Royal Red is suppose to be very fragrant and also disease resistant. Unfortunately, I don't have it because I can't find it on fortuniana root stock here in Florida. My father also grew a beautiful dark red shrub that smelled great called King Author. Also, if you want a large hybrid tea, you could consider Dark Desire. The flower spends only a small while in the HT stage. It opens more fully and has lots of petals and smells great. Mine is at least 15 feet tall, and 4 feet wide. However, I am in Florida so it gets quite large. Word of caution, it is very thorny. I hope you find something you like.

I've heard good things about Ascot. Although HMF says it's short and compact, I've seen photos where it's quite a large shrub and handles heat well, but it doesn't have much fragrance. It's available through Palatine. Good luck!

Ann

oooh ascot is gorgeous! thank you! I can't find royal red do you mean rouge royale? That one is high on my list for sure. Dark Desire is pretty but I think 15 feet is a little too big :p I'm suspecting southern california might make it grow pretty big too. I haven't had any crazy growth problems yet but our dirt was pretty bad when we moved in so I think it might start as I get all the compost soaked in. I will check these out :)

Thank you guys so much. So far roses seem pretty happy in our yard, it's just the fading that is giving me problems. I was showing my husband some pictures of roses that are options for that space and scrolling past he saw a picture of Hot Cocoa and he was like "oh, what about that one?" he didn't even recognise it remotely, lol.

Amanda

Hi Amanda - I just planted Rouge Royale a few months ago. I think it might be susceptible to getting burnt or crisped when it's too hot but it's too early to say for sure. I'll know more after year two. I've had L.D. Braithwaite and he seems quite happy growing in partial shade. I did see it in full sun at a rose garden where he reached about 4 x 5. I think the temps were typically in the mid 70s or low 80s in the peak of summer so I'm going to guess he may not be the best choice for your climate. If I think of something else, I'll post it.

Ann

cori ann grows many red ones in inland Ca. I'll try to find a post where she compares and contrasts her different reds. How would Papa Meilland or Crimson Glory do for you? Maggie and Flamendo Rosita might also work, but neither are as red. I personally love the colour of Barcelona/Francis Debreuil.

f

I have Benjamin Britton and of braithwait in 9b/10a. They are both young, but I love the blooms on both

Hm i found Cori Ann’s red rose post and it looked like she was growing a lot of those reds in shade, and you guys being able to grow them in shade, is starting to convince me i should do a red or two somewhere in the back yard where it’s semi-shady, instead of that front yard bright sun space. I looked up barcelona and it said they have it at huntington gardens so I might have to do a “shopping“ trip over there :). If rouge royale is crisping at all it’s definitely going to get toasted in this spot.

So I went to the nursery to see if I could figure out what was heat tolerant by seeing what had lived through the summer in their pots, and ended up bring home a port sunrise for that spot. I know that one isn’t that well reviewed but it smells like starburst and I fell in love with the color so what are ya gonna do. They also had all the austin reds there and I’m definitely going to order the ld breathwaite this winter for a more protected spot. It’s really the only red red one :) an interesting thing the nursery guy said was that the roses he had in the shade weren’t getting thrips. The ones in the sun were eaten up and the shaded ones were super clean. So maybe the answer to thrips in southern california is summer hats for all our rose bushes. Who knew.

Hello Amanda, what nursery did you go to? I am in southern ca and would love to know of a somewhat local place to pick up Austin Roses.

Hi Amanda, I'm in San Diego county and I agree with what the nursery guy said about thrips and sun exposure. I have a row of Darcey Bussell in half wine barrels, starting with full hot sun down to shade under a pepper tree. The Darcey in full sun received the worst thrips damage and the one in almost full shade had the least thrips damage. It definitely blooms a bit less, but was healthiest in our brutal summer. Here's a mini bouquet of Darcey Bussells from earlier this summer. By the way, the port sunlight that you like bought sounds lovely from pictures I've seen. I'm also concerned with reds fading in my heat. I ordered 2 florentinas for an arch that will arrive in November. Fingers crossed they will work out. Good luck on your search and keep us posted!

Hey Lbpetals, it was Bellefontaine in pasadena. It’s not a huge nursery but they have a lot of interesting stuff there, including Austins. Tiff, your Darcey Bussels are georgeous. Thats a good confirmation about the thrips, I’m wondering if this endless summer is the new normal and you just have to grow roses in the shade now, or if its just this year? Although when I’ve seen wild roses they are in the forest understory, part shade at least. At that nursery they had munstead wood and it was faded to pink even in the shade so my idea of getting it to fade to red is no good. LD was bright though and seemed to be holding color under the shade structure at least.

