The Poet's Wife is too new for most of us to have an opinion about it, but my experience with Happy Child is essentially like yours. Austins tend to do very well in our zone, with hot summers and reasonable amounts of rain, but Happy Child in about 7 years has done nothing much more than stay alive at about 2' tall and put out a few mediocre ivory-yellow blooms now and then. The blooms fade, the plant is scrawny and a lousy repeater, and I find the plant entirely forgettable. At least it's probably one that stays short in CA, but that's not much to recommend it.

The Poet's Wife has to be better than Happy Child even if it only lives up to 10% of the Austin catalog hype.

Cynthia

Thanks for the input Cynthia, much appreciated. I'm hoping the European members will share some of their experiences with Poet's Wife since it was released there first in 2014.

If I were to grow Happy Child again it would be in a half barrel or 15 gallon nursery can. Once I figure out the magic combination perhaps would I consider in-ground culture. It's off patent now, so I would also explore grafting onto other rootstocks. I vaguely remember it resented hard pruning.

So far from pictures, looks like Happy Child has a better flower form & deeper color than Poet's Wife.

I wonder why David Austin is having problems releasing a good solid yellow when they brag about making 50,000 - 60,000 crosses per year*? Maybe he's falling behind because the market already has good, full, quartered, deep yellow roses with Meilland's 'Gina Lollobrigida', Delbard's 'Souvenir de Marcel Proust', McGredy's 'Casino', and any of Kordes' yellow Freelanders. Perhaps he should have stopped introducing so many cookie cutter pink or peach roses and focused more on developing other colors with his hundreds of thousands of crosses.

* http://teddingtongardener.com/2015/07/03/time-travel-the-trial-beds-at-david-austin-roses-a-glimpse-of-the-future/

I don't know how much I can add to this discussion, being as I'm in a totally different climate and grow only 'Happy Child' of the two you mention. Mine came as an own-root band from Heirloom Roses in 2014, and unlike the majority of my roses, was planted directly in the ground without being first potted-up in my nutrient-rich mix. As a result -- and like any of the other few I treated the same way -- it remained a year behind others which were potted-up first. Well, in 2015 it put forth its first stout cane, and grew to just under 3' tall. All the while, it bloomed a lot, and I enjoyed the flowers. It did get a touch of blackspot for me, but not until about September -- which is pretty good for a no-spray garden in NJ. I have it in a spot that gets pretty much all-day sun. I didn't want something that got big to go where I put it, so that it stays small is an asset to me. I know some people have disparaged it, but 'Happy Child' is doing just fine for me.

:-)

~Christopher

..well, it's our first season with it too, - 'The Poet's Wife' - so you know with Austin's that they take a while to get going before we can give a fair assessment... I've discarded too many too soon previously.... but I love lemons, and the scent on this is pure citrus and I love it for that, however, so far I think there are probably better yellows from the Austin stable - they have some famous ones, and this little rose has a lot of competition. I grow it as much because it's the colour I wanted, it's short enough for the front of my border, unlike some of his other yellows, and it stands out... the growth is rather angular - and picked up some black spot late in the season... but I blame my conditions for that... so I've no idea what it will do in your climate.

..I'm keeping it, but a group of 3 would be better... and I'm considering that option...

..we don't have 'Happy Child' here, so cannot help with that one.... hope you find the one you like...

It's a pretty rose, and if we'd never seen another Austin rose, we'd probably be all agog. As it is though, it's just another generic Austin rose, with no particularly outstanding qualities, unless it has a very graceful bush and is free of disease.

I planted a trio of Happy Child last year, and I'm scratching my head at the negative reviews I sometimes read. They are bare roots from Heirloom. They were were pretty vigorous growers and despite my habit of disbudding first year roses they insisted on pumping out the blooms, so I let them. They were a cheery bright yellow that didn't fade much at all.

I'll be trying the Poet's Wife this year. I think I heard it grows a bit upright and narrow. Not sure if that's so and it's not my favorite style, but anyhow I'm planning to "design" around that growth habit.

That is encouraging, ratdogheads. I have always thought I would like to grow HC, but the bad reviews put me off. Heirloom is no longer offering it.

Is Happy Child even available in North America anymore?

McNastarana: DA-USA had HC earlier this year but sold out. I'm seriously considering removing TPW from my order now, my plants don't ship until next week. Ingrid is correct in her assessment about TPW. I think I want to try HC again, this time in z-15 (30F-89F) instead of z-24 (46F-100F), and keep feeding it banana peels and fish emulsion while in a pot.

I might be mistaken, but flowers of The Poet's Wife look smallish to me (online pics):

Compared to Happy Child (HMF pic):

O my, romogen, those are some beautiful rose photos. Just want to add that IMO David Austin's Charlotte is a very beautiful rose, too.

Monarda, I agree, Charlotte's flowers are pretty. I had it in SoCal, but it grew octopus canes and gave me only one flower every third month, which shattered within 72 hours. Crown Princess Margareta was even worse. It sent out 10 foot canes on a regular basis but barely bloomed once in spring and maybe a handful of flowers in autumn. Both were in the ground and in full sun. They're not unique -- in California, Austins tend to put all their energy into vegetative growth instead of flowers. Don't even get me started about Othello's antics back in the '80's.

