Hi Raoul,

I just sent budwood of 62 vintage David Austin Roses to Palatine Roses in August 2018; included in this shipment was cuttings of 'The Prince'. Here is a link describing this event::

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/a-new-source-of-vintage-david-austin-roses-dsvw-vd~5473924

The owner of this nursery, Rene Schmitz, told me that the professional grafter from the UK was able to get 10 to 17 plants grafted each, for these 62 varieties. He will be keeping the first 3 grafted plants for each of these varieties in his 'Preservation Garden', to ensure that they will be saved for the immediate future. He does expect to lose some plants in his propagation fields to the cold temperatures of winter. He expects to have plants for sale for most if not all of these 62 varieties in the Fall of 2019.

If you can't wait until that time, please email me at tomatobreeder@hotmail.com and perhaps we can arrange to trade cuttings or I could send you some for postage.

John

I was just going to say that Cool Roses has it.... but I see that you said you had a hard time getting a hold of them..... but I know they have (had that rose).... they are probably just checking their inventory..... Just because a computer says it is in stock doesn't mean anything..... they check to make sure they have it and that it is a healthy STATE!

Hello John, I will definitely be getting in touch with you! Would love to get some cuttings if it's not too much trouble!

Also, really appreciate the work you're doing to preserve older rose varieties. Very admirable!

Raoul, where are you in Texas? I have two of the Prince and would also be happy to share cuttings. I see John has already offered, but just in case we are close to each other....

Debrak6, I am in Dallas, TX.

I'm outside Austin...just thought maybe if we were close enough to meet up. Still, the offer of cuttings stands if you decide to go that way.

Ben, that's a gorgeous picture! I contacted Linda, and she said she has a small plant that might be available in spring, if it makes it through the winter. Thanks for pointing me in her direction, she has a wonderful selection of roses!

Debrak, Thanks for the offer! I can always pay for shipping if it's not too much trouble. It might be nice to have a backup in case Linda's plant doesn't survive the winter. Let me know!

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who has commented and left suggestions. I've discovered some great new nurseries thanks to you guys!

Just tell me what to do and when you want them..enabling is its own reward. :-)) I've read a bit about when to take cuttings and how to root them, but haven't tried it yet myself. Is now an okay time or is spring better? If spring is better, I will still be around :-) as I've been lurking here for years and years. Edited to add: Just reread an article by Bill Welch from A&M that says late fall is ideal and in our climate that's probably true. It's also got instructions and I'll go search here as I know there have been threads on the subject.

I'd check with Pam at Angel Gardens in Florida. Not everything she has is listed.

Debrak, you are awesome! Yes, I've read late fall is the best time also, plus I've got a greenhouse to keep them in! If you don't mind please email me at raram17@icloud.com. Thank you!!

Seeingreen, Thanks for the comment. I will definitely be contacting her soon!

I'm looking for this one now, too.

Is Munstead Wood the "replacement"?

Pam said she can try to root it, but it's difficult to propagate.

Waiting on Geoff/Debbie to respond and see if they have it- it is still listed as own root on their website.

I bought one plant of 'The Prince' and now have 4. I did not find it difficult to root. Hummingbird Roses will likely have own root bands of this rose in July, although she does not have it in her inventory at present.

http://hummingbirdroses.com/

I sent cuttings of 'The Prince' and 61 other vintage Austin Roses, to Rene Schmitz in September 2018. He was able to produce 10 to 17 grafted (Rosa multiflora) for each of these 62 varieties. He will take the first 3 plants for each of the 62 varieties for his 'preservation garden' and will offer the remaining ones that survive the cold winter for sale at Palatine Roses in September 2019.

https://palatineroses.com/

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/a-new-source-of-vintage-david-austin-roses-dsvw-vd~5473924?n=82

Thanks for sharing that info John.

I’ll check with them both!

What a delight to find someone looking for Austin's The Prince! I have it in my garden, and I have started propagating roses now with quite some success! This year new cuttings will begin in November and new roses may yield in early spring. Yes, no one seems to be selling Austins older breed roses.

Hi! Does anyone know where can I find The Prince rose in CA or place that ships to CA. It seems like Long Ago roses doesn't ship to CA.

Freedom Garden's Peter Schneider could custom root The Prince for you.

You can find The Prince in my garden (for the last 12 years), but, unfortunately, I don't ship either. Diane

Thanks Sheila! I will contact them for sure.

OMG DIANE!!! Such a gorgeous bloom. Omg, i am dying. I have been looking for it for so long. I hope freedom gardener is able to help.

