think my Heritage is healthier than my SI here if that helps. They are both beautiful but SI can get BS.