David Austin Roses

MY DREAM, MY DREAM, MY DREAM is to go to David Austin's in England. You lucky Ducky. Bring me back a suitcase full of his new ones please. It was David Austin's Roses that started me on growing roses, the fact that they look fabulous and grow wonderfully well in ELLEN GROVE, in my Cottage Gardens got me in. I have many and my favourite changes every week as they flower. I have Magnificent Windermere, Mayor of Casterbridge, William Morris & Heritage flowering at the moment. I would be interested to hear other peoples favourites & why. And also your not so favourites and why.
There is always more room for a David Austin Rose. I also grow Old Fashioned Roses.

Mr Austin is charming to meet as well as all the staff I have contact with

Dianne

We have never had much success with DAs. Our entire collection of them consists on one plant (Graham Thomas).

In the past we have had a few but they have usually ended up covered in blackspot and shoot up like climbers or don't grow at all.

We almost never spray our plants as firstly it would simply take too long and secondly I don't particularly like chemicals and thirdly I am just loo lazy.

Thus we grow mainly Teas and Chinas due to their strong nature and general resistance to disease.

I agree with Balinbear, though there may be places they will grow well without being propped up with sprays. A local cut flower business grows them well in a controlled environment using a shed full of chemicals. He is hoping they die out of fashion due to their health problems.
Twenty klms from the coast in Qld would not be a good place to to grow them. If you can't control the urge to grow these then be very selective. I still have Abraham Darby, Heritage, Scepter'd Isle and a couple of others for breeding to healthier type roses. Have seen Dark Lady looking brilliant in a heavy spray type garden in Sydney.

We did have a very good lady Forum member (Rita) growing them in Sydney. She mentioned using a lot of seaweed claiming them easy to grow. There is also something about them the Curl Grubs like for they are the only roses I have ever had where when dug have very little roots left.

So far I think I must be very lucky, I will keep my fingers crossed. I do spray but only use Certified Organic Chemicals and a lot of Beneficial Insects, Companion Plants and Herbs. My garden really is a Perennial Cottage Garden, the old fashioned type. I only have a normal size block but always have room for another David Austin or Old Fashioned Rose.
Happy Gardening, Dianne...

Bruce you know the saying "Horses for Courses". What works in one place might not work in another as Gary(Balinbear) mentioned.
As placed on another thread, I am still looking "Laxa" as an alternate rootstock, might be only for Austin's might be for budded roses.
Dianne I will endeavour to get photo of a white/cream coming to Australia shortly, beautiful rose.

Thanks very Much David, Just love Whites, Creams, Yellows & Pinks but no Reds due to Hubby being Colour Blind (extremely bad case)
Happy Gardening All...

I've tried and discarded a few Austins, but I must say that the darling Young Lycidas is a keeper for me - well rounded, lushly covered with tiny healthy leaves, a basal breaking freak. It has withstood some small neglect without complaint, and doesn't throw a fit if it misses out on one of my hit-and-miss watering rounds. No blackspot to speak of (no spray here either) . Flowers are smallish, pretty purple mauve-y things, very appealing, interesting scent. Cuts well for a charming desktop posy. All in all, a most agreeable plant.

David, I agree "Horses for Courses". We have had numerous discussions regarding climate and know your wine district would be one of the best for soft Pommy roses. Elsewhere they would grow in the hands of an expert exhibition rose grower with an arsenal of sprays to keep them in unblemished condition.
Some gardeners have given up on roses all together little own taking on the high maintenance varieties.
New gardeners usually see a rose they desire not knowing the difficulties due to plant labelling or insufficient information. Rose people owe it to their industry to be up front with information and recommend healthier roses.
A large nursery near me seems to have an abundance of left overs which suggests a very average season for sales.
Seems there is a similarity between poultry and roses because the hardest to maintain are usually the novices first pick.

Try these two links,
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David, you will get no argument from me, they are great roses to look at on the computer. Danda who resides in the UK has given it the thumbs up regarding health.

Nice round shape but would like to see a tidier centre. I'm no rose judge or exhibitor but that's how I see it.
Is it available here for the DA lovers ?

Not yet Bruce, I am on the hunt to find out when, the licencing person is on holidays, The other option is to contact Treloars and ask questions.

Am I the only one to rain on this Tranquility parade? Just how many white chrysanthemum-style bedding roses are out there, with no fragrance? Plenty, I'd say. Boring, to me at least.

Here's the deal: a rose without scent is just another flower, show-worthy or not. There are some historical, emotional, psychological expectations of roses, and fragrance is one of them. I mean, who would go for scentless lavender? Or problem-free but unperfumed gardenias? Nobody.

DA nursery 2010
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'Glamis Castle'
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Bruce that muddled centre is what is wanted by the average gardener these days, in Europe classic Ht high centred is not really in demand. What is, are old fashioned types with huge perfumes, if you can crack that in breeding you will not look back. Alister Clarke said once ( I breed for the garden not the show bench), and with every cross I make, those words are ringing in my ears.

