Golden Celebration when he was doing well. The huge 5-6 inch blooms are just thrilling!

Stephanie, those are the most beautiful Golden Celebration blooms I've ever seen. And they're huge with great color. I wonder what is going on now with that rose, since he was off to such a strong start. I assume he gets the same goodies your other Austins receive. Though we have very hot, dry, sunny summers, we do have a winter here in zone 7, Boise, ID. GC is extremely cold hardy, but does well in hot temps, too. He blooms pretty steadily. I give mine a big pruning every spring because he grows so fast. I wish I could make some suggestions, and I'll feel very guilty if GC does not perform well next year. I have a small yard, too, and I have held onto large roses that aren't performing. They are like children to me, and very hard to give up on. Diane

Thanks so much, Carol, and librarian. You both grow lovely roses, too. Carol, Bishop's Castle is a beauty, and what you do with potted roses is wonderful, showing a real devotion to those often ungrateful plants. Librarian, isn't Boscobel an all around excellent rose? Yours is a good example of what Bosco can do. I love your Eustacia Vye. Pink powderpuff roses are always a favorite of mine. I need bouquet lessons from you. Diane

Carol, Bishop's Castle has been on and off my wish list for a while. Your beautiful rose would make me put it back on. And after seeing Diane's Eglantyne and Stephanie's GC...my wishlist is too big. I just don't have room. Well that's what wishlists are for...wishing!

Diane, you're very kind. Ive been having fun with bouquets this year. It's been a joy to finally grow enough flowers that I can give them away! Boscobel was my first Austin love and gosh, it is wonderful. If someone wanted suggestions for buying their first Austin, I'd recommend it. It has a nice bush shape, blooms nonstop, lasts long on the bush and in the vase, has a nice moderate fragrance and gosh, the cupped semi quartered blooms are perfection! But then...Boscobel and Madame Hardy are the ones who started my obsession 😅

@rosecanadian Beautiful BC picture...still enjoying her icy pinks.

@Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal Have you tried Carding Mill or Jubilee Celebration? Those two bloomed the most for me back east. Different climate I know, but I've read that they're the same here in CA, so I have them for order to try here. My Abraham Darby is in a pot but hasn't stopped flowering since I got him back in Sept. They're so beautiful and smell so great. Also, for your GC....have you tried feeding him Sulfate of Potash? Straw recommended it and I tried it on some roses a week ago and every one I tried it on has healthy new growth and buds all over them. Maybe try it on your GC, he's so beautiful in your pictures! Can't wait to try growing him.

@Diane Brakefield I love your Munstead Wood pictures. I can't wait to finally grow him and see all of these beautiful color shifts. Glad to hear you enjoy him so much. I had taken Eglantyne out of my DA order for spring...but now I might have to put her back on . Does she handle intense sun/heat well? So beautiful in your pics!

@librarian_gardner_8b_pnw Glad MW does well in the heat. Can't wait to see how he does here. Beautiful colors in your MW, I love the companion plants around him too, they really add something to his already overly-romantic blooms.

Bc, thank you so much. I think Eglantyne is consistently beautiful for a lot of rose growers. Since 10b is a cold hardiness zone, I can only guess that you have really hot summer weather, and you are definitely in a much more southern latitude that I am, so you're sun is more potent. I'm thinking that Eglantyne might need an afternoon break from your sun. Here, she rests during part of summer, but so do a number of other roses of mine. I'd rather have them do that than be burnt up. Have you considered growing E in a container for a year or two to see how she handles your climate? I see above that Stephanie grows her Abe in a pot, and I've seen her photos of him. He has some of the most beautiful Abe blooms I've seen. I'll bet your E would do well in a container, too. Diane

Thanks @Diane Brakefield for the great info on Eglantyne. She seems to get great reviews so I will have to give her a try. My new home here is 10b and sunset zone 24. I looked it up last week. I'm sure she could use a break in the afternoon sun. I thought maybe being so close to the water would help but we will see how all the roses I ordered do here in the spring. I'm going to be growing them all in big pots so hopefully that will help if I need to move some to different areas for afternoon shade. My two Abe's are in pots here and are growing very well so far. One is a baby that I got from Heirloom in September but the other is a larger one. They seem happy though even in the afternoon sun, so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

Bc, if your climate is anything like Redondo Beach's, where I lived for a time, E could probably stand the afternoon's heat just fine. Diane

My top 5 Austins - many of you will already have seen these photos and know how I will answer!

