Beautiful flower, Ingrid. Hope it will thrive in your garden.

Diane

I like Charles Darwin. Mine has gotten bigger and healthier and more floriferous through the years.

mendocino....how large is your Charles Darwin? I know you live in an area where roses get pretty large, but it would be interesting the see how large it gets for you.

I grew it in San Clemente and really liked it a lot. I love the red tinge to the buds before they open, the great fragrance, the large flowers, and the strong growing habit. I know some people find the colour unattractive when it fades away, but for the most part I found it incredibly beautiful through all stages. I think Charles Darwin is a great and underrated rose, nice to hear others are also having good luck with him!

From my old garden:
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Ingrid, it is beautiful. I love soft yellow on roses. I still love Golden Celebration better, because it mellows into a rich, but soft yellow-gold, stippled pink, but this rose does have an interesting hue to it. I'm glad you have a nice yellow that works for your garden. It's like adding a bit of sunshine and joy into the mix. :)

Juliet

Blendguy, thanks for posting that sumptuous picture. I do think more people would enjoy growing it if they knew what a very good rose it is. I'm really glad to have it in my garden.

Pam, I also would like to see a picture of your Charles Darwin. I'm curious how large a mature bush will be. Mine will probably need to be transplanted if the mature CD is quite large. Is yours grafter or own-root?

Thank you Juliet. I know you treasure your GC and it is truly gorgeous.

Ingrid

That's one lucky Rose, ending up in your garden! Are you going to aggressively prune it, or encourage it to develop its own natural architecture? Some roses (like the Old Teas) have an architecture. Some are just incoherent messes, without firm guidance....

The blooms, of course, are fabulously beautiful. And the color would be a dream to work with, for arrangements that will work with most interior hues.

Plan9, since it's an own-root rose it will take quite some time to build up before I can do much pruning but as I deadhead I cut back further on the little branches that are sticking out too far, making the rose droop. Mostly roses seem to tell you how and how much they want to be pruned.

It is a good rose for cutting, either by itself or mixed with other colors. It seems to go with everything.

Ingrid

Ingrid, it looks beautiful. I will keep it in mind for my next rose order. By the way, one of my orders has been despatched (I just received the email from the nursery) and will be here anytime this week! I can hardly wait!
Sanju

Lovely picture, Ingrid. I grow Charles Darwin here in Northern Michigan and he does beautifully! Because of our colder climate, he doesn't grow much taller than 4 l/2 feet, but is quite hardy and disease resistant for me. And OH those blooms! I grow him next to Jude the Obscure, who gets taller, and they compliment each other nicely.

Sanju, I'm glad you like it. It should do well in your warm, dry climate. How exciting that you're getting roses. I hope you're going to post lots of pictures when all your new roses start to bloom. I feel a little as though I'm their godmother since I suggested you try old roses. I wasn't sure whether you would seriously consider doing so and was so thrilled when you jumped in wholeheartedly.

Karen, I'm glad CD does well in a cold climate too. Frankly, I don't know how either of you can stand it, but then the cold really makes my bones ache.

Ingrid

I love my Charles Darwin rose. I planted it next to a smoke bush and they look terrific together in the spring. I bought it foremost for the fragrance which knocks my sox off. True, one has to sniff it at high noon on a sunny day. For me nothing else has that blinding, lemon scent. Jude comes in at a very close second with the grapefruity smell that is so overwhelming. I have had CD about 5 years now and it will repeat quite well. I love them both. Karen

This is very interesting...I moved from my garden of well over 100 roses, closer to 200 last year to a home with a very small garden. If I can fit 50, probably 40, I'm lucky. CD was one of the first Austins I purchased in my first garden, perhaps the first and it was a poor bloomer, very poor. And, the beige color, yuck. But, yes, the killer fragrance and the young blooms ARE to die for. I have much, much better soil in this new garden, and what did I buy the other day, but CD. Just had to have that fragrance.

Here is a link that might be useful: How can I overlook this?