Mar Lorena is growing some or all of them. Maybe not the Emily Bronte

Kate, I'm on the same "one in--one out" program you are. I'm not only running out of steam, I have run out of room. It's such good luck that you will be able to come up with the space for Mill on the Floss. I don't have any information on the three roses, but I think Marlorena grows Eustacia Vye (love it), and may grow Mill on the Floss. I'm happy to hear your news that these roses will be available here in 2020--I do want Eustacia. Reluctantly, I'm letting go of my Brother Cadfael, another literary figure, but Leonardo da Vinci will replace him. So, where to put the delicious Eustacia? Diane

I don't have Emily Bronte but I have the others.... so far I love Eustacia Vye although it's early days and it does have some black spot....but its scent alone makes it a real winner and the blooms are just perfect... I pick one off and walk the garden with it for at least half and hour...sniffing as I go... I find it intoxicating and prefer it over any other Austin I've smelled so far.... I'm afraid it's like a drug that one...

... Mill on the Floss is on probation with me... it's growing as a climber, gets some rust spots... and if I'm perfectly frank... I get more growth than blooms so far... sweetly scented when the sun is out.. not much when it isn't...

...I think the reason Austins do not have any Jane Austen names is that these are heavily protected by both the Jane Austen family and the Jane Austen Society... they cannot just use names from her novels without permission... they use Harkness Roses to commission a rose... so far they have 'Pride and Prejudice' a hybrid tea... and a fabulous new rose that was so popular at Chelsea it sold out almost immediately - I couldn't get one.... called 'Chawton Cottage'... named after Miss Austen's home... it's a white climber with a maroon eye - I think it's bred from those Hulthemias like the 'Eyes' roses... I'm getting one this autumn ...

Harkness roses ... Chawton Cottage...

Marlorena, you gotta grab Chawton Cottage. It is so unique and beautiful. No wonder it is sold out fast . Oh, I guess I have to reserve a spot here for it which means next year, cross fingers and hopefully it grows in my zone too.
Marlorena, I totally envy you getting first hand class roses to try out.
jin

These are all so gorgeous! I simply cannot go on a literary Rose bender; I’m running out of room too. But such beauties! Thank you for bringing them to our attention. :-)

Thank you, folks, for your responses.

Marlorena--your first-hand experiences are invaluable. I'm hearing contradictory things about slow/sparse (or not) rebloom on Mill of the Floss. I'll have to keep an eye out for any more info on that aspect. If she is not a decent rebloomer, I may have to switch my preference to Eustacia Vye, but I have to admit the Mill's picoteed blooms and colors really intrigue me. Emily Bronte seems to have a lot of virtues, so I could always go that direction, but so far, she's a bit too pastel (as in "pale") for me. Maybe when more garden pictures are available, I'll change my mind.

And thank you for the Jane Austen info. I wondered why she was being ignored, but your explanation makes perfect sense. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing your pics of the roses mentioned above.

Well, Nana, I guess we will have to be retrenchment buddies. It is hard, isn't it--but at some point, our grand garden dreams have to face reality. I can barely keep up with the weeds anymore--which makes my garden look a bit wild--but wild gardens can be charming also. You'll notice in my list above that I have a number of wildflowers that reseed themselves and take complete care of themselves. They replaced some more exotic perennials I used to grow that required more care, but other than being different, my wildflowers certainly are lovely. You have such beautiful roses--do share your favorite pics with us throughout the summer, and especially your new Leonardo de Vinci--I love that rose.

Plumeria--good luck with Chawton Cottage next spring--and let us see pics!

If anyone else has seen these roses actually growing in a garden, do feel free to give us a report.

Kate

The pictures of The Mill on the Floss are very alluring, that's for sure.

Mill on the Floss looks wonderful in your photos, Marlorena, and I would think even a few of these lovely blooms would be very satisfactory. Still, Eustacia Vye has won my heart, even more so now that you've described its wonderful fragrance. I have far too many roses with no or scant fragrance, and I regret that now.

I'm afraid I have to join your retrenchment society, Diane and Kate, since I won't have any room after I've planted the four roses that are arriving in the fall, and one or two of those won't have ideal spots at that. There are so many wonderful roses to try, dozens and dozens of them, and I'm continually questioning my choices. It's wonderful and frustrating at the same time!

We'd love to have you join the retrenchment society, Ingrid.

Thanks for those pics, Marlorena. The coloration on Mill is so interesting. On the other hand, the more I look at Eustacia, the more attractive she gets. Good thing I have until next fall/early winter to make up my mind before I have to order.

