Where are you shopping? Do they have Austin's? Sorry I know nothing about the lookalikes.
Susan

I was at harpeth true values garden center in franklin . They do not carry Austin's but they had these and of course the kos.

Have you been to s&w roses ?? I was there and they have a lot of Austin's ( however that may change! ) and tons of florabunda and hybrid teas. Best prices in nashville ! Also if u are driving to franklin , hewitts garden center had Austin's and lots of weeks roses.
I recently went to bates nursery and they wanted 45$ for Austin's !! No thank you. Luckily they didn't have any I had to have .

Any nurseries you reccomend ?

I love single petaled roses. But, Star roses says hydrangealicious doesn't repeat well. I think you could find other single petaled roses like, Good 'n Plenty or Mrs. Robinson that would repeat that would have the same hydrangea-like effect.

Here is a link that might be useful: hydrangealicious

One of my local nurseries has them. I haven't seen them in bloom in person but I don't know if I want my roses to look like something else. I think I want them to look like roses, lol.

Jasmine , thank you for pointing that out ! In my excitement I glazed over that part. I'll pass for sure , and look to the ones you reccomended. I love single petal roses. Darlows enigma is my fav, followed by ballerina.
Seil , too funny ! I agree but I wonder if the marketing idea of look alikes is to make non rose growers feel like " hey , I can grow hydrangeas , so this rose must be easy too ?" .
I love that there are so many types and styles of roses!

Lillyfinch, I don't know of any local nurseries with roses. Creekside is my "go to" for perennials that I have to have although I mostly mail order from Bluestone when they are having half off Fridays. Gorgeous plants and reasonably priced (at half off!).
I guess I will just get my Austin bareroot order in sooner this year. I really wanted Boscobel. I received some Golden Celebration, Charlotte, Pat Austin and a puny Munstead Wood.
Engelmann's Quest (from ARE), Lyda Rose and Mrs. Oakley Fisher are great singles. I'm waiting on Dainty Bess and Dusky Maiden to bloom (bands)
I've been to S&W---that's what started this addiction. LOL
Susan

I know the gentleman who bred Hydrangealicious. It is more meant for colder, shorter seasons with higher disease pressures where it should perform much better than many others on the market. We've entered more of the niche marketing for roses. Tom Carruth seems to have started the trend years ago with his more honest wholesale catalog descriptions. He would state a rose required heat to flourish; lasted better in cooler, damper climates or required several years to show its stuff. CP-Star is now doing similarly. They didn't push the Eyeconic series where black spot is extreme as they aren't strongly resistant to that line of fungi. They also didn't push Hydrangealicious where the seasons are too long and the shorter flowering season of the rose might be an issue. I've seen the Phloxy Baby here in local nurseries and it looked charming. I didn't purchase it because the flowers are so small and petals appeared so fragile, I questioned whether they would hold up in the extreme heat and sun of my hill. All of the bud and bloom plants I saw in nurseries had fried flowers, which could have been due to the extreme weekend and lack of watering, but for something in a mixed border, this one should be good. It's a Radler rose and is touted as being "very disease resistant". It's also classed as a polyantha, which is a very nice touch. It's been a long time since there was a major introducer here adding to the poly class. It's a neat example of the wide diversity available in roses. I think it might also make a wonderful standard. You should take a look at it.

The name is a bit of a clumsy marketing move, but we've had others with names reminiscent of other flower types (Phalaenopsis, Aster, etc.). Kim

Interesting, Kim. Glad to hear of the new, honest marketing trend. After all a happy (and repeat) customer is one that chooses the right rose for his/her area.

One added thought, Kim...I think they should hire YOU to market the hydrangealicious rose. In addition to mentioning that it doesn't repeat well, they should note its disease resistance and say, "Great for gardeners with a short blooming season".

Lilyfinch, I'm in Franklin and like shopping at the True Value Garden Center, too. If you don't know about it you need to go check out Riverbend Nursery in Thompson Station. (Thompson Station Rd and Lewisburg Pike) Most of what they do is wholesale, but the also have a big retail setup. They usually have a good selection of perennials and annuals at very good prices. They also have a handful of roses, but really excel at shrubs, trees etc.

I love supporting my local businesses and will make the trek down there instead of the local box stores whenever I can.

Subk3! How cool that you live so close. I live in spring hill and have been to riverbend many times ! I agree about supporting local business . Sometimes things in franklin can be a little overpriced because of the area. Riverbend is very fair! And friendly !!