Hi.
I picked up a 5 gal Gertrude Jekyll on a whim, and I've schlepped it around from place to place, in and out of pots, for almost a year.

She's been quite the trooper. She's been blooming steadily and has shown no signs of disease..

-That's my experience here in CA SF Bay Area.
Hope that helps.

Kate

Gertrude Jekyll is a diva rose, extremely beautiful but highly susceptible to blackspot in the eastern half of the country, terribly thorny, rangy, and stingy with repeat bloom.

Gertrude Jekyll is so much better than Sophys rose!!! It is very healthy and hardy for me. It does not rebloom much though and without hard pruning it becomes leggy and a awkward grower. The scent is magnificient ..so is the shape, colour and amount of flowers of flowers.
Sophys rose is more compact than GJ and the blooms have a more pinkish colour. The blooms are pretty but have very little scent. I have 3 in my cutting garden. It is very stingy with blooms, and even though David Austin claims it is a healthy rose I have both BS, Mildew and rust on all 3 plants at the same time!!! It has got to be the worst Austin rose in terms of health I have ever grown!!! And was the point of Austin Roses not to be fragrant? Well those who buy Sophys are in for a major disappointment if they think all Austins are fragrant...this has almost none. They are going to be dug up tomorrow. I do not tolerate roses that produces so few flowers and so diseaseprone. I will make a post about that with picture evidence. But one mans trash may be anothers treasure.

One man's trash is another's treasure indeed. Sophy's Rose is one of my treasures. Mine bloom constantly and other than a touch of mildew always look great. Climate makes a lot of difference.

Some Sophy's are fragrant to my nose. Four Gertrude Jekyll's later, I'm still looking for a good one.
But if you've room for a big vase shaped bloom machine, may I recommend James Galway. The blooms open refined light pink and then on the inner hundred or so petals there is the darker pink that you want. We've been growing ours no spray successfully.

Sophy's Rose is definitely the better rose in my climate. It isn't anywhere close to being in Gertrude Jekyll's league where fragrance is concerned, but the blooms are nice, the growth habit is attractive, it's healthy, and it repeats generously. Gertrude Jekyll is a nasty, thorny octopus armed black spot magnet that sends the most heavenly scent wafting across my patio just often enough to thwart my resolve to shovel prune it.

Thanks for the responses. I'm intrigued by what was said about James Galway. I was tempted to get that rose, since I'm a flutist! Alnwick looks like a beauty, as well.

Well, I've got time to dream about it and decide.

Jeanie

Here in zone 5a, I have the exact experience with these two roses as rosyone, minus the blackspot... Gertrude Jekyll's only real appeal is her fragrance, and what a fragrance--classic, strong old rose scent. Here, Sophy's Rose starts out more red before fading to purpleish pink, but it has healthy and balanced growth, smaller and lower to the ground compared to GTs awkward, stiff stalks... Still, I'm keeping my GT for the fragrance of her pretty litle blooms.

Star of the Nile?

I Love gertrude J. I prune her pretty good mid season and she reblooms well for me. Smells great.

I love love love Star of the Nile. Talk about vibrant electric colors! (but it isn't over the top gawdy, just such an eye catcher).

I also really like Dark Lady. Got this one at 1/2 price one year and am so glad I did. HUGE blooms. Beautiful unfading color!

Marleah

I was crazy about my two Gertrude Jekylls, but neither one would overwinter for me. My conditions are less than ideal for roses--heavy clay, and limited sun.

However, I loved it so much, I would gladly plant another, and coddle it to death, since a couple of small trees were cut down and I now have a spot with more sun.

To me, fragrance and color are almost everything (although of course I do appreciate form as well) and Gertrude Jekyl had both in spades.

I wonder how the Abraham Darby will do for you? That is another rose I dearly love. It did well for me for several years, until it was shaded out by a walnut tree.

GJ only bloomed once for me. I don't count an isolated bloom every so often as a rebloom. My Sophy's Rose is only a year old, but for a colorful pink, have you considered Maggie?

Sammy

It is a deeper color but I consider it still in the pink family--Wise Portia. New to me this year, but already I'm very impressed by the blooms. Very symmetric and somewhat pom-pom-y, and nice scent. Alas, I can't tell you about the ultimate habit or size, but someone else might. The color does stand out.