What type of sun exposure? If the sun isn't too intense, Desdemona is beautiful, fragrant, and so far her foliage has been clean for me (also zone 9, w/ coastal fog). (My first year Desdemona fried in the afternoon sun last summer, but it was a young plant, so might have just been me / my yard - DA lists it as zones 5-11.) I also second Munstead Wood, but it's relatively short, so might not be the thing if you want something taller. Any preferences, re color?

Garden Nut,

Evelyn is an excellent choice from the standpoint of having the longest lasting bloom before petal drop of any of the dozen or so Austin's I have grown. The bloom is in a class by itself. Austin's best creation, IMHO.

I will not discourage you by naming her faults which she unfortunately showed under my care and under my growing conditions, that led me to shovelprune her last year, but her praises are: exquisite bloom that lasts a long time (unlike so many short lived blooms typical of Austins), no crisping in the heat, intoxicating scent, and very quick blooming cycle repeat (well out of character for a typical stingy of bloom Austin).

The only Austin left in my garden is Scepter'd Isle. It is proving its worth with only a short flower life as its fault so far. You may want to give it a try. This will be its third year here, started as tiny liners (2), in 2017. It's about 5' tall for me, blooms a lot, blooms are about 3" across and very cupped. Petal count is about 24, not a lot of petals, but with a beautiful boss showing when fully open. The blooms have an inner glow....very unusual and beautiful.

Alas, the blooms last only 3 days at best, but they come in abundance, and are held straight up, no nodding like so many Austin's varieties do. Winter hardiness (not a factor for you), is to the tips without protection, here in W. PA. S'dI is very fragrant, too. Black spot is seen, but not severely so. I spray conventionally, so what little BS that Scepter'd Isle gets is a non-issue.

My next Austin to try is Boscobel, then Shakespeare 2000.

Moses

Evelyn would be my first pick too, perhaps the most beautiful form, wonderful scent and long lasting.

My second pick would be Jude. Stronger grower, unmatched scent, love the goblet shape.

the area would be southwest Faceing with sun from about noon till sunset. I do have an area that has morning sun that I could use though.

You mentioned climber. I recomend James Galway (short bushy climber) or The Wedgwood rose- she needs support, but for me is one of the most romantic Austins.

My vote is for Bathsheba. I have been so pleased with this rose .

Oh, Oh...

Do you garden in inland or coastal CA.? Abraham Darby was a disaster in LV unless grown in a position where it received afternoon shade when the temperatures hit the low 90's. YMMV, especially if your climate is less arid and/or you are not in the inland desert areas.

I'm in your same zone. I don't have that many Austins (about 9), but Crown Princess Margarita may be a rose you'd consider. She has very deep cups, super high petal count, little fragrance, but she is a stunner. She could definitely be grown as a climber.

For me her blooms are most intense in spring, and less during the rest of the season. But I adore her (and she could probably use more fertilizer than I give her).

I have also seen fabulous pictures of James Galway grown as a climber. I don't grow it, but it appears stunning.

Thats funny Karen because even though I dont grow him, the pictures of James Galway make me wish that I did.

Personally, I love Munstead Wood

His blooms are just breathtaking

'Evelyn,' bless her heart, produced a beautiful bloom here.

Unfortunately, in our very mild conditions, she grew 12-ft. tall, and bloomed at the very top. ONLY at the very top.

We tried cutting her down to 4-ft., whereupon she hunkered down and grew up to 12-ft before producing, again, one perfect bloom.

After 3 years of this, we shovel pruned her.

We had better luck with 'Emanuel,' which produced many many smaller blooms on a moderately-size, arching bush.

Had I to start over, I might plant her somewhere where her very very long canes could be pulled out horizontally, to produce blooming laterals. I think she might do well, that way.

I have one grafted (DH) Evelyn and one own root one and so far they are not yet great here. Spring bloom mostly. Look bad by end of Summer. I get the feeling they are too hot here. This might be their third Spring, so I am hoping they took time to get established and may improve. I hope so.

Graham Thomas, grown in zone 9, Northern SF Bay Area, about 6 blocks from SF Bay, it gets to 12 +plus feet. Blooms well on the lower half. Takes to pruning well. Making this short because my last 2 attempts to post pics failed. I will try again.

Jackie

I’m inland so the area would be exposed to summmer heat

You and I are in the same zone. I got rid of Evelyn as she produced few blooms on tall canes and the flowers croaked the minute the heat and sun hit during summer. She then would not bloom again until very late fall, if at all. I don't recommend her for our zone nor if she is to have afternoon sun.

Jude the Obscure was the same way. Happy to shovel prune him as well after babying him for many years. Don't recommend him at all for our zone.