Kate

Thank you for posting these photos, Marlorena. It looks wonderful with the clematis and other pink flowers. How tall and wide is it...?

David Austin may not be naming a rose for Jane Austen because there already is one. I was looking at the Harkness site at all the lovely roses I cannot get in the US and saw a Jane Austen in a lovely shade of light orange. So it appears this name is already taken. Now......if they would just send it to the US for sale!

Judith

Thanks so much for the photos, Marlorena! Lovely.

..yes that's right, I had forgotten the Jane Austen rose, but that was also produced for the Jane Austen House and Museum, and they receive some of the proceeds from sales to maintain the property.. . so their contractual arrangement is with Harkness roses... not David Austin..... DA cannot use any names connected with Jane Austen, as I understand it..

Krista... I have my rose on an obelisk... it's attained over 6 foot tall by about 2 foot wide... I'm training it now towards another structure nearby... like a short rambler but I don't know how far it will go.. it's growth is quite upright... the canes seem strong so I think it would be ok freestanding and I expect it produces more blooms that way... it's quite vigorous...

If I was David Austin, I would create the most beautiful rose and call it, 'Plain Jane' :D Can't get in trouble for that.

Marlorena, I am in love with Mill On The Floss! Your photos are so gorgeous. Its a shame she is misbehaving and being a stingy naughty diva. Why is it always the most beautiful ones that are the troublemakers? lol Perhaps she will improve with age. I am counting down the days until I can order her here.

I bet she will be fabulous on 'Fortuniana' rootstock or something else you use there... the one we use here needs about 3 years before it can fully supply what the rose needs - then it takes off and we have climbers on our hands all of a sudden...

I shall give this rose another season as I feel sure she has a lot more to give... but if rust is a problem in your area... I've noticed this one is a bit susceptible...

I'm a lifelong Thomas Hardy lover, so I've always been pleased with DA's Hardy names. My heart stopped when Eustacia and Gabriel appeared! Are the coming to the US next year for sure? (please, please please?)

Count me as another member of your retrenchment society, but I wish my weeds would follow long with the plan. For every one I remove, three more grow :(

DA roses get trialled in California {I think it's the Barona Casino gardens] and Arizona - I don't know where exactly... so if they pass those trials in those States, they get released … otherwise.. it's a no...

...most of them do it seems...

ratdogheads… I can't say |'ve read a lot of Thomas Hardy but my favourite of his that I know is the short story ''On The Western Circuit''... which is about a London lawyer touring a rural area on business, who falls for an illiterate local servant girl.... only he's not aware she's illiterate... they correspond by letter with a view to marrying... but she gets her guardian, who is also her employer in loco parentis, to write the love letters for her.... he only finds out after he's married her... and that it's the writer of the letters he's fallen in love with, not the girl...

..it seems to be a work before its time.. as it reminds me of the modern age of internet dating... where you can be conversing with someone yet you cannot be sure just who they are, how old they are, or even what sex they are....

I'll have to read that one. Don't know Hardy's short stories. Sounds a bit like Cyrano, too.

So now I'm wondering...if you could name a rose (or roses) after your favorite literary character(s) or author(s), who would you choose and what would you expect that rose to be like? As for myself, I'd like to see a Mr. Knightly rose. It (he) should be richly colored, richly fragrant, maybe a bit demanding, but very generous in bloom. There should be a hint of golden yellow stamens in the heart of the bloom when they are fully open. I'd expect small and/or few prickles, glossy disease-free foliage and a well-mannered shrub. Something like a cross between Basye's purple and Munstead Wood is what I'm imagining. What would you expect for your literary rose?

This is a difficult task for me because I read near everything and have many favorite characters from fiction. But upon thinking for a bit, I choose Flavia for my rose's name. Flavia de Luce is a precocious eleven year old chemist, lover of poisons, and solver of bizarre mysteries. She's brazen and thinks nothing of creative lying. But she's lovable and so unique. So, my rose will be a striking purple that doesn't fade and has a unique look--something precociously elegant (whatever that means), and will put Twilight Zone to shame with her continuous bloom. Diane

"Count me as another member of your retrenchment society, but I wish my weeds would follow long with the plan. For every one I remove, three more grow "

The official lament of every member of the retrenchment society.

My literary rose would be named Kate Chopin or Edna after her marvelous heroine in The Awakening. Or perhaps Grand Isle--after the island on which Edna experiences her awakening while swimming.

