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Pick an Austin
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Posted by lesmc 6aKY (My Page) on Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 13:31
| I am trying to decide between three Austin roses for my garden in Louisville, KY 6a. They are; Pretty Jessica, Dove and Lillian Austin. Can anyone offer info on any of these three? Size, disease resistance and vigor are my main concerns. Thanks to anyone who might have a suggestion of one over the other. Lesley |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pick an Austin
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| I grew Lillian Austin a few years back. It reached a max size of about 3'high x 5'wide. Pluses:
Good bloomer, nice color, winter hardy Negatives:
BS magnet, very thorny It developed RRD so now it's gone. BS is the main reason I didn't replace it. |
RE: Pick an Austin
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- Posted by maryl Z7 Okla. (My Page) on
Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 16:27
| Austins as a rule are not known for their disease resistance. Pretty Jessica has a reputation as needing to be sprayed routinely. If disease resistance is your primary desire, you may need to ask which Austin roses ARE disease resistant. Why just Austins by the way? Bloom form perhaps? |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| Thanks dennisb1 for your response. I spray twice a month, so I don`t mind spraying, I just don`t want one that will defoliate even with spray. I didnot know she was thorny, so thanks for that info. Meryl, thanks also. I have several Austins and love their form. Evelyn, Abe,Margareta,Crocus,William S.,Georgia and AMbridge live in my garden. I spray them all and none loose all leaves, but they still loose a few! Just love the form and fragrance. I`m totally open to other suggestions. Let me know.........Lesley |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| You may want to ask on the antique rose forum too. A lot of people there have Austin roses. Heritage is supposed to be nice too, as is Eglantyne :) |
RE: Pick an Austin
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My 'Pretty Jessica':
 Your 3 questions: Size - Small plant with fairly large blooms. Vigor - Not very vigorous until fully established, and even when established it will never want to be a large plant. While getting settled, still blooms quite a lot. If you're looking for a "vigorous" Austin, you won't want this one. If you're looking for a plant that stays small, it is a good candidate. Disease resistance - it is as healthy as any of the other roses in my garden, except for the antique china roses, which are always best performers for me. But apparently not in some climates, so I can't answer that question for you. This roses is loved by some and hated by others. Just wanted to warn you, rather than enable you. Randy |
RE: Pick an Austin
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- Posted by maryl Z7 Okla. (My Page) on
Tue, Jan 5, 10 at 1:11
You may want to check into some of the Meilland Romantica roses as well. Some have the Austin bloom form you like. They are the French hybridizer Meilland's competitive version of the Austin English rose. If you spray during prime disease times at least, you certainly open up a whole world of possiblilites. Nothing wrong with the Austins of course, just giving you other possibilites you might want to check into. For instance below is a very nice Meilland rose named 'Rouge Royale' (very fragrant large blooms best used as a cutting rose. 4-5 ft tall)  |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| I don't know two of the roses you listed, but I'm assuming you are looking for a smaller rose. If so, Pretty Jessica is an excellent choice. Mine is several years old and about 2.5 ft tall. It has the nicest full, fat blooms which last for some time on the plant (I've never picked one, so don't know it's vase-life). Mine has had almost no disease problems other than a minor BS attack in the cooler autumn. Therefore, I'd rank it as one of the more disease-resistant roses. I've never noticed a thorniness problem on it, so I can't imagine it is too bad. I think Pretty Jessica is a terrific little plant--but then I'm an unabashed Austin fan, unlike some of the above posters. I think Austins do particularly well in Zone 6 and further north. I think you will love this little darling. Kate |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| lesmc, i grow Abe, Crocus and grew, until last year, AMbridge. If you don't mind spraying for them, then you probably won't mind LA. I've grown found of Abe (I like the color, and I rooted him myself about 10 yrs ago) so I'll put up with his BS. I'm on the fence with Crocus, but he'll be around for another season. AMbridge had become my biggest BS magnet, so it had to go. I have heritage whose flower is real similar, anyway. |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| Lillian and Jessica are not as susceptible to blackspot as most of the other early Austins; should stay clean with spray. |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| I live in Louisville and spray bi-weekly. I have Lilian and Jessica, although neither is more than two years old. So, I can't fairly judge the size but I can tell you that with bi-weekly spraying, they stay very, very clean. Lilian is sprawly and the flowers are a most attractive color, pink and salmon-y. I really enjoy the shade. Pretty Jessica is an adorable little Austin and does not take up much space. In fact, mine is still in a container. I love Austins. But I will say that I have a lot of pink, cupped roses in my garden. So, for my money, if I had to choose one, it would be Lilian for that reason. |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| You`all are GREAT! Thanks so much for your answers and help.I really appreciate the time it takes to answer posts. I have decided to get BOTH! How about that!!!The pictures of Jessica are beautiful and I really like the small size. redsox, I too, live in Louisville. Your answer concerning the color of Lilian convinced me I wanted her too. I have 120 roses, so what`s a few more. Maryl, I am going to check out the Romanticas`. I appreciate your suggestion. Once again, thanks to you all for your input. Lesley |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| Dove is one of the few roses I actually managed to kill. I was excited about it, love the color, but it did not live for more than six months. However, it did come as a band and I was living in Zone 4 at the time. But I did manage to grow quite a few Austins there. I recommend Eglantyne highly. |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| Yeah, Lesley! Good decision. I look forward to hearing your reports of how they both do in your garden. Randy |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| try Poulsen's Rennaissance roses if you like the bloom shapes of old fashioned roses- I have Phillippa - a goegeous rose and astonishingly hardy |
RE: Pick an Austin
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| Thank you, Campanula for the suggestion.I will check out the Poulsen Rennaissance roses right now! By the way, love your name....I grow many campanulas in my garden! Lesley |
RE: Pick an Austin
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You might have a tough time finding Pretty Jessica. The vendors who carried aren't allowed to any more (per David Austin Roses). I got it right under the wire from Heirloom. I was looking for Blythe Spirit, a rose that I had and got rid of and was sorry. I had a tough time finding it for the same reason.
Lilian has gorgeous blooms, but they arrived about 1 a year and she met Mr. Shovel. But she may do better in your climate. She is thorny though.
Nancy |
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