Bishop's Castle - for constant bloom and incredible flushes, with strong fragrance.

Abraham Darby - My first Austin love. So many things that endear me...and annoy me!

Radio Times - intense rich fragrance and perfectly formed flowers for my taste.

Alnwick Castle - intense raspberry fragrance and cupped flowers.

Desdemona - lemonade and Hendrick's gin fragrance, constant flowering and no thrips damage.

@forest grove

Lovely Alnwick Castle!! I just love that bloom shape, and the color!

And a strong raspberry fragrance? Wow!

I myself I was done with my orders for this year, but browsing this forum is a permanent source of temptation!

Stephanie - oh my goodness!!!!! Sublime GC blooms!!! The one with the GCs on the mantel could be on a magazine cover!!!

Diane - thanks so much!! I needed to hear that. :)

Librarian - I sure hope my Boscobel (coming this spring) does well!! It has a lot to live up to!! And thank you about my BC. :) :)

Brandon - thanks!! :) :) :) It's the Austin that convinces me to keep trying Austins...are you listening Boscobel that's coming!!? :) :) Do you use the white powder Potash of Sulfate or the granular? I can't wait to see how Eglantyne does for you in a pot!! Diane's pictures are sublime...but I'm unsure about getting it, since Austins hate me. LOL

Forest - my word!!! You grow Austins superbly!!! Those shrub shots!!! I tried Abraham Darby a long time ago...it consistently had sprawly canes that flopped everywhere. How in the world do you grow it so well?

Not sure why it signed me in as a different name. Houzz gave me my name as an old, old e-mail address that I don't use anymore and never used as my name. I'm better known as Noseometer, not Forest Grove, which I have never gone by. It still signs me in as Noseometer though, but puts this other name into my post. Thank you for the kind comments though.

All these photos are magnificent. ”Mill on the Floss” is a revelation for me — lilyfinch, if it thrives in your climate it’ll probably do well in mine.

I’m also a fan of Munstead Wood. It has stayed small in the ground here in 9a, and it thrived in a pot for two years bfore that.

Darcey Bussell, on the other hand, is vigorous as all get-out and grows to over 6’ every year.

Darcey is fragrant, but nothing beats Munstead.

A lot of people seem to dislike Princess Alexandra of Kent. I don’t. She came as a gift, and is nearing the end of her second year.

Good Points: Munstead shuts down in the heat. Darcey doesnt care if it’s 112 in the shade, she keeps right on blooming. PAOK is still small (and she does tend to sprawl) but she did well all summer.

Possibly Bad Points: Weak stems. I had to put in some supports.

Color varies great deal depending on season. Here she is this past week:

And in the spring:

At my old house i owned and enjoyed (in descending order) Tamora, Carding Mill, Molyneux, The Alnwick Rose, Queen of Sweden, Falstaff (gorgeous blooms, but very very few in 10a), Tranquillity. Tamora was an absolute trouper: stayed four feet tall, never stopped blooming from April through December, consistently fragrant, trouble-free. Carding Mill’s blooms were an intense copper color, with some pink in the hot months.

Of all my Austins, I took only Munstead Wood and Darcey Bussell to my new tiny-yard space, so there you have it.