Debra, if you're still there and willing and your Prince(s) are doing well, I'd be thrilled to have some cuttings! I live in Fort Worth area but we'll be making it down that way off and on again starting in summer and moving forward. I did just order a Munstead Wood that should get here in June, but would love to try this one. The coloring, at least in pics online, is unbelievable!

Thank you!

Claire

@john_ca I sent you an email.

Looking for it now after Diane recommended it for button eyes.

I've never seen 'The Prince' produce a true "Mme. Hardy style" button. It makes some nice deeply cupped, very full blooms, but its not a rose I'd get if I was looking for classic button eyes.

The Prince again

What a handsome Prince Diane

Thanks, Kristine, but he's a bit picky. Picky Prince. Diane

Thanks Paul, I have no desire to grow prima donnas no matter how beautiful those occasional blooms may be

My Prince is a good specimen, I think. I've grown him for many years, and he's actually improved in the last five years. I think I got him from Pickering or Palatine, so he's grafted on multiflora. When I said picky, I meant he doesn't like the heat, but he keeps on blooming, no matter how hot it is, and the blooms can get heat wonky. He is definitely a continuous bloomer. The other problem is the thrips like him in spring. It doesn't matter that he's dark, they like their Prince. Diane

Now that's a gorgeous Prince!!

I agree with you Kristine! He is a very gorgeous Prince. My teeny tiny little band of the Prince scares me because he is so feeble looking and doesn’t have enough energy to grow, it seems. I am giving him the best care and hoping some day he becomes healthy and happy.

Judi, I have a feeling The Prince needs to be grafted, so if your plant is own root, that might be part of the problem. He's not a fast grower, though, and after all these mine is still growing. In your sun, he may need some shade at times. Maybe an umbrella. Good luck with your little guy. Diane

I was wondering the same thing, Diane, if he might be more vigorous grafted. Oh well, this is what I have and I count myself blessed to have this rose as I know he is hard to come by. When Burling offered it to me, the only one she had, I felt very fortunate indeed! I am giving him a morning sun only spot in a pot for now and will see how he develops.

I grew a plant of 'The Prince' on its own roots many years ago - or I should say "tried to". I could barely get a good plant of it out of a budded specimen, but the own-root was miserable. YMMV, of course. Some beautiful specimens posted above. (Diane)

Paul, thanks, but he's a Canadian guy who's grafted. I think that makes a difference. I think I've grown him since about 2007. Diane

Take a look at K&M. I think they may have it. I've had my bush for many years.

One of the things I enjoy about this beauty, it's very winter hardy in my garden. Single digit temps this winter. Very little damage. Where I had frozen bud eyes on a lot of other verities, "The Prince" showed no damage to the canes.

Ken, your beautiful The Prince tempts me to get a second one, but I don't think Fortuniana rootsstock is hardy enough here. We're somewhat colder than you are though technically we're both zone 7. For example, 2016-7 winter it was a real zone 5 winter. On multiflora, though, The Prince is very cold resistant. Diane

I'm not so sure about the weather difference between our areas. Right after Christmasit (2022) it was 17, 5, 11 and 24 before it got above freezing. When I plant my Fortuniana bush's, I plant them just a little under ground level and mulch pretty good. I've been in N. GA. since 2008 and have never lost a Fortuniana bush to rootstock failure. The good Dr Huey, yes. Doesn't make any sense, but it happens. I also stop feeding after the first weekend of September to help slow thing down for the winter. I never have any problems with Multiflora. I get a lot of roses from Wisconsin Roses (I like watching my roses grow from a bud eye). Anyway, if you have a spot or two next to your house on the east or south side, give Jim a call.

Sometimes you can find it, both in the US, and outside of it, by searching for it using its other name "Ausvelvet". It would seem to be available here, for example: https://www.ebay.com/usr/longagoroses or here: https://www.oneloveroseandgardens.com/product-page/ausvelvet. I have never ordered through these sites so have no idea how they work. But other roses can be found this way as well, you can see their alternative names on helpmefind.com.

I've grown The Prince for about 17 years, and slowly over the years--it's taken a while--I've grown to love this weird dude. He does have his quirks. He is a continuous bloomer, and I do mean continuous. His growth habit is lovely, and mine is a medium large size shrub. He's grafted on multiflora, and I can't remember if I got him from Pickering or Palatine, but it was a long time ago. If anyone is curious, I can check the tags. But Pickering is long gone, and I haven't seen him for sale anywhere in many years. Here are some recent pics, showing his color moods. Diane

He wanted to be two toned in this pic.

