Hi Michael

David Austin's policy about their older Austin roses is indeed terribly frustrating and not logical from the rose grower's perspective. There's no excuse for cold and unhelpful customer support people when there are so many businesses to patronize with lovely helpful people. Once roses get discontinued from production like Heather Austin, it may take a year or so for other places to pick her up, like Long Ago Roses. Linda has a lot of out of production Austins and she may be picking this one up if it's out of patent. At least earlier this year Linda did have Belle Story in her stock as well. In the meantime, you should send an email to Pat Henry at Roses Unlimited. Heather Austin is on their alphabetical list though only by email can you know if it's available this year. Even if you can't get it this year, you can reserve one for next year if it's in production.

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia, thank you so much for taking the time to respond! Unfortunately Linda didn't have either available, but I did purchase The Reeve from her (which i fell for from another post on her called 'a roses that is pleasing me greatly') she had one rooted by chance, so it was meant to be! I also ordered the ingenious Mr. Fair child, SDLMM and Felicia hybrid musk. I love older looking, cabbage style blooms. She also recommended me to contact Pat, but no luck at all and neither planned to have Heather available in the future. DA was a huge let down for me because of their customer service (or lack there of!) I hate to say anything bad about a company, but when I first called them about Belle Story and Heather, an agent just stood quiet on the line when I asked her if there was any way for me to locate either anywhere and she said "no, i can't help you!"... anyway, hopefully someone has this rose tucked away somewhere!

Hey Ann, i was lucky enough to find Belle Story from Angel Nurseries with Pam. No luck with Heather though.. Belle Story is such a beautiful rose that is rarely spoken about!!

Glad to hear you're getting Belle Story! I had a similar experience with Prospero which I had wanted for a long time but chose The Prince, thinking I'd get Prospero next year. Once I discovered Prospero was going out of production, I went to the DA website and ordered it. The next day I got a call from DA customer service trying to dissuade me in favor of a different rose. Once I said that I'd waive my right to a replacement should the rose fail, the rep said ok. A very healthy bare root Prospero arrived last week and he's now tucked into the garden. Every time I walk by to check on him and The Prince (also being discontinued), I feel a pang of worry since replacing them won't be easy should something happen. I know I'll feel the same way about Belle Story when I get her.

Best Wishes!

Ann

Thanks Ann, that's really a shame.. I understand it's a business.. but to have other nurseries destroy their plants that could be sold to desperate gardeners such as myself is absurd.. I hate poor customer service, that's why I have given my business to Linda at Long ago and Pam at angels nurseries.. amazing support and guidence! I've received better treatment from my local Home Depot garden center than with DA'S phone reps.. and I don't spend a fourth of what I do there compared to DA.. it's just crazy because it happens every time. I called in around January to ask about two different roses I was trying to choose between and the rep said "well if you don't plan on buying either today (which I was!) you can visit our website and look there", lol i was baffled.. i didn't want this post to turn into a rant but I've read about MANY people having these same problems.. Prospero is so beautiful, i was actually going to order it in an attempt to move away from the pinks but i decided to hold off until next year.. hopefully I'll still be able to get my hands in it! still no leads on Heather though !

I am truly dumbfounded that they asked a nursery to destroy their roses instead of selling them until they sold out. That makes no sense and is a completely insane thing to do. Hope you find your Heather.

The reason they ask Nurseries to destroy their stock is because once a rose is deemed "unworthy" of the Austin name, they don't want it growing everywhere, performing 'badly' and giving the Austin name a bad reputation. That is their reasoning behind it. However, the problem lies in that some roses may not do well EVERYWHERE but they do well in certain climates and many of these are the roses getting discontinued by DA. Pretty Jessica comes to mind. I feel DA is trying desperately to change the perception that their
roses are disease magnets and are getting rid of any roses that are iffy
in that department.

It seems a bit harsh, but David Austin Roses has always been somewhat of a marketing machine so I'm not surprised by their extreme measures. I do hope that you can get your hands on the roses you are looking for.

I must add that I am DEVISTATED to hear Belle Story is on the chopping block as this is one of my favorite Austins. However, my original one died of disease. Perhaps that's why they are discontinuing her. Luckily my replacement Belle Story is doing well, but I plan on rooting a cutting just in case my grafted one dies as mine is on Dr. Huey which has a short life span here.

One thing you realize when you've grown roses a while, is that with 10,000 some roses in commerce, there are a lot of similar roses out there. At least with Austin, usually there's something very similar offered to a cultivar that's being discontinued.