Yeah, he just has it listed as seedling x seedling. I see some of The Prince and maybe Othello.

I'm so glad I replanted mine. It does like heat, but apparently it likes very good soil too.

Yes I think the climate here must be a factor since others have reported difficulty. Falstaff is seriously impressing me in this high, dry heat.

O, Carol,I so agree with anti-DA sentiments! They (he) is so cheap and greedy,I really wish I could totally avoid his roses. Not to mention the extreme popularity element that makes these roses the "Coca-Colas" of the rose world. But I've fallen for some in the past, and though now I'm trying to be rational, and not fall for the "deafening hype" factor that surrounds these "product" roses,I can't get away from the fact that roses in this particular colour range- the true dark PURPLE-reds-are so few and far between that I find myself with two principles in direct conflict within myself, and feel I must yeild to the one that embraces rather than rejects!!!!! Because, for example, Munstead Wood is a very, very beautiful and rare colour. Climbing Chateau de Clos Vougeot,Clbg Crimson Glory, are called "dark red" but they are NOT the colour that I so crave in my garden...which Munstead Wood IS . And I remember Falstaff as being that MW sort of colour...

Guess I'm just some kind of colour junkie...

It would be a great help to North American gardeners if DA, Ltd. would publish the lineage of their roses, because then we might be able to evaluate which cultivars could be grown in our respective climates. I even tried to explain this to a DA representative at the HMF forum.

Some of them he does. In Help Me Find, if you are a member you can look up the lineage. Sometimes they are listed as their patent name in the lineage, but if you look that up, you get the trade name. Some never get trade names.

Sigh, I can't get the right color on my iphone. But here is my Falstaff this evening

Gorgeous Buford! Love em or hate em.... there's no denying that Falstaff is an amazing rose... at least in my hot climate!!! I think it's OK to admire a few DA roses... even if you disagree with the business. ;-)

Instead of crisping, (in my yard), Falstaff just opens up and turns pinkish red after multiple days of 100+ degree heat. What a gorgeous surprise this morning in my yard.

This one had some shade from a leaf. Still a little purple. Seems to be light, not heat that turns these guys from purple to pinkish red.

...and the obelisks of Falstaff and Iceberg bloomed yesterday while I was gone. I am just overjoyed at how gorgeous his turned out. Would have never had the idea or the confidence to pull it off if it wasn't for this forum!

Wow! That last photo!!!!!! Just stunning!

I'm going to paste photo 2 on my window and pretend I'm looking at my garden! Carol

Love your garden Cori Ann. It has formality and informality combined. Please keep posting the beautiful pics.

Color progression as we have had a week of 100+F temps. Doesn't fry. Doesn't shut down. Changes color to more purple-y pink instead of purple, but thats it... and that is really amazing for anyone who lives in an area that gets extended periods of 100+ dry heat. Falstaff and Iceberg are the only roses in my garden still blooming this well after that much heat.

Photo showing the color progression after a week of daily 100+F temps...

Cori Ann, your garden is totally organic, isn't it? I think every nursery in your region should sell Falstaff. He positively excels in your garden!

I wish someone (or a group of someones) would compile a book on Austins and the regions where they truly thrive, without chemicals. Like Claire Martin's really helpful book "100 English Roses for American Gardens" but updated and with detailed worldwide reports. Okay, actually I've dreamed about compiling a worldwide "test garden" book series including reports about species, OGRs, very special new cultivars (including Austins, Tom Carruth's creations, independent rose breeders), etc. Info included: size and habit over years, health, remontancy, fragrance, color, thorniness, water requirements, longevity, suckering habits, best rootstock/ own root, cut flower life, availability (nursery list), and so on.

It would be super helpful for others who garden near you to know how outstanding a no spray Falstaff is in your garden. A healthy, floriferous no spray Austin in the garden is worthy of accolades! Especially one with blooms like that. Hubba, hubba! :-). Carol

Thanks Carol. Yup. No spray. Organic. Permaculture. Hardly even feed them to be honest (I tried but my dogs tore it up). Full disclosure I did use pesticides once on grubs in my front yard and I'm still thinking about using herbicides for an area of nasty blackberries though.

The problem with a guide like you're talking about is that here in the Bay Area we have microclimates that seem to change as frequently as every mile. Oakland is just 30 minutes away with no traffic, but totally different. Same for other areas close by, like San Jose, Livermore, Walnut Creek, etc. Close, but possibly totally different.

