I tried that the first few years. TG is a beast. I don't think it does well as a free standing shrub. It needs some kind of support. Especially in warmer zones.

I have read more comments including some by Paul Zimmerman about how DA heavily prunes their shrubs to manage some of them for the heights that they use in the garden. That might actually play into my interests, because there are times when I am actually looking for something to do in the rose garden. Also, heavy prunning after flushes is supposed to make them bloom better and give them thicker stiffer canes...

I ordered Teasing Georgia to use as a climber for some pillars on the recommendation from some people here on the forum. It is such a soft pretty color.

I have two Teasing Georgia bushes and in my zone they can be free-standing but floppy big bushes. Even in winters where they die down to the ground, they quickly want to regrow to their 6-8' thin cane length. I can't see that this is an Austin that would thicken up its canes very well and be a mannerly bush. Even in zone 5, Teasing Georgia isn't a 5 foot bush. Best to give her space to ramble.

Cynthia

I planted TG last spring and I have to say it is very vigorous compared to the other Austins planted at the same time. I do want tall rose shrubs but I have no idea how tall it would get up here. I will find out this summer. I live in Ontario, Canada.

may I ask,how good is the rebloom and repeat?

wow!@Daisy

I ditto that, Wow! I want big but that is one hell of a monster, beautiful but beyond big. I hope mine doesn't grow that big or my fence will collapse.

Here is the thread on here about hard pruning I referred to.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1576733/its-all-about-pruning-and-training-of-those

It has a,lot of posts.

You can certainly try it, but I think you will be pruning so much, the rose will not reach it's full potential. I've had to cut mine down to nothing a few times to remove it from structures (that it over grew) and it comes back very strong and easily puts on 8 ft canes in a few months. IMO, it looks best when it is allowed to grow free and will have multiple canes loaded with blooms from laterals. Also, the person who had that post, and the Austin gardens are not in zone 9, you will get much more growth than they have. If you want a more mannerly Austin Yellow, try Graham Thomas or Golden Celebration. Here are some pics of my GT in a spring flush:

That's interesting, because most people on here said that TG would be smaller and more mannerly then GT and GC...

I have TG here in Houston and honestly it is a monster. It wants to just grow out of controll, i have actually had to tame it down. I just transplanted it to a location behind a tree and the wall of the house with less sun(the fence it was by was taken down). I was thinking that it would not do as well. But when I saw it yesterday it was back to growing like a weed. Ill post pictures once it blooms(anyday now :) ). I have Golden and it is slow............ But I am trying to be patient. I really want her to grow.

TG wanted to be a climber for me. Sent out long canes with few buds the first couple of seasons.

I am in zone 6a, TG is a 5-6' shrub here, the biggest DA rose in my garden. Some of the canes can grow up to 10'. It dies back to 1' tall in the winter. The repeat speed is not as fast as DA Mary roses in my garden, but I am in a colder zone. TG is a lovely rose indeed! Beautiful TG photos everyone!

Of all the Austins I've planted, this is the most bushiest rose in its first year for me. Because I planted alongside Evelyn, I can't tell which of them smell the best. Either of both combination but It smelled like Jasmine flowers to me. I will have to see which one it is on its second year this season.

My Teasing Georgia gets partial sun where she is. I can definitly keep the height at 5 feet, but her canes spread so long, I don't think I could keep her at 5 ft wide. I do not allow her to climb, she stays as a bush for me so her canes tend to flop to the sides. Mine is young though, I've only had her in the ground about two years. I would love her to get as full as your Buford, so far she would not be considered by bushiest Austin, that would have to be Tea Clipper. Not a great repeater, and wish she would bloom more but its likely because she isn't in full sun.

Gosh all these photos are so beautiful. I can't wait till mine start blooming. They are in 7.5 gal pots right now but I have 2 humongous matching pots that are waiting till they get a little bigger. Then I will stick them in those.

I had to dig up my TG. It was in a spot right by my front door and as I said, I was struggling to keep it in line without pruning it every two weeks or so. I dug it up a few weeks ago and put Crown Princess Margarete in it's place. She will also climb, but is much more mannerly. Digging up these huge roses and keeping them in pots over a bad winter has not been fun. But since planting CPM, which I was concerned about, I see she has many new basals starting. Of course I had to cover those from the frost last night.

TG I honestly thought I killed it. It was in a pot, the largest one I have, but any growth left died back. I had to cut it back to one large cane. But it does seem to be getting new growth. TG has always came back strong from being cut back. I did put it in the basement last night, so it would not get hit by the frost. TG is going to be the centerpiece of my new circular rose bed. I have a large 7 foot wood obelisk that she will go on and no chance of snaring visitors to the front door.

I also have Tea Clipper and Golden Celebration. I had Graham Thomas, but it died. I would love to get another one, because that rose has the most gorgeous blooms and color. But mine was stingy.

My GC was in a bad spot and never did much of anything. But it was rescued in the Big Dig and now has a prominent spot next to my mailbox on a trellis. It's been doing great so far.

Tea Clipper I love. The blooms, the color. It is a bit stingy, but I am hoping this year with regular pruning and fertilizing/watering that I can get it to bloom more. I took off a lot of old wood and I see much more new growth than before. I grow it as a climber against a fence.

I've never detected a fragrance from TG. I don't have the most sensitive nose, so maybe it's just me.

I just came back from my garden and I have to say that TG have the most fragrant perfume. The buds haven't opened yet and my garden smell like jasmine and tea. However, my dad couldn't smell anything. I thought that was very interesting.

In our experience, trying to prune Austin roses down to prevent them being Jolly Green Giants was wholly useless. They just hunkered down and grew back to where they want to go. Better to use them at the size they want to be.

I missed this thread when it started last winter. I watch a couple of TGs in a no-spray garden here where they are pruned as shrubs, just cut back in spring to 3-4'. They are big but not huge monsters. The problem is that the laterals grow 4-6' and flop under the weight of blooms, often breaking themselves. Perhaps the trick would be to combine fairly hard annual pruning with a trellis of moderate size. These plants show pretty good blackspot resistance. Of course, the flowers are huge, gorgeous, and fragrant.

I wonder if the rampant growth reported by some is associated with hot summers, which we don't have here.

Some large Austins do take well to shrub pruning, for example 'Heritage', which made a beautiful 6x6' shrub for me, despite throwing an occasional 8' cane. (I currently have another one as a short climber on a support.)

Sultry J,

hows your teasing G doing? I have a mislabeled Austin that I'm pretty sure is TG. It's extremely healthy, but hasn't bloomed. I'm a bit concerned it won't bloom well, but it's health is second to none. Has yours bloomed well for you in Florida?

I have 2 Teasing Georgias they are grafted to Doc Huey. They really ARE beasts here. I just let them do whatever they want. I was going to grow them on pillars but decided that I wanted a different shade of yellow for that spot and am using the 2 TGs in a different spot. They bloom well (not continuously like Pat Austin, but in flushes. The foliage, indeed, stays nice and green. They are very thorny so you might want to keep them out of walkways or tie it well as it gets larger. If you can bend the canes more horizontally so it can grow laterals they will probably bloom better. Bees really seem to love the flowers. They are in full sun here the whole day.

Ok great. Mine seem to be own root. They are not huge yet, but they are growing well and seem to suffer very little from black spot or anything else. They have not bloomed though, so I wondered if it was because of my climate, but if you are in zone 9 florida and they bloom for you then i'm sure its just a matter of time for me. Mine are only about 2x3 feet each at the moment. Everyone says they need to get large before they bloom so I'll give them some time. Thanks for replying. :)