Either grafted or ownroot is fine. I have them both in my garden. I bought most of my DA bareroots directly from DA. Their bareroots are very big and healthy. I also bought a lot of ownroot plants from Rose Unlimited. Her plants catch up to bareroot roses very quickly. In my own opinion, grafted roses grow faster. I have never seen any suckers yet.

Peggy -- We haven't planted an Austin rose in a good 10 years ... so I'm not "up to date" on his newer varieties. But of the Austins we have, I've found a few of them that don't "cut the mustard" on their own roots. If I were going to plant 'Prospero' or 'The Dark Lady' today, I'd want budded. 'Golden Celebration' will catch up, if you give it a little more time.

All that said, as I am in conditions similar to yours ... (up in Camarillo) ... I'll also urge you to look beyond the Austins, for other roses, of a similar form and type, among the Old Garden Roses. Some of the Hybrid Perpetuals do well here, and some of the Damask Perpetuals, as well. You NEED "The Portland From Glendora" (aka 'Joasine Hanet'):

and "Grandmother's Hat"

Thanks for your response, htracyn79

I have been ordering the bare root DAs directly from DA, also. They are indeed big and healthy and do well for me. With the one exception of "Jude the Obscure"... I tried him before own root - no blooms, down to one spindly cane. I planted a new one - bare root - last year and it is doing poorly also. The only one out of all my roses to not grow and thrive. So it must be that poor ol' Jude just doesn't want to live in my garden. Too bad because I love that color and flower shape - not that I would know from personal experience. I'll have to find something else that looks like him.

Some of the older plants sucker and it's a pain (literally) to get down in there and cut them away.

I agree that Roses Unlimited sends beautiful roses. I wonder if she ships in fall? That could help me make the choice between own-root and bare root - bare-root I would have to wait until January. Not that I am impatient or anything...

Thank you so much, jerijen

I have tried many OGRs in my day and while I love their blooms (I absolutely lust after Variegata di Bologna) I have been disappointed with their disease resistance - or I should say - lack of. I first became aware of OGRs from the "Roses of Yesterday and Today" catalog. I used to read that thing cover to cover, back and forth, over and over. Most of those roses I ordered from the luscious descriptions only, as there were few pictures - and none in color if I remember correctly, and no internet to look them up! Most have gone over the years for one reason or another, usually disease. I used to spray with various concoctions trying to control Powdery Mildew (some success) and Rust (no success), but I don't want to spray anymore and haven't for many years. So I have been really trying to thoroughly research each rose before I buy it.

Still I sometimes succumb to the gorgeous photos...those Austins...many of the older ones had Rust and so are gone, but I'm having success with the new ones I've tried from reading on the forum. That's why I was so excited to find this forum. And to be able to search through older posts to find out about the disease resistance in actual gardens.

These are a few of the things that I have learned from the forum:

Rugosas - prefer acidic soil, cold winters (which I cannot provide) - prone to Rust

Chinas - like dry, alkaline soil (which I can provide) - prone to Powdery Mildew

Gallicas - need cold winter to bloom (sorry Camaieux and Tuscany Superb)

Bourbons - prone to Rust & Mildew (bye bye Variegata di Bologna)

I'm not familiar with Hybrid Perpetuals and Damask Perpetuals that I know of... Thank you so much for your suggestions. I will look them up.

Back to the Austins...I know you've said Prospero is disease free for you, but it's only available own-root (I think). The Dark Lady is another I've considered, it's available bare root from DA. Is she disease free for you? I was contemplating Darcy Bussell as there were good things said of her. Any experience with her? I never liked "red" roses but these dark purple-y red ones have captured my interest, especially since I can't have Tuscany Superb. I am having early success with Munstead Wood - not a lot of blooms yet, but disease free.

Thank you so much for your time, jerijen. Your expertise will help make my garden a disease-free paradise :-)

~Peggy

P.S. just looked at The Portland on HMF ... ooh - says it rusts badly. No Rust for you, jerijen?

Here, rugosas do well. DA roses do well here including own root with the exception of Evelyn which is pathetic on it's own roots here. HPs, Bourbons, chinas and Teas, and Gallicas also do well here.

Hey Birds .... We never spray.

Once you've had sprays trigger seizures in a dog you love, you'll learn to live without them.

So ..... I NEVER recommend roses that don't have good-to-total disease resistance in MY conditions.

So, no. The Portland From Glendora does not rust in my garden, nor doth it mildew. Nor does Grandmother's Hat (though in this past wet spring, I saw blackspot, temporarily, in areas where air flow was less than perfect).