His Munstead look

My original grafted plant of 'The Prince' came from Sheridan Nurseries in 1995, and the plant of it I still have (sad little 2-twig runt that it is) is budded onto R. multiflora from that original plant. (I budded it myself). I did grow it from cuttings once, and the plants were pitiful. No vigor, rarely exceeded 12" tall, and eventually petered out and vanished.

I wanted to love this rose, but this Prince refused to meet me halfway. When it was good, it was spectacular (the blooms, not the plant), but great blooms were few and far between.

If you can grow it, and grow it well - I'm envious. I'm sure some folks can make it prosper, but I wasn't one of them.

Paul, I agree The Prince is kind of a pain and can be challenging. The first spot he grew in here he hated, and I don't know why. He didn't grow much and bloomed infrequently, though the blooms could be lovely. Then I transplanted The Prince to a spot which didn't seem that much different from his first one, and he slowly, I do mean slowly, began to show his stuff, along with some weirdness. Thrips like him, a dark rose, thus he's an exception to the saying that thrips like light colored roses. He often produces some strange blooms, little and deforned, when it's really hot. I like his two toned look, though. Your bloom above is perfect. Diane

I have three Princes on their own roots--the oldest one, one year old, was planted last summer. It getting tallish and is rather problem-free so far this summer, but I have noticed the weird small roses in hot weather mentioned above, but it's not the only one that does that and it was freakishly hot here, in the mid-90s in June (not normal for us). I have put two photos here with its companion plants to give it some perspective in terms of size and color. It is perhaps not as vigorous as something like Olivia or R. Dahl, which are grafted in my garden, but it really not far behind, especially given that it's own root, and started puny. And it has been been flowering more than those two did in their first years. Lots of blooms. So far it is not super tall, but in its habit, it reminds me a bit of my Louis XIV, and is it possible they are related? Louis XIV is grafted, and stays even smaller, but like the Prince, it has regular fragrant dark red blooms on sort of spindly legs, and the blooms are much bigger and more interesting than the plant itself. In the pictures, my one-year-old Prince is intermeshed a bit with Somme 2016, which is not blooming right now, but has the one large bud towering above The Prince that looks bit lighter. Somme 2016 is actually is in a similar color scheme as the Prince and Munstead Wood, and the color also fluctuates based on the weather. It can get a lovely sort of deep magenta-violent and could be an option for people who like rich colors in roses, as the Prince and Munstead Wood are essentially out of circulation, other than the occasional small vendor or in the case of Munstead Wood, I recently got one from a vendor who was getting rid of the rest of their stock from last year. Louis XIV could be an option as well for dark rose lovers, as it is still on the market, if not always easy to find. It does stay a small plant but it good for the front of a border and does smell lovely once it gets going. So far, Somme 2016 does not have much fragrance but it's only a few months old, wants to bloom all the time, and it may surprise me yet. The rose Centenaire de l'Hay les Roses is peeking out in the background, as are Jubilee Celebration (1 month in garden--also possibly about to go out of circulation, so I have heard, so one to snap up if you like strong fragrance as it has to have one of the best) and Bluebell (one year old) in at least one of the photos. Bluebell, for dark rose lovers, is an excellent, small vibrant, violent/magenta pot rose and I totally recommend it for that. I am starting to favor own-root roses (when can find them). I think they bloom more? And you don't have to worry about growth from the rootstock, and when the roots are established, apparently they can live almost forever? Or so I have heard? But I am new to gardening at this level. I live in a temperate, humid climate and this Prince gets afternoon sun, and this what it looks like after weeks of rain and wind. It has been fed but is not sprayed with anything. It bloomed into autumn when planted last year, so I think maybe it deals well, even thrives, in cool and partial shade. But last summer, it was planted right before a heatwave/drought of 40 celsius and survived that. I have a younger own-root Prince in a Southwest exposure as well, almost full sun and it's doing okay in one of the worst spots in the garden, better than many of its predessors that are in the compost heap in the sky, or had to be moved. It's too soon to tell if the Prince will completely thrive in the SW spot. It has bloomed constantly there, though, so here's hoping. I think a lot does depend on where a rose is positioned in the garden. I have had ones that do not do well in one spot that totally perk up in another. But I am still learning so it's really hit and miss sometimes!

@Rose Paris That is wonderful information and lovely photos! Thank you.