Nose, so you are Forest Grove? Oregon? Ii lived there the first years of my life in the 1940s. A wonderful little town. Houzz does the weirdest things. That's how I became Diane Brakefield instead of Nanadoll, which I'd been for years. Several forum members currently keep getting denied access to houzz. Then suddenly, they can get on the forum again....I was wondering who this Forest person was who grows such fantastic roses. I can't pick a favorite--well maybe, Bishop's Castle, which is incredible. And before I knew it was you, I was thinking that this person can really grow Abe Darby, and I wish showing your pic could stun my Abe into being a better performing rose. Your Abe is exquisite. Your Alnwick Castle looks exactly like my Brother Cadfael--almost unreal in their resemblance to each other. It's good to have you post--haven't you been missing for a while? I hope all is OK for you. Diane

Brother Cadfael

Sylvia, I agree that Munstead Wood is a wonderful rose, and yours is gorgeous. It's funny but my MW took on our record breaking heat like a trouper, and has continued on through freezes, though MW is pretty much shut down now. I'm very interested in Darcey Bussell, and yours is lovely and sounds like an excellent rose. I hope you can someday grow Tamora again. She's a wonderful rose for me, too, and is my only Austin to stay small like she is supposed to do. Diane

Tamora

Noseometer - good grief what a weird thing for Houzz to do!! Gosh, I love your 2nd pic of PAOK!!! Oh my!!! I really enjoyed reading the evolution of your nickname. :) :) So cute! I see, so maybe I was over fertilizing. I'm not going to try with it again though. I want my Boscobel to look like yours!!! As if it could. LOL But it's exciting to see what the potential is. :)

Diane - Heavens!!! Your Bro is stellar as always!! :) :) Tamora is a beauty :) :)

@Diane Brakefield I think it is a similar climate, Redondo is just 50 min south or so. I think it stays under 90 here during summers and around 50 for winter months since I'm right next to the water. I'm hoping the roses will do ok since I'll be growing them all in pots (no real yard/grass). Will be some trial and error once I get the bareroots all potted up in spring, but the few I have in pots now seem happy so far. Redondo is beautiful, when were you there? I've only driven through it a couple of times but stopped each time to walk around and it was beautiful. I love your Brother Cadfael but he was sold out when I checked DA's site. How is his rebloom for you during warm months? I keep reading he's great or stingy.....

I'm so excited to try Tamora this spring. I love her colorations and ruffles in your pictures.

@forest grove Thanks for your top picks and pictures! I love your pic of Bishop's Castle and Alnwick especially. I have them coming in the spring time. Hopefully some day I"ll find a way to purchase Radio Times and try it. Looks beautiful and great reputation for her scent.

I love seeing your Abe covered in blooms, so great. I have two here, a larger one in a big pot and then a smaller I started from Heirloom Roses about 3 months ago. I like his red thorns.

@rosecanadian I have Boscobel coming too! We'll have to exchange notes and pictures. I hope mine is as garish of a color as possible :) I really love saturated colors to offset all the icy pastels I love. I've been using the white granular sulfate of potash by Alpha Chemicals that Straw recommended and I swear, each of the four plants had no buds until I started adding it to my water routine. Now they're all covered in buds (Teasing Georgia is flowering all over) but the other 3 aren't far along fro her with their buds. I've been adding 1/2 Tablespoon to my 2 gallon water can and split that between two roses at a time.

@SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal Great to hear about Princess Alexandra. I've been reading mixed reviews too, but I am still drawn to her giant fluffy blooms. I saw some youtube video with her in it and the flowers look awesome. Glad you're enjoying Munstead and Darcy. I saw Darcy in a giant pot at a nursery and it was beautiful and huge.

@noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) Beautiful Boscobel! I love his bold coloring and that picture of your plant covered in blooms is what I'm hoping I can achieve, thank you for sharing.

I will have to get a full plant picture of my Abes. They definitely seem to like water and the giant blooms really only come off of older thicker canes. The smaller blooms on thinner canes are great too but those massive blooms I got really shocked me. Hopefully mine will grow some more thicker canes to even out the bush.

