My Pretty Jessica had to take about 3 years before it started really producing blooms and lots of them. Slow-starter, but very reliable once it gets going--and I think those must be the most fully-packed buds in my garden!

Kate

Ingrid - It is a very pretty rose, glad to know yours is doing good. Would love to see pictures.

I've really wanted this rose but with my dreadful track record with Austins I'm still hesitant.

I had gone as far as ordering a 5 gallon from Rogue Valley figuring if it was that mature it might help but it turned out there really wasn't one available.

Glad it's doing well for you Ingrid.

Diane

Diane, our conditions are so different that I wouldn't presume to recommend this rose, but of the ones I've grown (and also failed with), PJ has surpassed even good roses such as Bishop's Castle, Potter and More and Sophy's Rose in that its thick leaves seem, so far it least, to be immune to disease. If you like pink, cupped and fragrant Austins, this might be one to consider.

I'll take pictures when more of the buds have matured into flowers.

Ingrid

I've had Pretty Jessica for a good 20 years. No disease in all that time. However, she does not bloom very much. Never has. Her flowers are lovely when she produces them, but that is usually one light flush in the spring, with maybe a few scattered flowers the rest of the year. Not a single one thus far this year. I suspect she craves a lot more groceries than she receives from this stingy gardener. I did recently plant a fairly garden tolerant ceanothus near her (a groundcover one named Diamond Heights), which may eventually give her a little extra nitrogen (it's a nitrogen fixer), but we shall see.

Melissa