Glad to see this thread, nose! I scoured the forum for Wildeve information last year and couldn't find much. Despite the lack of info, I couldn't shake my obsession with the photos of its bloom form and ordered five Wildeve bareroots from DA for a low stone wall. They're in their first year and seem to be thriving. They were a lot smaller than the other bareroots that I received but are catching up and setting buds.

I could see why a lack of strong scent and rebloom might not be enticing, hence the lack of posting about Wildeve. Nobody seemed to have much to say about her either way, which also made me wonder, who is buying her, and if nobody is, why hasn't she been retired? There must be something about her to warrant her continued production. She sort of reminds me of Sharifa Asma and I wonder if she is supposed to be her "replacement" in the same way that The Lady Gardener was supposed to be an Evelyn replacement?

@Caroline (NC Piedmont 7B/8A) - I wondered the same thing. David Austin has been selling 'Wildeve' for 30 years, when they seem eager to discontinue many roses even those that sell well, so who is buying them, and why is there so little out there on people's experiences with this rose? HelpMeFind's ratings show rebloom as "excellent" and "Prolific, continuous (perpetual) bloom throughout the season." So mine may just need to get established. HMF ratings show the fragrance to be "good". I agree with this rating, but should also mention that the fragrance wafts quite well. The DA website shows photos that seem quite similar to Wedgwood rose, and their names are a bit similar, so I wonder if that becomes a confusing point. The blooms on my plant are a much warmer pink than the DA website shows.

I'm eager to see how she performs for you.

I would love to have it but it has been sold out every time i look

I love this beautiful rose. I have a few due to its name.

@summersrhythm_z6a - does the name have a special meaning to you? Or is it just because it's a beautiful name?

Very cool. It sounds like you are very justifiably proud of her despite her "wildness".

First Wildeve blooms:

And, @noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque), the Bishop's Castle cutting is setting buds and getting huge!

Wow, Caroline, that is so exciting! Your Bishop's Castle has grown so much! It's amazing. I can't wait for you to smell it. Your Wildeve is lovely. What do you think of the fragrance? You do a very nice job of mulching.

Thanks! Funny, I was actually pondering buying more mulch today. The weeds are starting to win.

So far Wildeve has that sour patch kid scent that I really love. It's a perfect shell pink and I love the contrast next to the pure pink Brother Cadfael buds. Very excited for Bishop's Castle to bloom.

Noseometer, absolutely gorgeous Wildeve. I also wonder about Austin's extermination plan for its best roses--haha. My favorite pure light pink Austin, that also seems to have been disappeared, is Eglantyne. I've been growing this rose since it first debuted in the 1990s. Same with Brother Cadfael. I love his huge medium pink blooms. I would say that the majority of my Austins are gone from the marketplace, though that annoying company was forced by the rose growing public to bring back Evelyn, another favorite of mine, to the American market, at least temporarily. Just a grumpie oldie, venting about Austin again. Still, the majority of my roses are David Austin roses with Carruth a close second. Diane

Eglantyne--she smells good, too. The deer really stripped her buds and new growth this spring, but she's recovering. This is from 2024.

Gorgeous, Diane. I was shocked that I was able to order Eglantyne from David Austin for spring 2025 delivery.

Diane, I think those older Austins often (but not always) have more character and charm than the newer ones. Your Eglantyne is very beautiful! I have ORA and TAM and find them to be rather boring, and the EB and EV that I saw at the nursery that I was so eager to get were yawn-worthy, so I didn't get them. Maybe that was a mistake. Perhaps the newer ones have their qualities, such as disease resistance, and consistent growth and bloom that I'm missing out on. But to put in a new rose means that I have to remove one, and if that's the case, the new one had better be an improvement. I wasn't convinced that EB or EV was an improvement, or were likely to be, on what I have. I did notice that the local nursery has a bunch of Evelyn and my Evelyn has been a bit quirky, with chlorotic leaves this year, perhaps because of the acidic fertilizer that I gave her. But the other roses I gave the same fertilizer to didn't have that problem. It's a tough rose so I'll keep trying other things. I primarily grow Austins and varieties bred from Austins (Sonia Rykiel and Dee-lish), and I really don't want other roses despite the quirky behavior of the company. I'm pretty happy with Wildeve, although her re-bloom was not good last year, her first year. It's not a good representation though, since re-bloom typically improves as the plants mature.