At any rate, the rose must show colors that suggest sunlight glistening off the waters of the sea--perhaps a pinkish white rose with soft yellow highlights--liquid and sensuous, at any rate. Cool and all-encompassing on a hot day.

Edna ought to make a wonderful contrast with your Flavia, Diane. : )

noseometer--I was never overly taken with Mr. Knightly, although that surely is a great name for a hero. However, your description of the colors of Mr. Knightly rose have made me fall in love with him!

ratdog--welcome to the retrenchment society. : )

Marlorena--must get me a copy of Hardy's ''On The Western Circuit''--have read few stories by him, but I love his novel Far from the Madding Crowd with its Gabriel Oak lover!

Kate

Hold on. Hold on! Why must it be DA and British lit? Why can’t some enterprising American rose grower come up with a “Jo Marsh”, or a “Daisy Miller’? Why isn’t there an “Emily Dickinson“ rose?

and let’s not stop there. Let’s see an “Anna Karenina” (dark red, I think) and a “Natasha Rostova” ( delicate light pink would suit her). How about a “Hedda Gabler” (Red-blue-white blend)? Or, heaven help us, a Molly Bloom”? That last could be any color except white...

love it!

Sylvia

I immediately had to order the first Flavia de Luce book.

sylvia--I've been wondering about Emily Dickinson for some time myself, but I'd want it to be a DA rose in that case--my favorite poet and my favorite nursery.

A sepal, a petal, and a thorn

Upon a common summer's morn--

A flask of Dew--A Bee or two--

A Breeze--a caper in the trees--

And I'm a Rose.

-----------------

And I guess the rose would have to be a dark violet/purple--kind of like Munstead Wood at its most beautiful darkness?

Purple--

The Color of a Queen, is this--

The Color of a Sun

At setting--this and Amber--

Beryl--and this, at Noon--

And when at night--Auroran widths

Fling suddenly on men--

'Tis this--and Witchcraft--nature keeps

A Rank--for Iodine--

-----------------

Kate

Kate, I love Emily Dickinson and her poetry--she and her work should inspire the names of many a rose.

Sylvia, the author of the Flavia series is a Canadian, though his books are set in England--except for one of the books in which poor Flavia is sent to Canada.

Noseo, you are buying "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"? That is the first in the series. I have read all ten of the series' books twice. The author is now at least 80, so I hope he's good for one more Flavia. Please. Diane

I just saw pictures of and read description of another new DA rose "Gabriel Oak". The fragrance and color sound so attractive to me. And named for another literary character. Anyone seen this rose?? Thank you for this lovely thread. I never thought I could question the name given to a rose.

Houzz is such a mess. I see the posts are still in backward order (since yesterday). And now my like button doesn't work. Gah. Diane

Diane, I'm reading "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" right now, and it is probably the funniest book I have ever read. So well written. I had to stop reading for a bit because I was laughing so hard. That being said, perhaps they should rename 'Abracadabra' (also known as "Abra-Cadaver" on the thread "Which Roses Don't Float Your Boat?") as 'Flavia de Luce'. Seems about right, for her penchant for poisons and it being a murder mystery. Then again, her personality might dictate a rose that has more elegance and wit. Maybe something like a fringed tulip, but in rose form.

I think there's some rose trial gardens in Litchfeild Park AZ area. Thats Maricopa Co. Its hot as heck there but roses do great as long as they get enough water. I wonder if thats where DA's AZ trial garden is? I loved growing roses in Phoenix so much easier..

I share the susceptibility to choosing roses by name, but must admit that none of the roses I selected that way stayed in my garden more than a few years.

Like others, I have been shrinking my garden for quite some time. So many factors - intermittent drought being one, and yes, years being another. A garden overuse injury put a limit on how much I can do with my right hand. Now that I have recovered from the surgery I can go back to what I used to do, but for only one hour a day. That one hour of intense activity is a total, so on days that I sew or knit I cannot also work in the garden. I've been getting some help these past few months so the garden doesn't look neglected, but I think I'm going to reduce it just a bit more.

Better to have a smaller garden that looks good than a larger one that looks like a jungle. At least that is true for me. I caught a glimpse of Miriam Wilkins's garden in El Cerrito after she died. It was a world class collection, but had grown to be just about impenetrable. That's not what I want for my garden. (I'll bet it's not what she wanted either.)

Emily bronte is one that I would be interested in and Gabriel Oak.

I'm afraid I am still buying roses willy nilly with no real place to plant them lol

Diane, I recently discovered that there IS a rose named Flavia, released in 1977.

Fantastic, noseo. But I'll bet she's not for sale anywhere. I'll check around. Diane