Thanks Amanda! I'm learning that where I live, when the plant label says full sun, that means part shade for me. My roses that do best tend to be in 4 hours sun. I have some roses coming next month and I'm debating every location. As I see it, it's a giant experiment!

Hey Karen! I’ll tell you the secret of why I don’t want to get a red hybrid tea...I live one mile from the LA flower market and so if I pop over there in the afternoon I can get red roses for $5/dozen :p which is something I have been known to do. Red fluffy fragrant dreamy roses aren’t just around everwhere :) I don’t want to spray either(so far I’ve counted about 15 species of bees in my front yard), and I‘m trying to do a romantic cottage, early 1900s bungalow thing as well since my house is a 1906 historic monument. I‘m also heavily influenced by that secret garden movie in the 1980s. Am I crazy? Probably. Your roses are absolutely beautiful though. Those kind of roses have lovely memories for me, I might end up with one in the end :) Crimson Glory sounds amazing.

Oh and I moved that maybe orange maybe climber(I don’t think hot cocoa now) to the backyard shade, I’ll take pics of whatever it decides to transform into.

My Ingrid Bergman smells like Rasberries. It is a fairly short rose though

I just saw a picture of Alecs red and it was a nice looking red.

I love reds, especially Oklahoma

Amanda, whi Crimson Glory is categorized as a hybrid tea it was bred in 1935 so it's older and has an older style about it. I have the climbing version which is glorious... The fragrance is so beautiful.

I will try to find one!

Kristine - really - Ingrid - Rasberries and short?! How interesting. Mine is quite different. I've had her for about 6 years, and never a hint of any fragrance. I cut her down each year to about 2 1/2 feet tall, and she ends up about 5' high by fall. Her blooms are huge, and last forever - after blooms are about 3 weeks old I finally cut them off so I can get a new flush.

On the other hand, my Crimson Glories remain fairly short.

That is so weird about Ingrid Bergman this is my 2nd one and the previous 1I had for 10 years and it never got more than waist high this 1 seems about the same and we bought a second 1 because of the smell of raspberries and some people say they get no fragrance at all from Ingrid Bergman

Mr Linclon does well in zone 10, California, providing it's well watered in the Summer.

It's a classic that grows fairly vigorously, and is fairly heat tolerant too (at least in the semi-coastal climate of California).

How about Florentina for cupped blooms? It is slow to get blooming, but it grows large and can be a aelf supportong bush or climber. There are some good posts showing a mature bush on this forum.

I keep looking at florentina scrolling through reds on the websites, but wouldn’t it be a gigantic climber here? the rose I was trying to replace was a non climber had decided it was going to climb straight up into the sky, right in the middle of the yard :p if florentina is containable I think it would be great.

I also realized burlington is in visalia, and I’ll probably be up there in a couple weeks and maybe a visit can shed some light on the question. so far this is my hot list:

Ascot (but only sold on multiflora that I could find so probably wouldn’t work)

LD breathwaite (good color but not cupped)

maybe a china like Elisabeth’s rose? or a tea??

Florentina (if it can be contained)

Crimson Glory because it‘s highly recommended by all, and looks great in all the pics.

If you're visiting her anyway, ask about Maggie and Barcelona. You live in an area where the latter might thrive. It is a true dark red with a lovely fragrance and smaller habit.

I will!

Well, I realized the backyard spot I have would actually be great with a smallish climber, so I took advantage of the fall sales and ordered Florentina. It’s near the jasmine and gardenias so I won’t miss the fragrance I think :) the disease resistance was very tempting and the shape and bright color combo just isn’t anywhere else :) I put quicksilver in the same order so I’m pretty excited! The yard seemed so big and blank when we moved in but all the possible rose spots are filling up fast.

That's exciting Amanda. I also ordered 2 florentinas arriving next month. They look beautiful in the pics, so fingers crossed they'll be a winner! We'll have to post pics after they get some growth on them. Quicksilver looks beautiful too. You are right about spots filling up quickly. I've been scanning around the front, back and sides to see where there is sufficient room to add roses for my next order!

Great choice. Although a thorny beast, its flowers are gorgeous! Mine didn't repeat, but hopefully that will come with age.