This is really helpful information though! For anyone that has this dry kind of heat! That's why I love these forums. We are kind of compiling an e-book on these forums, aren't we?

You may be bored with my amazement at this rose. But Falstaff is still going and looking great! I haven't even deadheaded this one yet at all.

I'm not lazy... just busy! :-) The one below I have deadheaded and cleaned up a little over the past month. Same rose from two different angles. Look at all the different shades of red, purple and pink Falstaff has. Oh so fragrant. Dry heat doesn't do a thing to those thick petals. I just love it!

Mine is ready to burst with bloom. I can't wait if the display is anything like yours. : )

Falstaff is blooming again. Third time since April/May. Seems to be repeating in about 5-6 weeks here.

Aren't the blooms of Falstaff just perfect? Yours is lovely Anna-Lyssa.

They really are perfect! And tough! Mine isn't as floriferous as yours but that's ok. It's under a crabapple! So I'm not complaining.

I adore this rose and believe it will do well even here in 6b Cincinnati. I've recently moved mine from a part shade position to a pot until I have a full sun bed ready. It was on an Eastern wall with additional shading from a spruce and other assorted trees. NOT ENOUGH SUN! Part shade in Ca. isn't the same thing and having shade from multiple directions, even if only for part of the day was too much for him. After the Spring Flush, he defoliated quite a bit, but valiently tried to regrow leaves and even set more buds. Here is a very recent bloom before his move: click to enlarge!

Vaporvac the form and purple hue of yours is just fantastic in that photo! I love this rose so much. Yes part shade here is different than elsewhere. The one I pictured above is in part shade and loves it. I hope yours recovers quickly.

His blooms always look exactly like that, at least until I moved him to the pot. Then the single developing bud must have said to itself, "Wow! That was stressful. I better try and get my seed out there fast before I can't!" That single bud, which would normally take a long time to develop, popped open super tiny within a day of transplant. However, he's already putting out little leaf buds wihtin two days.

Falstaff smells divine also. I'm growing him as a climber and may keep him as a big pot baby in a corner of the landing where he can drape over the balustrade. I hope it will look as romantic as I envision it.

I used to grow Falstaff but I got rid of it because it suffered from mildew badly and I made the mistake to prune it hard which forced the rose to produce lots of blooms. Too many blooms can look eye-sore because I wanted it to grow as a climber instead of having the stiff, thorny canes growing sideways once pruned. The blooms were on the smaller side but very well formed with a button eye in the center and last for several days in a vase. I was wondering how this rose compare with Rouge Royale and whether RR would be a better choice or not otherwise I might grow Falstaff again but not prune it hard.

Too many blooms are an eye sore? No way!

The canes are really flexible here, not stiff. Seems to be perfect for an obelisk. It doesn't seem to be the best rose for certain areas, but here Falstaff is a superstar.

I think I figured out how to get my Falstaff to bloom. Water. Fertilizer. Duh.

Noseometer that's a gorgeous photo! I look forward to seeing photos of your Huntington Rose. :-)

why why did I come back to this thread I should have left it alone I have just taken Falstaff off my list and dang it if he's not back on it again. I should spend much more time cleaning my house than looking at Rose pictures. Lol

Here's a few more, all from today, simply because I'm so glad I didn't shovel my Falstaff (thanks to Cori Ann). There's a lot more buds to come and growth is just crazy!

I know it's not a "covered with flowers" kind of bush, but I think it's pretty good for being August, with temps in the 90's, and with all the new growth and a couple dozen buds forming and a number of flowers faded. Although the fragrance is not as intense as WS2K it is a more vigorous bush (but I have yet to treat my WS2K with the "special treatment"), and although not as fragrant as MW, the form of the flower is much more precise and the color more even (and brighter/lighter - but whether those things are good or bad is a matter of taste).

Noseometer those are all just absolutely gorgeous blooms. I was admiring your large stones/rocks in the rosebed as well. Beautiful and full of New Mexico charm.

Wowza, that color

Beautiful! What an awesome rose. I'm even considering Falstaff, and I don't "do" reds. It would probably like my hot and dry climate. I do enjoy the color of my Darcey Bussell. How does it compare colorwise? Lisa

I know Lisa, I love the pictures of Falstaff, such a gorgeous color. I just ordered Darcey Bussell . I'm glad to hear that you like her. Post some pictures please . But if I can find another little spot Falstaff is next on the list.

