WOW! So beautiful, good job.

Phenomenal! what I would give to EVER have a rose look that good.

Dear lord that's amazing!!! Just beautiful.

Love that rose and the fragrance can't be beat.

No words.....just wow!

Wow!!!

It doesn't get better than that, and to me it's one of the most beautiful Austin roses. I failed with it, but that vision of loveliness makes me want to try again.

How beautiful! Here in Michigan, it is rare to see a David Austin rose this happy. It sure must make you happy too!

Sunny

Your Abe is amazing Jerome. Diane on rose forum and I have baby Abes. We'll show them your photo so they have some idea of their path forward.

So you're saying that Abe needs to be seriously misunderstood and have low expectations before he blooms well, Jerome (smile)? Guess I'll have to try that with my replacement of him this year. I can only dream of the exquisite splendor of your photos of this rose in my zone, but I'm hoping for better than knee high and two blooms over 7 years before dying an ungraceful death. Of course, Golden Celebration didn't even give me that much bloom or winter survival, so it's all in how you look at it.

Thanks for sharing these jawdropping photos as well as the excellent reminder to persist with patience as rose gardeners.

Cynthia

P.S. Just curious - grafted or own root Abe in this trial? Neither has grown well for me for Abe in the past but in general Austins tend to do well for me own root if they're happy.

So impressive, so beautiful!!!

Incredible! Maybe one day my Abes will be half that nice!

That is a beautiful sight indeed. Late June had beautiful weather. This current heat wave is tough on flowers but the warm nights are good for garden moonlight contemplation and reflection.

Stunning! I have Abe for four years noe. This year I have moved it to different location, because for three years it almost didn t bloom. In spring it was covered in blooms.

That's the best Abe photo of this year!

Is that all just one rose? I have had mine for years and it is a tiny fraction of that size in zone 5!

Stunning. How old is yours? Own root or grafted?

Sorry for my delayed response. Away from the abbey until the 15th. It's 3 plants, all grouped close together. They're own root. Planted in April 2010, so they're 7 years old now.

Awesome, finally. Well done!

Gorgeous! Good ol Abe is one of my favorite Austins.

Stunning! Lisa

WOW!!! (Drooling)...I can only imagine the fragrance can be noticed a block away...

Wow! I think this photo saved my three year old AD from a shovel pruning. I might even feed him tomorrow.

@jerome Super late to this thread but how tall has this gotten for you? Also, how far back to you have to prune it every year?

I'm thinking bout putting it in a spot next to Princess Alexandra of Kent. I expect it to be large in my zone 7b, but I don't know how hard I'll need to prune it.

@DLEverette_NC_Zone7b Hopefully Fr. Jerome gets an alert from your post and checks in with us. We haven't heard from him in ages, and he's a dearly loved member. We miss him. He's a priest with the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey, and was in charge of the rose garden. That wasn't his official duty; I think he was Director of Development, and at one time the choir director. He's a talented pianist and organist, too. The rose garden was his hobby, and pride and joy. As a matter of fact, he started it from scratch. A few years ago the abbey relocated, and the rose garden had to be started over (I'm not sure what year the move was made, or which location the Abe above was grown). Fr Jerome seemed to post less after the move. I don't think we've "seen" him at all since the pandemic started.

John

@fig_insanity Z7b E TN Oh wow....I hadn't realized that's what the Abbey was. I hate that he hasn't been active. I too hope he's doing well and can respond. Thank you for informing me.

Here I am!! Better late than never. Abraham Darby was a mixed affair at the old abbey, mostly bad. I tried growing it repeatedly and failed, and/or the bush was super puny. That group at the beginning of this thread was the one exception. I got them from RU, mislabeled (I'd ordered Evelyn) and these ones decided to grow. That plant got to about 4'10"-5'.

@jerome I seem to be chasing you from thread to thread. But I can't quite contain how happy I am to see you, lol

Awww...thanks Fig! It's good to be in touch with you too!

New, here .....but, so grateful to have found y’all!