Do a pH test on your soil/water before you essay into Rugosas. As great as they are (and I've seen them in the Pacific NW, where they are an absolute glory) my alkaline conditions make this the place they go to die.

As for Variegata de Bologna ... we had her years ago when we still sprayed -- so though she was clean here ... that might not be a good measure. HOWEVER ... in the 3.5 years she grew here, she expanded to the size of a little yellow school bus ... and NEVER, EVER set a single bloom. That was how I learned that she needs some winter chill to bloom. Heck, I got more bloom from Gallicas! (Although with no winter, they eventually peter out here.)

I have recently re-acquire 'Marbree', and though it is still tiny, it certainly is keeping disease-free. (The Jury is still out, but . . . The speckled blooms are so cool.

But my experience with her leads me to recommend you avoid the deliciousness of 'Mme. Isaac Pereire'.

@Sheila - it sounds like everything does well for you! Lucky girl! I got Evelyn last year as grafted and she is doing well. She has 5 foot long canes now. I am wondering if I should cut them back or possibly "peg" them?

@jerijen - good news on The Portland from Glendora - I'll give her a try. Marbree looks pretty, too. Speckled blooms sound sweet.

The thought of Variegata as large as a bus! But the size of the disappointment of no blooms would be the same! I tried Mme. Isaac Pereire in my former "Roses of Yesterday..." days. Another disappointment - the amount of rust on that poor thing...I tried it on a pillar and the blooms (few) were beautiful with a wonderful fragrance, but I eventually got out the shovel. So sorry Madame...

If you like reds take a look at the Pulich Children rose - Jeri grows it beautifully.

@Lisa - Hi and many thanks for your experiences.

I was wondering if the Dr. Huey could possibly transmit some of his intolerance for Rust to the rose grafted onto him. Very interesting that your own-root Abe Darby has no rust - that's incredible. I'll give him another try, then. I had him grafted years ago and he was a mass of rust from the first leaf.

My Evelyn is grafted and getting large already - only 1 year old. She has 5 foot long canes that are arching and I think I might peg them down to see if they will form laterals. I probably should have gotten an own-root...

Glad to hear Darcy is healthy.

I have seen others say that if you water them a lot they will be more disease resistant. So I am trying that especially for the summer.

Thanks again...

~Peggy

Hey, Birds . . . Here in Camarillo, 'Evelyn's' canes were not five feet. As a mature plant, its canes were TWELVE feet. It also bloomed only at the top of the TWELVE feet.

If we were to grow it again, I would plant it where I could stretch those canes out horizontally, to encourage blooming laterals. (That was not possible where we had it, so it went to the Trash Haulers.) I think, though, that she is one of the Austins I would choose to grow on its own roots.

Our experience with 'Mme. Isaac Pereire' was similar to yours. It taught me all about rust, mildew, and even blackspot. The blooms were SO not worth all that.

Hi Jeri,

I have seen that you said Evelyn was a monster for you, but I have been ignoring that because I already had her planted...

Someone on another post linked to a blog that showed the beautiful Evelyn on a low fence. It was the most beautiful thing... I planted her in a little bit of a tight spot, but I'm thinking about how I could put a fence-like structure (in a place that doesn't need a fence) and pull her over to it. Then if she grew 12' long canes it might be OK and as long as they are horizontal and make laterals I can just prune off the excess...maybe...

Birds, if you CAN do that, I WOULD do that. I suspect it would be terrific.

Where WE had it, we could not. There was no way. And no way we could move the immense thing. So, it went.

'Emanuel'

https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.2606.1

was a similar Austin rose that was far better for us. I'd recommend it, but I don't think there is a U.S. source. (It was an arching shrub, some 3.5 - 4-ft. tall, and a great bloomer..)

But for future reference, we learned from Clair Martin (formerly curator of roses at the Huntington Gardens) to check the stated sizes of Austin roses. IF they described them as being 4-ft or smaller, you were OK to consider them a Shrub. But IF they described an Austin rose as being anything over 4-ft., you could be certain it would be a "Jolly Green Giant" in Southern California.

That knowledge was golden.

Jeri - If I don't have enough room for Evelyn on a "fence", I wonder if I could wrap her around a tripod tuteur. I will just have to think about the aesthetics of both.

I would love to try Emanuel, but was unsuccessful at finding one.

I forgot that I had Clair Martin's book from long ago - "100 English Roses for American Gardens". He details the older, some now unavailable, Austins as to size and disease - unfortunately, so many have disease problems.

