I took these pictures a few months ago (2017) of an established Cressida's first flush at Garden Valley Ranch. Provenance is from Vintage Gardens:

The one from Vintage is a really incredibly thorny rose. Although pretty, I doubt I would invite those thorns into my garden.

These are beautiful pictures! I hope Hoovb or Susan could comment on here. Looks like the younger stems have less thorns but as they matured they get thornier, perhaps? The bloom color is beautiful! Usually the first bloom will be a slightly different but somehow reminds me of Bredon. On Hoovb's blog she commented that the scent is licorice and face cream - smells nice to me!

I wouldn't mind having thorny roses. They deter thieves/strangers climbing over the fence.

Take one of your forming buds where they petals are showing color, but the flower isn't very open yet. Pull the petals apart and smell it. Cressida's scent is SO strong, SO intense, it stinks. It's VERY bitter smelling. It's so concentrated that when I would do the above and smell it, that bitter stench would stick to my mustache and I would smell it for the longest time. I've had to wash my face and mustache to remove it. Your initial photos appear as it they could be of Cressida. It's an early Austin Rugosa cross and is an intensely prickly beast. Those over the top lower prickles as shown in a later photo can develop over time, but they don't always develop on young plants.

Opinions on scent can vary greatly, especially when it comes to the myrrh fragrance. But I concur with roseseek's comments. When I first smelled the rose in the third picture I posted, my first thought was that it reminded me of the insecticide, Raid. The older blooms weren't as intense but they smelled like moth balls. I've since come to appreciate myrrh from other roses but I feel like in creating Cressida, DA took the myrrh scent several steps too far.

Ann

That's Cressida!! Matches mine from Vintage Gardens. Yes, it does have fewer thorns when young and becomes a beast as it ages. My favorite ever rose!!

Here is a photo of a cane of my mature Cressida.

Below is an infant Cressida just rooted last winter. She is a blooming machine even at this age. Notice the abscence of thorns on her canes.

Here is a couple of close-ups of her blossoms. Even her first year flowers have that typical apricot/peach/cream cavern thing going on.

Below is a photo from my original plant from Vintage Gardens.

The fragrance is intense and intoxicating!! It never disappoints. Love it!! I've grown well over a hundred roses over the years, and Cressida is still my favorite. Crown Princess Margareta comes in a close second along with Perdita. Love those Austins.

Rebecca

I provided Hortico with bud wood from a mother plant of Cressida in the summer of 2014. They apparently had a mislabelled plant previously. The plant you received from Hortico is the real deal. I still have the mother plant and a clone I grew from a cutting. The provenance is from Pickering Nurseries in Ontario' from at least ten years ago.

Interestingly, I saw a mature well grown plant of Cressida at Christensen's Nursery in La Connor, Washington this morning. She is a thing of beauty and very, very fragrant regardless of the weather. Cressida is a rose that deserves to be much more widely grown.

Cheers, RRL

Romogen, I, too, waited holding my breath, for first bloom this year from an offspring of rideauroselad's donation to Hortico. I was initially alarmed by the vigorous Rugosa-like basal cane produced, but had some help from GW'ers to see that it was quite normal for this lusty lady:

And then her first bloom opened:

And her second:

She's gorgeous, everyone in my household loves her myrrh fragrance and although blackspot and other fungal diseases are very happy with my coastal climate, Cressida is right in the middle of the pack for defoliation (as a very young plant.) I'm looking forward to many bouquets. (She seems to hold on in the vase for a decent spell, too.) And as for the thorns, I've calmed down and now think they're fascinating!

So, I think we both got the real thing! Nicole, at Hortico, said they had this one ID'd for sure now and mentioned how popular it seems to be, when I gave her my order. We owe "RRL" a big thanks!

Rebecca, if you read this, I recall you said you might pass along your tips for propagation success a little while back. I may have missed them but still would love to know!

Linda

Question: how is her myrth fragrance different from other roses that have myrth fragrance?

Linda, I still plan on passing them on... I'll just wait a bit because I always propagate in the fall. I'll take photos as I am doing it and make a tutorial out of it. It's very, very easy and last year I got 17 out of 18 canes to root. I'll post it on the Rose Forum and beg forgiveness because not everyone reads the propagation forum (me). :)

Rebecca

Tangles, to my nose, it is sweeter and waaaaay more intense than any other myrrh fragrance from David Austin. It really does make you heady. If you love it, you just can't seem to get enough!! Besides that the color and forum are so very much like Gloire de Dijon that it's like having a hardier version of her.

Rebecca