You live in San Diego. Your options for guaranteed success are virtually limitless. Do you really need our advice?

Attribute it to jealousy

Well, absolutely. San Diego in-land and coastal have drastically different weather conditions... But thank you anyhow. Certainly understand that jealousy-;)

I recommend The Lady Gardener. I live in a different zone than you, mine was new last year, so I can't give you a detailed account. But it popped into my head when I read your wishlist. Excellent disease resistance, highly fragrant & the sizing seems about right. Of course there are other Austin's in the colours you want, Roald Dahl, Dame Judi Dench, etc.

I dont grow it yet but the pictures that I see for Roald Dahl look stunning .

Appreciate your response very much. Due to specific coastal conditions, I am not looking to plant any Austin's roses, exc. for Lady Emma... and that is based on my research and reviews on this forum. Although I do have a couple of Austin's in my garden, those are Molineau & Golden Celebration. Both are doing well. Hopefully, Emma will be fine too. Rust, even more than mildew, is a big problem here in coastal gardens.

I am looking for recommendations on non-Austin's, preferably those on my list.

Thanks again.

Just Joey would be my recommendation.

JJ has huge blooms and they are sturdy.

JJ is indeed one beautiful Rose. I had one grafted from Armstrong for four years but my experience has been that it doesn't bloom as much as I'd like. I was quite dissapointed and even posted here. Perhaps it was a bad specimen.

Thank you so much for all your comments.

Bronze Star is now out.

lLbpetals - how is Valencia as a bush? Does it bloom often? Any mildew or rust? Would you happen to have a picture of the entire plant?

I grow Valencia, Chris Evert, Versigny and Lady Emma Hamilton and previously grew Bronze Star. I’m in a very different climate. We have very high blackspot pressure, but no issue with rust and rarely an issue with powdery mildew...so I won't be of any help on disease resistance.

I removed Bronze Star years ago due to blackspot issues, but do remember it being a large bush that bloomed a lot. I don’t recall using it for cutting, though.

Lady Emma Hamilton is one of the few Austins I kept after going no spray. She doesn’t last very long as a cut flower, but has a wonderful fragrance. Growth habit is very compact for an Austin and well rounded. I didn’t take many garden pictures last year, but here is a full bush shot from 2017:

Valencia is a rather wimpy bush for me. I get a lot of winter dieback on it here even though we don’t normally have very cold winters. It blooms decently even though the bush doesn’t get much size for me. Very beautiful cut and has a long vase life, but although it is supposedly very fragrant, I don’t notice much scent from it.

Versigny has a great scent and decent vase life. A nice medium sized bush with decent flushes and quick repeat. I don’t have a full bush shot, but here are a couple of pictures from 2017:

Chris Evert was a great rose for me until the polar vortex winter a few years ago. The rose just never recovered from that dieback and is only a couple of tall canes now rather than a bush. Blooms are perfect for cutting with a good vase life and a nice (although not strong) fragrance. Color is much stronger than the others on your list that I grow...not a peachy pink or apricot...this one is melon orange with red edging (which spreads if left on the bush to age). These are from before her decline:

Thank you, Pat. Looks like Versigny, Chris Evert or LEH would do.

I have neglected my Valencia so it hasn't grown very big as it is still in the pot. I have never had any issues with disease.

'Lady Emma Hamilton' has beautiful flowers and the foliage when it is brand new is absolutely gorgeous, a glossy deep burgundy. No new rose foliage is more beautiful.

However, neither the flower nor the foliage ages well in my garden. The flower bleaches out rapidly.

I still grow about 200 roses. 'Brass Band' is in my top 10. It was, however, quite slow to establish. Once it did, it became outstanding. In that color range 'Strike It Rich' is another good performer.

I was hoping you would chime in, Hoovb. Thanks. A few years ago I got "Louise Clement" & "SIR" based on your recommendation and they are doing great. Got "Firefighter" too and love it. Well, here I am again.

Now, need something wonderful & shrubby (sort of) for my front yard. Love that peachy-orangy-pink combination, the colors of "Well Being". Still can't make up my mind. Only three medium size roses would feet.

I don't get to gardenweb so much anymore. I miss the pre-houzz gardenweb. Peachy/Orangey/Pinky 'Easy Does It' is a great performer but the plant is small and the habit is vertical. Six will fit in a space for three. Stems fairly short, not good for cutting. For a little plant it really pumps out flowers, though.

Happy suggestions worked out for you. 'Firefighter' still a favorite of mine. The fragrance!

Have you looked at 'Boscobel'?

I miss those days too...

EDI than "out", definitely need three shrubby roses. It's good time now, still cool and Armstrong has plenty of choices. Never came across "Brass Band" locally. Have you grown "Boscobel"? Rust, mildew, cut flowers? I will look it up.

Thank you.

Oh, cut flowers. Never mind. Austins generally are not great cut flowers. Had a friend who loved Versigny, until the gophers got it. Yes, 'Just Joey' while the flowers were glorious, they were few. Six a year, maybe. :(

I dug up all the roses in my front and back yards when we moved into this house and gave them to a friend in Long Beach who lived on a street that had "Rose Circle" in its name. We are still trying to get rid of some of the roses that are growing back from roots that we could not remove. We prefer to grow bromeliads and orchids in our yards, and we keep a lot of the orchids in pots so that we can bring them inside when they bloom, but most of the bromeliads get too large. The one thing I like about roses is that they have thorns, although some bromeliads can also help deter unwanted visitors.

For fragrance flowers, I prefer lilies, although I am allergic to them. There are a lot of orchids that are fragrant, but if you put them in pots in your front yard, they could get stolen. I only have orchids in pots in the back yard, but many (especially epidendrum and cymbidium) will grow in the ground.