I was on the DA website a few weeks ago looking at what I should order and had several roses in my basket. I went back to the website and the entire thing had changed! They had updated it, I guess, and no longer showed any sizes or disease resistance. I looked recently and some of the roses had sizes added back to the info but they were all bigger than what had been there before - interesting...maybe they had gotten too many complaints about the inaccuracy of their sizing. The disease resistance info - Excellent, Above average, Good - is still gone. So I'm so glad for this forum posting about disease resistance,

I'm still a sucker for the DA-s...

I have only two Austins (Golden Celebration and Darcey Bussell) on DH roots and they are planted in a spot with Sycamore root competition, which is probably the only reason I can grow them there. They both have spotless foliage. I am inland quite a bit and at 1800ft. We do get May-Gray and June-Gloom, but it burns off by between 10AM and noon. I have Paul Neyron, which is a rust bucket right next to Rein de Violettes with pristine foliage, never a spot of rust or mildew. All my Teas get a little mildew except Monsieur Tillier. My Lady of Shallot is on her own roots and does very well with perfect foliage. I really want Evelyn but now I am a little scared by the 12 foot canes jerijen mentions. I have Star of the Republic with only a couple blooms that have been scented and I really want scent in my roses so thinking about replacing with Evelyn. But will give SotR a 3rd year to see if those blooms get consistent scent. The 3 or so blooms that I caught with some scent were an amazing strong lemony fragrance. Maybe just doesn't give scent in the heat? I also have James Gallway on its own roots and near Golden Celebration but further from the sycamore. It is establishing more slowly and not behaving like a climber at all yet, next year with be year 3 so maybe I'll get long canes in the Spring.

Hi Stephanie - thanks for your info.

I have decided on Darcy Bussell (grafted) so I'm thrilled to know she's spotless for you. Dare I ask how big she gets?

I tried Paul Neyron long ago and he was a rust bucket for me, too. I also had Reine des Violettes with no disease so it seems our experiences are similar in spite of the difference in location.

Jeri's warning about Evelyn is unfortunately too late for me. I planted her in a probably too small spot. She's only 1 year old and already has those long cane at least 6 feet with the cluster of blooms at the end. She is in a raised planter so the canes can droop over a brick wall so they don't touch the ground. But if they get 12 feet they probably will reach the sidewalk below.

I don't know Star of the Republic. I was looking at James Galway but chose Spirit of Freedom to replace Eden on one of my trellises. I had ordered a Climbing Eden for the trellis, but after 15 years or so of it staying only 6 feet tall it finally dawned on me that it must be the regular shrub! And as beautiful as she is, I can't put up with the rust anymore. So come winter...the shovel...

I pegged Paul Neyron and the result was fantastic for the blooms! His new flush of buds look great right now since all the rust in on the lower leaves and I can't really see them. You should try pegging for Evelyn. I pounded 8 inch stakes into the ground a few feet from PN for each cane and then bent the tips of canes down and tied the last 4 inches of the cane firmly to the stake with 2 zipties. I did this in fall/winter when the canes were slightly hardened and got 3 canes on each side of the bush tied down this way. Darcey Bussell stays smaller. She sends out an occasional 4 foot cane, but most are only 2-3 feet. The Golden Celebration wants to be a short climber; I have to cut down the canes quite a bit when I cut the flowers for the vase or deadhead. GC is bigger than James Galway which just looks like a 3-4 foot shrub rose. JG doesn't bloom that much....long 6 week rests between flushes. Star of the Republic is very gangly, so far, with canes that shoot up 6 feet with flowers on the ends so it might actually be similar growth-wise to Eveyln. SotR also gets a touch of rust in the Spring.

Oh you're brave to keep PN with his rust! Sounds wonderful, though. I know those blooms - fantastic!

I was thinking of pegging Evelyn but think I will try Jeri's suggestion of her trained out along a fence. I saw a photo and it was glorious! I don't need a fence in her spot but will make a "fence-like structure" in front of her to train her on. I think it just may work out.

So glad to know that Darcey stays on the smaller side. I can deal with 4 foot canes.

I thought James Galway was supposed to be tall - maybe I was thinking of something else. I could use a smaller shrub but would hope he would be more bloomiferous. A 6 week rest is kind of lazy in my garden!

Yeah Star of the Republic does sound like it grows in the form of Evelyn. The former growth pattern - I'll make her do what I want!

Thanks again...

Straw Chicago just put on another thread that her JG shot up a 16ft cane in its second year on its own roots. She gave it a ton of fertilizer though (she said it was really too much in her opinion) and it probably got more water than mine. I am going to give my JG a little more fertilizer and water and see what happens.