Pretty Jessica does great in our zone but she is not a climber (I see you already have her). Munstead Wood also does great in our zone, but he is not a climber. He does throw out long lateral canes so I don't know if you could train him as a climber.

Princess Alexandra of Kent gets big in our zone and you might be able to train her as a climber. Warning, she resents being moved so put her where she will permanently be located if you get her.

Can I ask why you want a DA rose for the climber? There are great climbers that have that DA look that will do much better in our zone and you may be happier with the end result. Especially if the rose is to get afternoon sun. Most DA roses resent afternoon sun in our zone.

I have Flamingo Dancer as my climber rose and she just blooms her heart away in our zone, the entire summer. I have DA roses surrounding her and she blends in well with them. I had to pull off her blooms and her leaves to get her to stop blooming this year and take a rest before she starts in again. This picture was taken in late November!

Mustbnut's experiences are likely spot-on for Inland CA/ desert zone 9 areas. I also shovel pruned JtO. The lovely color I see in photos when grown in cooler climates was not what I saw. That rose had blooms colored like the inside of a banana.... which was not what I was going for. Crown Princess Margareta was a much better rose in dry heat.

Not an Austin, but it looks similar, what about Comte de Chambord? It is a great rose for climates that skew arid and hot.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.312609

Mustbnuts, is Flamingo Dancer fragrant?

mustbenuts asks a good question - why must your maybe-climber be an Austin? I don't have much luck with the few climbers I've gotten, but on this forum I've seen tons of gorgeous specimen. I know I've always lusted after Eden, but my space for climbers is already full.

Back to Austins, my Young Lycidas performs very well in this climate. Always covered in blooms, and throws out lots of long canes, so would be interesting to see what'd happen if they were let go (I trim mine back).

Desert--that is too funny about the banana comment. That Comte de Chambord is gorgeous! Makes me wish I had room for another climber.

K S, I do not have a good smeller for roses. Other folks state they can smell my roses from far away and I don't smell a thing. Now, if it was food, that is a totally different story and I can get down to the basic ingredients of any dish just from the smell. However, if I recall, Flamingo Dancer does have a soft scent to me.

I'm not at all liking what I'm reading here about Evelyn since I just got two of them into the ground. Oh well, I've gotten very fatalistic about roses and just about everything else. If they fail it will give me a chance to have a yellow rose instead so all is not lost.

Ingrid, I was going to warn you about Evelyn but you had already ordered them. Perhaps they will be fantastic for you! I would much them very well (3--4 inches deep) to keep the roots cooler, feed her, give her afternoon shade, water well and perhaps she will be a great rose for you. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Have you looked at any of the repeat-blooming Ramblers that David Austin introduced? If you want a big climber, they'd be another option besides using one of the "shrubs with climber tendencies". If paired with a large-flowered clematis, it could be rather nice.

Malvern Hills

Snow Goose

The Albrighton Rambler

The Lady of the Lake

:-)

~Christopher

Christopher, this is the first time I've looked at all four of these ramblers on HMF, and they are actually quite splendid. I hadn't paid much attention to them before, but in the right situation they could be delightful.

mustbnuts, it may be just as well for me to try Evelyn because it's just (barely) possible that it will do well here. One of the two is in afternoon shade in the summer, and I do hope that it at least will not follow Jeri's example of turning into a beanpole with one glorious flower to show for my efforts.

I’m open to roses other than Austins, I look at flamingo dancer and Comte chambord. I decided not to get Evelyn and I think I will try Olivia rose austin since it is rated exellent heat tolarance, though I might move some stuff to grow it in morning sun to prevent fading . Bathsheba has one vote for heat tolerance so I might try it in an area that has afternoon shade.

Well, I just did another post with pictures, but Houzz made it disappear. Ambridge rose (a bush, not a climber) does really well in our climate as does Mary Magdalene.

Munstead Wood also can take full sun all day as well.

Good to know thanks. I like the look of ambridge rose.

I’m with Moses in that I feel Evelyn is DAs absolute best rose. The blooms have so much substance and they very rarely deform or ball. The scent is intoxicating. I ordered a second one on fortuniana this season. I’m saving the best spot in my garden for it. That being said, I’ve grown nearly ALL the Austin’s. And the only rose that matches (or may even surpass?) Evelyn in my opinion is Spirit Of Freedom.

Live never grown such a free flowering and vigorous rose as SoF. I feel it’s highly underrated. It’s extremely healthy, vigorous and floriferous. The blooms go to get small in the heat, rarely ball and smell divine. I Have 4 of them and can’t get enough. Ironically en for me it’s also a well behaved climber.

i wish I had a better pic for you, but I just can’t resist cutting those scrumptious blooms.