Bc, I lived in the "Riviera Village" end of Redondo Beach, way back before you walked this earth, I'll bet, in 1968-70. The Village was a charming, pleasant place to live. The shops and stores descended a few blocks down to the beach. The weather was quite constant--not too hot, not too cold. When I lived in various parts of California, none of my homes had AC. So much for sunny California. Are you near Manhattan Beach? I loved that place for the Poppytrail Pottery Yard. Brother Cadfael is a large rose and probably wouldn't be suitable for pots, but if you really want it, I can give you a detailed history of my experience with BC, which I've grown in two locations since the year he first appeared on the market. Diane

@SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal - I got PAoK last year also, so this is the end of the second summer of her in my yard. She hasn't yet shown signs of becoming a monster, in fact the first year she was pretty wimpy. This year she grew a lot more. I was not impressed with the vibrant orange of the flowers as they first opened. In the fall they flowers are more a warm pink which is much more to my liking. The flowers are huge and they have come frequently this summer. The one flower that I cut was very fragrant, similar to Abe. The leaves did develop brown crud both last year and this year though, and I'm not sure what causes that. It didn't stop the blooming, but I prefer a plant with healthy green leaves. How has yours been?

@Diane Brakefield I've stopped in Riviera Village section when I was driving through and it's still very beautiful there. I live north in Malibu so I think the weather will be similar to Redondo. I've never lived in a warm climate before so I don't know how the roses will react especially in big pots, but I assume they won't take a rest during winter months since I'm next to water and I don't think it gets below 45F degrees often. Will be interesting to see which ones do well here since I have very little shade for them. Hopefully the sun doesn't burn the flowers or fade them too fast.

@noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) Great to hear about your PAOK. Glad she is fragrant like Abe. Will have to give her a try after looking over so many beautiful pics of her giant flowers. Maybe she'll do well in a pot where she can't get massive.

Brandon - do you put the sulphate of potash on potted roses or those in the ground? Yes, we'll compare our Boscobels :) :) Yours will win. LOL

@rosecanadian I’ve been putting it in my potted Austin’s. I don’t have any in the ground here but it seems to work well for these four in pots. They all showed lots of new buds after watering with it. It’s the alpha chemical brand and I only split a tablespoon worth in four gallons for the four plants. So they each get a gallon of it at the end of their watering days :)

I potted these roses in soil that has high nitrogen levels without realizing it. It’s fox farms ocean potting soil with bat guano and lots of other stuff in it. Straw helped me figure out that the soil was the reason they were putting on lots of green growth(and had burnt leaves after trying to transplant them carefully). So I am trying to balance the nitrogen in the pots by using Neptunes Rose Formula(low nitrogen) weakly with each watering along with this sulfate of potash and it seems to be working well so far. Their new growth looks better and lots of buds.

I'm excited to grow Boscobel. I was looking at pictures of it and PAoK last night and love the weird orangey/coral color they get sometimes. I hope mine shows some of those intense colors and not just pink. Have you tried growing PAoK in a pot?

Bc, here is my Boscobel, right next to his best friend, Golden Celebration. They are two of my favorite Austins. PAoK and I did not love each other, though she grew and bloomed a lot. Diane

I call this photo my Boscobel Army on the march--ha. Diane

Spectacular Diane !

My little 1 foot tall Boscobel valiantly fought canker a few years, now it's gone . The few blooms it gave smelled so wonderfully sweet, I would definitely like to try again.

When the sun dried one of Boscobel's old blooms on the bush and purple color rimmed the edge, it was one of the most exquisite roses ever. I wish I could have taken a picture, my son is rarely available to capture photos for me. Every year I hope to get some good pictures of the fading snow clothed roses. While the weather is clear I should go out today and lop off a few of Evelyn's heavy canes, though they did look beautiful bowed with snow.

@Diane Brakefield Amazing pictures Diane! I love your Army picture with all of them marching along, really beautiful with all of those blooms. I think I remember reading about your PAoK taking over your garden and being a pain to dig out. I'd be growing her in a pot here which would be easier to hopefully control her. I'm just debating whether her color is different enough from Boscobel or if they're similar. What do you think? As much as I'd like to try every rose that interests me, I don't want too many in pots that ares similar and take up space and watering.

@UserI love your Boscobel....such a beautiful cupped shape and lighting on her. I love the sound of the purple color on it's edge.