Can't argue, this is a fantastic display of beautiful roses.

Did hear some time ago David Austin was trying to address the health issues so some of the later ones should be better in Australian gardens. 'Abraham Darby' is still the standout DA here.

Two years ago I visited a member of the Heritage Rose Soc
with a group. 'Dark Lady' was the standout rose there except it was virused. However I put two buds from it on Multiflora with a view to breeding from it which should happen this season.

Vintage Roses in the US advertised virus cleaned plants so I contacted them to find out their methods. They used the
30 day heat treatment and felt confident the buds taken from it would be clean or virus free. I have everything here to carry out this treatment but did hear the virus returned after 3 years. Has anyone some updated information on this process.

Warren I personally like them a bit more uniform and age prevents me from commercialising any now. Breeding roses is for younger people when it takes 4 years growth then 2 years on trial before the nurseries will put it in their catalogue. I'm breeding for fun and get my kicks giving seedlings away to people who will really enjoy them.
Will be a little bit of me left when I move on.

There's no doubt fragrance is one of the most desirable traits in roses. People pick a bloom they like and next, down goes their nose to check fragrance. However health is my number one aim as there is nothing worse than anything sick, animals, birds and plants. I'm so pleased the Toowoomba trial garden is up and running. What a great climate to sort out the duds.

I'm hanging onto your shirt tails enjoying your success in Europe. After having some input directing you to Isobelle and the video I enjoyed so much I feel I'm part of the team. Please keep us informed I'm sure we all want to see your success in a very difficult endeavour.

I said to some one on facebook that its not just about the flowers, there are a lot of other things to consider, my top priority is in order of importance.
 
Health
vigour
bloom structure
perfume
prickle numbers

and I think we are going astray on the topic of Austin roses.

 

On point with the Austin discussion ( I hope ):

David Austin began his incredibly successful journey with a view to recapturing the charm AND fragrance of old-world roses,in repeat flowering plants. In fact, Austin's approach marked a return to fragrance in rose breeding, I think.

Fragrance remains a huge selling point, at least officially. Here's just one snip from the current Austin site -
"English Roses are not only notable for the charm and beauty of their flowers and their elegant growth, but also for their rich and varying fragrances. In this way, they are undoubtedly second to none. Among them, you will find not only the beautiful Old Rose fragrance, but the Tea Rose fragrance, the Musk Rose fragrance, the fragrance of myrrh - and a whole variety of other fragrances; indeed, no other group of flowers, of any kind, can rival them in this respect."

Are we as buyers not charmed by this notion? We must be, because D. Austin  has built a commercial empire largely on English romance. It's an irresistible period-piece thing, like Downton Abbey. Subtract the scent, and , well, you have To The Manor Born . Or another sturdy Kordes shrub that's like a stackable chair - serviceable for long rows, but prosaic.

I take my hat off to our Forum breeders for their keen pursuit of health and vigor. I only take issue with hierarchical lists of key factors that perhaps would be better considered as co-equals in a linear, synergistic equation. Scent without health is pointless, but health without scent is soulless, IMO.

Austin once thought so too. Maybe not so much now, going by some of the faint/nil-scented new varieties.  Pity.

Okay, where's the emoticon for jumping off soap boxes?  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Can anyone tell me what is the Best Selling David Austin Rose in Australia & How many DA Roses are sold in Australia each year. Also do nurseries keep records on who buys their roses in case any start to die out (I don't mean only DA's), so as they may get more plant growing material. I would like to have a way to find out how many people buy the David Austin's & still have them growing after say 2 years & why.  
I have been very lucky but I do spray every 2 weeks with Certified Organic Products, but I have found that Aphids seem to be around more this year. Maybe my sprays are not as effective as Those Other Chemicals.
Also can anyone tell me when growing DA's how far down do you cut when removing spent blooms, is there a rule of thumb approach.
Enjoy your Gardening.

Ozeboy wrote:
Two years ago I visited a member of the Heritage Rose Soc
with a group.  'Dark Lady' was the standout rose there except it was virused.  However I put two buds from it on Multiflora with a view to breeding from it which should happen this season.

I am reasonably confident that nearly every single DA rose I have is virused.   Some are more obvious than others. I suspect it is because of the massive amount of cloning that has been done. It is such a shame. That said, it really hasn't held many of them back. Ask me that in another 20 yrs tho...

I have just started growing DA roses this year. I have - Charles Austin, Mary Rose and Dove at the moment. Now, I'm feeling a little daunted after reading all of the above info! Will spray with Dennis' recipe and hope for the best! Any tips for a beginner in this area would be greatly appreciated!

Don't fret, Sue. I don't spray at all (got stuff too ... just never get around to it ) and I don't lose stuff to black spot or mildew. More likely to lose things to rose weevils...

Thank you AutumnDamask. I feel relieved now! Was so looking forward to seeing them flower and after reading all that info, thought I'd be burying them not smelling them!