Nose, wow wow wow, incredible

Just gorgeous! Mine is leafing out again after being moved to a pot in the sun and has a big bud! I can't wait. Hopefully, someday, I'll have as many blooms as you. Lisa, I'll try to compare mine when they bloom. Before they were on two different levels, but now I can see them together.

Love the fall color change of this one in my yard. Once the nights turn cool... wow. It’s a deeper color and more purple than these photos seem to able to display....

Falstaff, back on my list lol. You are such a good kind of enabler.

I planted Falstaff in a number of clients' gardens once Tradescant became difficult to acquire, and he performed admirably here in Portland, too, but I think your garden is the perfect location for him, Cori Ann! Your reports are so helpful, along with the many others on this thread, because your organic growing methods really test constitutions--the inherent strengths and weaknesses--of the many roses you grow. Falstaff is obviously a healthy, strong, remontant cultivar in your area...in addition to an incredibly beautiful one! He is good here but great there. A nigh perfect deep blue-toned, crimson-red for your region. This forum is such a gift because it offers personal, detailed climate-specific and region-specific insights beyond any other "publication" I know! Carol

Thanks Carol! I agree with you 100% about what a gift this forum is, as well as all the people here that make it so. :-)

Falstaff had never really been on my radar because I had no idea that it does this well in the heat, and how little it demonstrate that horrible crispy symptom. I've just read all the comments and am so impressed, and its beauty is really almost beyond belief. If Plum Perfect (so imperfect for me) doesn't pull up its socks soon I know exactly what is going in its place.

It is quite red Ingrid, a lot of the time, so keep that in mind. It’s also pink and purple though, so it might be the kind of red that works for you! ;-)

Just a couple more because I’m determined to catch the red/purple kaleidoscope color effect it gets this time of year. I need a real camera!

Not doctored photos. No effects or filters added.

I almost got it. It’s even more pronounced than this in real life...

Just Wow! Cori Ann your Falstaff is great! Your Iceberg is as well.

Thanks Sheila. I wonder how your Purple Lodge would look on an obelisk. It would be so dramatic! Ingrid that may be another one for you to look into. It is supposedly really good for hot and dry desert-like climates. It’s hard to find though. It also goes by the name Palais Biron. I covet it.

My Purple Lodge so far is pretty upright, Cori Ann. The foliage is good and I really love it, but I don't know if it is drapey enough for an obelisk, nor flexible enough to wind around one. This one is barely 7 months here though. I bet you could make it do anything you wanted it to. I'm a little more free form and I'm not sure it would like "the cage".

How glorious!!!! These Falstaffs everyone is showing could be (IMHO) the prettiest roses there are!!! S W O O N ! ! ! I bought a Falstaff this year in the spring, and it didn't do much...I think I got 1 small flower. So after this - I'm really excited for next year to see if mine can look half as good as these!! Incredible!

Carol

Cori Ann, you have inspired me to try more obelisks. Do you plant in them or next to them?

I’m still a newbie with them Kristine, but the majority of advice I got here was to plant outside of them or on the edge of them, then wind them around.

That said, I have some planted outside, some on the edge, and some inside. I like tending to the ones I have planted on the outside the best. They’re the easiest to get to.

It seems much easier to access the actual rose and rootball (for when you need to) that way. Seems easier to prune that way, etc. It also seems better that way because the canes are pulled laterally to get over to the obelisk, instead of planting it inside and having it go straight up.

That's kind of what I have heard too. Thanks for the confirmation.

To answer @rosecanadian, I was really disappointed with this rose at first as few blooms for me too and the canes died back, but I think it just needs time... It took three years to get really going (grafted version) to have masses of blooms and then bloom rather continuously (it's blooming now in Fall and has buds to still bloom bloom in October...) However, my "baby", own-root Falstaff bloomed almost constantly its first summer... And it's a tiny thing so far...Maybe there is something to the own-root thing? I am starting to be convinced they are better... Anyway, the grafted one is growing branches up into the trees, like 8-10 feet, so beware! But unfortunately, like almost all the red Austins, in the EU, it seems to be cancelled now? Such a shame as I cut one a few days ago and it's holding shape in the vase--even turning a deep red-violet.

Rose - I've started with a few own root roses last year and some more this year, and so far they seem good. I'm excited to see how they continue to fare.