Here she is with a small flush (before I cut them all for the vase).

Aw, come on, rose nut, give Evelyn a shot. I totally agree with SoFL about Evelyn, even though I live in a climate of hot, dry summers. while SoFL probably has gobs of humidity. E is one of my top three Austins--I've grown multiple E's for 15 years. She is also is one my top three all around roses. She's tough in heat, and her blooms are among the best. Love your photos, SoFl. Diane

Well, I got two photos posted in two tries. Houzz is giving me fits. Diane

I hope mine shape up. Those are lovely photos, Diane and SoFloridarose!

Evelyn just didn't do that well for me. Abe actually out performed Evelyn by miles. I love Evelyn's flowers & fragrance so I decided to get 3 more Evelyns to try again. Probably a dumb dumb move lol.

The original Evelyn I had, died back to one cane and almost totally croaked. I gave it the best spot in the yard and have been babying her so she has 2 canes now lol. My 3 new Evelyns are planted and doing well, we will see this year, if they are Divas or Darlings lol.

My new Evelyns are gonna be grown like this http://www.sweetlifegarden.com/2012/02/wonder-of-roses-art-of-pegging.html?m=1

SoFLrose, Im right there with ya about Spirit of Freedom..she is the bomb!! All 200+ petals of her.

Diane, it was your gorgeous pictures of Evelyn in the past that made me so long to try it, and I'm so glad you commented about how well it does in your hot and dry summers. These new photos are swoon-worthy. Evelyn is worth a try for me; it's just such a special rose. My garden is higher and dryer than Jeri's, and I will dare to hope that I'll have more of your experience with this rose than hers.

How wide does Evelyn want to get?

Ingrid, thank you so much, and I hope that your new Evelyn does well for you. I'm betting on it.

Garden nut, in your zone 9, Evelyn should get pretty large--at least 6'x 5'. Bear in mind, this is a guess. My Evelyns are not quite that tall--more a big, round shrub. Lisa, who gardens within not too many miles from Ingrid, loves her Evelyn, if I remember correctly. Diane

Garden nut, I tried to post this pic with the other two photos of mine, but Houzz wouldn't cooperate. This is one of my smaller Evelyns whose size has been a little suppressed by too much tree shade. We're having those blasted trees worked on in a few weeks. When the trees were smaller, each Evelyn was about 5X5 feet. Diane

Diane, I expanded your last photo above, and still think that Evelyn is a very special and gorgeous rose. Whatever the outcome, I had to try her and am so looking forward, hopefully, to a first bloom or two this year.

I decided to give Evelyn a chance. I saw someone on hmf said they had a few Evelyn’s inland and I ran across another forum and read someone had theirs in 10 hours of sun in dry heat in ca and said it did well . It might not do well for me but I thought I would at least try Evelyn. I’ll try amending the soil well and mulching well. If she does not do well I can always look for another rose. While I ordered Evelyn I also got Olivia rose and Bathsheba to see how it does with a dry heat climate. For now I’ll wait on the climber idea for the fence area. I do have a young Castro breen that I moved to one end of the fence so it should at least have some spring color.

garden, here in southern Oregon we have hot hot dry summers and Olivua never crisps up or wilts. She just keeps blooming non stop.

I bet you will fall in love with her.

Gorgeous SOF image SJN. I wonder if D.A. discontinued this rose. It came to mind as one to suggest for me too but I could not remember the name. I have wanted to purchase it for a couple of years. When I searched the D.A. U.S. site under pink roses and pink climbers SOF did not appear. Now that you presented the rose with its name, I typed that in at the D.A. site... nothing...

Olivia Austin is a great rose in the dry heat! I was skeptical during year one, but by year two it had improved significantly. Hope you like it, Garden nut.

Olivia Austin - year 2

Lynn, I think SOF is sold by Heirloom. I want one too. I think it is out of stock at the moment.

I love the orchidy color of SOF

K&M has it listed. I dont know if its in stock. It would be on fortuniana https://www.kandmroses.com/david-austin-english-roses/spirit-of-freedom 

Cool Roses also sells fort grafted Austins, I dont know if they have it but they might.

Nanadoll, can I just say that every time you post a photo of a rose I had no interest in, it becomes the top of my list to add. Your roses are just always gorgeous! I've been coveting Olivia Rose for some time but never thought much of Evelyn until your photos.

Thank you for the SOF nursery suggestions. I am not shopping right now... just making lists...:)

Hope you get a SOF, Sheilah.

I think DA did discontinue SOF from their site in the US. I think its still available in the UK.

Thank you, Pippa. Will you be getting Evelyn? I hope you enjoy her if you do. Diane