If anything, I would have thought sone of the older, discontinued varieties like Radio Times would be better performing under warmer, drier conditions.

I think you're right, Paul. I remember years back,when I still recieved their glossy- paper catalogue,that they actually had the unspeakable gall to state that roses usually only live about 5 years or so, and then should be replaced!!!!!!! I am not making this up.

Since then, I lost all respect for that nursery. I am also bewildered by their insistance on discontinuing roses like Munstead Wood. Roses of that colour range that repeat are so, so rare and precious. I believe elsewhere I've mentioned how high an opinion I have of Tradescant (though I think someone else said that for them it was very diseasey). That rose in my hot, hot , dry, dry climate is so vigorous and the flowers don't seem to burn, and yet they discontinued it.

Wow! 

I agree, no doubt this is a PR piece by DA to justify their practices.

On one hand, it must mean that all the complaining about them retiring their roses must be getting to them, which is a good thing.

Unfortunately, their response is to dig their heels in and use a veneer of climate consciousness to cover up for purely money-driven business decisions, like trying to greenwash planned obsolescence.

How on earth does climate change justify their bullying of nurseries to stop selling their older varieties?

This disingenuous puff piece makes me think even less of the way this company is being managed today.

I wonder if it's just one or two people that convince the company to embrace these dumb marketing decisions. If I were them I'd keep most of the old ones and stand by them. I think it looks bad to say, " Oh, these weren't so good after all."

I agree with everyone above. DA sells their roses in many places, not just in England. However, the article only talks about areas of England (not even the UK!), and how they are withdrawing certain roses from worldwide commerce because they are performing less well in England. Ridiculous, and not even good business, if $$ is their motive.

I remember years ago when some of us had to point out that roses DA said would get to 4 feet high actually got to 10-12 feet high in CA and other warm weather climates. The reaction from the company was denial, and then when that only got "derisive laughter", and they had to admit it, annoyance. Perhaps there is something in the corporate culture still that thinks that DA roses should only be grown in England. Very, very odd.

Of COURCE the climate is changing! Some china roses have been growing in what is now my garden since the mid 1970s (the actual bushes), and one or two are rooted cuttings of very old bushes which succumbed to old age at 80-100 yrs of age (NOT FIVE!). As our local climate here has had more months of warm weather than it did before, and fewer months of cool wet weather, I have noticed a change in most of the chinas. They are bigger, better, bloom more often with WAY more blooms, and are healthier.

Jackie

Well yes.. I do believe that marketing practices (and profit) is rather more prevalent than observed long practice but I am disgusted and appalled at the entire Austin phenomenon, particularly the massive sponsoring of just about any public spaces in my country, by the Austin spin machine. Seeing old rose gardens grubbed out and replanted with the ubiquitous Austin behemoths has been a source of distress for me for years, so frankly, I welcome any lessening of the homogenous Austin ouevre. The pressure to churn out almost identical roses (and sell them) year on year has led to some pretty dubious practices across the board.

I do realise that many people will argue the merits of minuscule variations (like galanthophiles), who are wedded to their particular fancy...and Austin fans are numerous and fiercely devoted, but I prefer an altogether different type of roses anyway, so have never really been gripped by English Roses.

If anything, older varieties have had a chance to adapt and change to climate imperatives.

The well known and much loved Etoile de Hollande...which I remember from my youth, had at least 50 petals - entirely unlike the semi-double, 27 petalled varieties seen in modern iterations. Even vegetative propagation allows for differing phenotypes to emerge over numerous generations, so I would be inclined to make my own decisions about which plants are gardenworthy in the face of climate changes...over a longer timescale than PBR and the demands of the market.

I really have nothing but contempt for how this company is now run, a far cry from their beginnings, and especially their bullying of nurseries to grow only their newest varieties. I will grow Evelyn that strawchicago is rooting for me and that's it. In my previous garden I grew many of their older varieties which were not as "perfect" but had individual character and charm. I believe that we can grow roses in the present fraught climate situation by choosing varieties suited to our climate and growing them in orientations that cause them the least stress. In my hot and dry garden that means planting them primarily in areas that receive afternoon and evening shade and of course using drip watering that is much less wasteful. I've for the most part chosen old varieties of roses that have endured even in places where humans were long gone, and rejoice in the fact that growing these roses will also help to bring back insects and small animals that have disappeared from here over the last few years.

I really don't get Austin's 'Dog in the Manger' attitude. They don't want the off-patent oldies but they don't want anyone else to have them either! If it was just about money, they could graft/root hundreds of Evelyns and sell them for the same amt as their new release on their website and label them as 'Rare' and people would certainly buy them! Same for many of the other 'oldies but goodies!

I think they are missing opportunities. People who want them are just gonna buy them from those who have them, regardless. They aren't going out of existence as long as someone is making $ from them, be it a little guy or a big nursery.

Just wait - DA Roses will one day realize they can resuscitate the best of the pre-2000 varieties and market them as "Legacy Austins", and dollar signs will flash in managements eyes. Not surprisingly, however, you will only be able to buy direct from DA, because (conveniently) they have stopped anyone else from carrying them for years! Cynical? A bit. Am I wrong? Time will tell!

e……