Hi Bc, for me, there was quite a difference in the color of Boscobel and PAoK once the heat of summer began. Suddenly, lots of small, ugly coral blooms appeared on PAoK and continued to arise until the heat dropped in September. That characteristic, as well as the thuggishness of PAoK, was the breaking point and out she went. I put up with three years of it at least. I know others like PAoK and don't see seem to have this problem with the rose. I think it might depend on weather differences in different areas. Diane

The top three photos are PAoK when she wasn't doing the ugly coral thing. The bottom three photos are Boscobel, and his blooms are pretty consistently like this with no ugly summer blooms. I think the very last photo was taken in August. Diane

Yes, that was August 2 for Boscobel's last photo. That rose is very consistent--one of the best. Diane

Diane, beautiful pics.I love the subtlety in both their colors. Maybe I'll give PAOK a try, I've read a few times that her blooms are some of the biggest for Austins, and I enjoy color changing roses even garish colors. There are too many pinks to choose from!

I'd say Boscobel's blooms are about the same size as PAoKs were for me. Diane

My plan to deal with the garish colors is to put PAoK and Bosobel together in one bed with a couple rosemary shrubs and Barock on the fence behind them to tie it all together.

If it looks like crap I will just move stuff around.

That's great Diane, thanks. Maybe I'll hold off on PAOK then and see how I like Boscobel first. They both look like beautiful flowers.

Oursteelers, had to look up Barock. Such a nice looking rose. I like the pointed petals on the flowers and subtle warm coloring. I think it will look really nice combined with paok and boscobel!

Noseometer, my PAOK was subject to chili thrips which are a plague here in late summer. She is right in the front yard where you come in through the gate, and it depressed me to come home and see, as Diane accurately described them, those ugly little coral blobby things all full of holes that pass for blooms in August and September. The rest of the year, her blooms are full, longlasting, more pink than orange and fragrant. Not a monster yet, but she does get afternoon shade.

Brandon - Good info...thanks! I have so many notes about roses and they're all on little scraps of paper. LOL I need to organize and remember what to do. I'm glad that Straw helped you figure out the problem and that they're doing better now! I did try growing PAoK in a pot. It didn't do well for me...most Austins hate me. LOL

Diane - you're the reason why I'm trying Boscobel this year...yours are out of this world and mine could never compare...but I'm hoping for good things...even though it's an Austin. :) :)

All of your roses are exquisite...SWOON!!! What a delight!

Berrypie - what a shame about your lovely Boscobel. You have my sympathy as I have killed sooo many Austins. It's taken me a long time to try one again.

Oursteelers - that sounds like a divine combination!! WOWZA!

Sylvia - chili thrips...ewww. The rest of the year sounds wonderful though. :)

Bc _zone10b You post the best pics. that show all leaves and the entire bush, as well as best blooms ever. Thank you, and I miss your posting !!

My top 5 Austins, among my 34 own-root Austin roses are:

W.S. 2000, it's a 12th-year own-root, the scent is way better than both Munstead Wood and Rouge Royal. It's compact 2' x 2' and doesn't need much water nor fertilizer. Below pic. was taken July 29 before the rabbits ate it. So I built a taller brick border to protect it from rabbits:

The blooms of W.S. 2000 (left red) are big at 4" across in the fall. It gives a few blooms at at time (constant bloomer) than a massive flush and long pause like The Squire.

Below pic. is 1/3 of a bush of Radio Times, it's BIG AND SPREADING at 3' x 4' wide:

Big bush like Radio Times produces BIG BLOOMS over 4" across:

Will post the next 3 of my top 5 Austins later.

Thanks for the review of Radio Times @strawchicago z5 !

Your pics and description of her here and on other threads have made her into the number one Austin I wish I could grow. What a gorgeous rose, she seems to have it all! Unfortunately the only seller I had found for her in Europe seems to be discontinuing her, so I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled and grab that unicorn fast if she ever appears again!

seasiderooftop Yolande d' Aragon has better scent, better vase life, and more compact than Radio Times. Radio times is many times bigger than Yolande and takes A LOT of space. Yolande is low-thorn, versus Radio Times is VERY PRICKLY. I got painfully poked by Radio Times many times, so I stop cutting it for the vase.