Great pic of this rose or maybe Evelyn?? lol I have just received my Abraham Darby here in zone 10 in Florida. I ordered an Evelyn also but let that one go to a friend since these 2 roses seem so very close in color. My A.D has bloomed twice and hers just bloomed and I will say they are so alike in color that you could easily mistake the two for one another from what I see in her photo. Evelyn obviously is lighter in color but mirrors A.D. I am getting that Evelyn again this week and they are both grafted on Fortuniana. Would like to hear from anyone who has both and please tell me about your experience in scent and anything else you may want to share? I have seen pics of these two side by side and from what I have seen, they are just about twins. They both have that yellow underneath the petal that is striking to my eyes.

@chuckurso1 - IMHO Abe and Evelyn are distinctly different roses. At times the flowers are nearly indistingushable, especially as photos, but not in real life or as plants (in my garden, at least). Abe is bushy with bigger, glossy leaves. Evelyn is lanky and more open, with fewer and smaller leaves that are more widely spaced. Abe has darker blooms that smell of mango or tropical fruit. Evelyn has smaller blooms for me, paler and more yellow, and smell of peaches. Abe fades to pink, Evelyn fades to near-white. Abe reblooms better than Evelyn. Abe has bigger thorns. I know that other people have different experiences though.

Thanks nosemeter! You explained that very well and appreciate it. It will be interesting to just grow it out and see. I am all about the fragrance and anything that smells like peaches, I have to grow. I actually grow a mango that I grow because it has a peach type of taste and I grew it because of that. Your posts by the way, I always pay attention to! I like your involvement on here.

jerome Abraham Darby is very wimpy in my zone 5 & high-rain climate as own root. But my 12th-year-own root Evelyn is the healthiest & most vigorous and give me the most blooms among my 160 own-root roses. Evelyn beats Dee-lish in the number of blooms it produces since Evelyn repeats faster than Dee-lish.

Agree with Noseometer's note that Evelyn is lanky, smell like peaches, and fades to near white. I have version #1 Evelyn which is grown as short shrub rather than a climber:

chuckurso1 and noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) I have Abraham Darby (obtained as own root from Noseometer). Abe. can look the same as Evelyn, but leaves & growth habit & thorns and scents are different. I have version #1 Evelyn as 12th-year-own-root (as shown in below 2011 David Austin Handbook as open-stamens).

My Evelyn is a short shrub with VERY FAST repeat, 3 long-flushes in my zone 5 short summer:

Below is my 12th-year-own root Evelyn, leaves are smaller than Abraham Darby. Evelyn's scent is old rose and sweet peaches, versus HARSHER and SHARPER grapefruit and melon scent in Abraham Darby (scent stinks up in the vase).

There's a mutation of Evelyn, or version #2 Evelyn as a climber and buttonhole bloom, as shown in below 2016 David Austin handbook:

Noseometer is right about: " Evelyn is lanky and more open, with fewer and smaller leaves that are more widely spaced." Below are SMALL, PALE young leaves on my Evelyn, note the thorns are more red:

Below middle leaflet is Evelyn. Left and right leaflets are Abraham Darby (darker green and LARGER LEAVES). Deer and rabbits never eat Evelyn, but they devour Abraham Darby, so I taste the leaves. Evelyn leaves are very bitter, but Abraham Darby's leaves are mild and succulent like collard green leaves ... retains more water in the leaves so Abraham Darby is prone to sawfly damage and blackspots in my high-rain climate.

Noseometer is right about Abe is bushy with bigger leaves. Below are young leaves on Abraham Darby (prone to blackspots in my poor drainage clay and high rain climate).

David Austin stated that Abe. bloom is cup-shaped, and my Abe. has LESS petals at 70 (as stated in Austin handbook), compared to my Evelyn with 100 petals. Below is my cup-shaped Abraham Darby bloom with LESS petals but more open stamens and SHARPER grapefruit scent:

Click on below pic. from 2011 Austin handbook on Abraham Darby:

Evelyn and Abraham Darby can look similar to each other, and it's even more confusing with 2 mutations or sports of Evelyn (one is a short shrub with open stamens and fast repeat, the other is a climber with buttonhole blooms). See below links:

Compare Evelyn to Abraham Darby & sulfate of potash to stop diseases (houzz.com)

Another Just For Fun - Evelyn or Abe? (houzz.com)