Diane, those are beautiful pictures of Golden Celebration! How old is your plant? I agree with you, GC is one of his best. I had one in SoCal, and I just bought another one for my new place last month. It's rare for me to buy the same rose variety twice.

To give you an idea of my slow deliberations, I finally broke down and ordered Jude the Obscure for the first time last week. I was on a nine year Austin hiatus... then fell off the wagon last month.

Has 'Symphony' been considered? A shorter Austin.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.18099.1&tab=36

I do like Allux Symphony, but am conflicted. I remember it fondly from the 1990's, but am not sure it has stood the test of time. I might decide to grow it again in the future, but at the moment, my higher priority is replacing a long dead plant of Troilus with another Troilus... love that rose.

I started this thread to compare The Poet's Wife and Happy Child to help me make a decision. Thankfully, people participated and I accomplished my goal.

My David Austin order arrived last week. I had deleted The Poet's Wife because I am waiting for all the reviews to come in first. I wanted Happy Child but they had sold out. Turns out Happy Child won't be offered next year either so I have to pursue other avenues of acquisition. I have also been disturbed at how quickly the good older Austin roses are disappearing from commerce; therefore, I purchased St. Alban, Charles Darwin, & Jude the Obscure instead. As a replacement for HC I just planted a trio of Gina Lollobrigida and am thinking of ordering Souvenir de Marcel Proust from Ludwig's Roses. How did I end up with five different roses from the two I originally posted!?!

Looks like they recently dropped another yellow, English Garden, from US sales too. I wouldn't be surprised to see them phase out Buttercup and Comte de Champagne.

'Molineux' is about my best Austin as far as bloom production goes. It keeps up with 'Iceberg', so its actually one of my best producers, period. Upright growth habit.

I always wondered about Buttercup and CdC, but the colors fade so much. They probably end up bleaching to a dirty linen color in California. I am especially intrigued by CdC because Taittinger is my favorite champagne.

A glorious spring sight here are native Fremontias and Rosa hugonis, are those two Austins an improvement over the species?

Fremontodendron

R. hugonis

Hard to imagine that any modern rose could compete with either of those beauties in their full glory. Around here I've seen a Harrison's Yellow that was likewise abundant with bloom.

However for repeat bloomers, both Buttercup and CdC have something to offer. They are very different from one another. Buttercup is tall with fine willowy growth. The flowers are a fairly bright and clear yellow and don't fade very much. They hold their shape better than CdC, overall just a daintier rose. CdC's value is in its regular rebloom But it's a comparitively low growing, prickly, sprawling bush. The flowers are a warm shade and quickly fade, though the colors don't become drab. At least not in my climate. And because the bloom production is so good you have a bush with varying shades - butterscotch to butter to cream.

So glad I didn't purchase The Poet's Wife this year! I saw it potted and in bloom today at a local nursery and was completely underwhelmed. It looks like Graham Thomas and fades completely to white. Instead, the search for Troilus & Happy Child continues....

I ended up getting 'Poets Wife' as an impulse buy. So far, I like it a lot. The scent is good, and it's already repeating. Austin's yellows tend to be good performers in my climate, as a general rule better than the pinks.

Romogen, if that look isn't something you like, Happy Child is pretty much in the same boat as far as color and fading go. For me, that's a pretty good solid yellow for Austins, as they all fade to cream for me over time.

Cynthia

...just to say that I think there's a little confusion about the fading issue... on my plant the rich yellow blooms fade a little to a creamy yellow after about 4 days.... the creamy white blooms that you see are already that way when they open... not every bloom on 'The Poet's Wife' is that rich yellow, most are but some are not...

...this vase photo, which I've shown before, shows how an occasional bloom is more white... it's not a faded yellow bloom...

..here are 2 examples of the same bloom..

the first is when a day old, and the second is the same bloom 2 days later..

I think Happy Child has absolutely lovely blooms, but my 2 HCs were total wimps--never got much over a foot tall and always looked very weak. However, I have seen a picture on this forum of one HC that was as happy and strong and floriferous as you would want. I have no idea what causes the difference, but having failed twice with HC, I won't try her again. (By the way, you posted above one of my pics of her.)

If you have the option of Souvenir de Marcel Proust, I say go for it. That is one beautiful yellow rose!

Kate

I have six Poet Wife plants in San Jose, CA--zone 9. This is their first year. I am disappointed with the color. I basically have six plants of creamy white blooms, with a few vibrant yellow buds mixed in. I know yellows fade, and I was ok with a fade, but that is not what I have. I'm considering digging them out next winter, moving them, and trying again.

Romogen, this is way late, but thank you for your comments on Golden Celebration--still one of my favorite Austins. I've now grown it about 13 years, and love it more each year. Diane

I have The Poet's wife for its second year growing. My Austin's most of them it is 1 to 2 years before I really get the full benefit of them. last year it only had a few blooms. The first year the blooms were not as deep yellow as they are this year. It does get quite a bit of shade so I had considered moving it but it seems to be getting happier now. Starting to get a lot more blooms now and they are quite
yellow. We just starting getting 90 degree heat and in July and August everything fades quickly if they bloom at all. I expect to have a couple months of nice color before the heat hits.

3rd and so far best year for Poets Wife. North Yorkshire, UK

I think The Poet's wife is good to have for color, shape, and perfume, smells guava to me. It's vigorous but soft and unshapely. It has it's own uniqueness. It flowers in summer heat. A worthy little grafted plant for me.