The scent of Yolande is more powerful than Comte de chambord, and it lingers on my face for 15 min. after sniffing. Yolande is healthier than Comte.

Besides W.S. 2000 and Radio times, my next top 5 Austins among 34 Austin as own roots are:

Evelyn always healthy as 12th-year own root bought from Chamblee's nursery in TX, is the top 5 scents among my 150+ fragrant own root roses:

Below bouquet has Carding Mill on left, Golden Cel. as yellow, and Evelyn as the bottom large bloom:

Carding Mill is a constant bloomer as 11th-year own root, but has blackspots in late fall. I have to top it with biochar at pH 8.6 for health plus to retain its apricot color:

Carding Mill is apricot in my alkaline clay, gets more apricot with alkaline tap water. It blooms well in hot & dry, pic. below was taken at over 90 F:

The Dark Lady as 8th-year own root blooms constantly with an old rose wafting scent, its bloom is largest at 4" across like Evelyn. I choose the Dark Lady over Munstead Wood since it lasts longer in the vase, with higher quality scent (pleasant old rose).

Dark Lady is compact as 8th-year own root at 2.5' x 2.5'. It has Rugosa heritage so it's drought tolerant. It consumes less water than Munstead Wood.

Today 9/13/22 I have more rootings of Carding Mill, Evelyn, the Dark Lady in case anyone is interested. No virus on them. I ship out rootings since they can't survive my zone 5a winter.

I checked my rooting box today 9/13/22. I root as back-ups in case my zone 5a winter kill roses, but I end up too many. Also have new rootings of Mary Magdalene, Christopher Marlowe, Golden Celebration, and the Squire, besides Carding Mill, Evelyn, the Dark Lady.

I don't send out rootings of W.S. 2000. It's easiest to root, but the hardest to grow into band-size (takes over a year to reach band-size).

Good for you, Straw! I tried not to take cuttings this year since I’m trying to reduce my workload. I ended up with two cuttings of Radio Times, but the Sharifa Asma cutting took that spot, so now they are ”extras”. Rose trade meeting is tomorrow with the rose club. I’ll see if I can trade for something fun.

That sounds like fun with rose-trade meeting. I wish they have a plant and harvest trade meeting here. My sister told me to bring my surplus tomatoes and peppers to a homeless shelter. But I don't think homeless shelter accept rose rootings !! So I sell my rose rootings, and the money I receive I donate to Mother Teresa nuns (Missionaries of Charities) which runs a homeless shelter for women in Chicago.

Radio Times is super-easy to root, but I hate its prickles so I don't want to root it. Thorny roses like Sharifa Asma is easy to root, but I have a hard time rooting low-thorn roses like James Galway and Annie L. McDowell.

We have 60% to 80% humidity this summer, this helps with rooting.

Diane Brakefield and noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)

I wasted TOO MUCH TIME with mislabeled roses such as helping others identify roses wrongly sent to them as Evelyn.

I want to bring the REAL Evelyn to others to enjoy. I would like to pay for your time & shipping cost in sending me cuttings of Evelyn, the Prince, Jude, Augusta Louis, Sonia Rykiel (died twice on me).

Rooting roses is just an excuse for me to donate to charities (donated $900 back in 2022). Documented that in my Facebook profile: Facebook

I took a break from rooting in 2023, but I'm back to rooting in 2024 with my family has a new employer that matches charity contributions by 100%.

I'm bombed with 50+ requests for Evelyn, and I have only one mother bush. So many people were scammed by GardenRoses LLC like I was ... so helping folks to get Evelyn is a good endeavor. I would like to pay for postage and your time in sending me cuttings. Please message me in Facebook, Houzz, or HMF. Thank you.

I'll let Diane know on the Seasonal Thread. :) :) I've started back here after my vertigo has lessened. Good luck with getting enough Evelyn's to root. :)