As for Austins (which make up the majority of my garden), my vote would be for Sharifa Asma. I got her this year as a sick plant resulting from an overcrowded nursery, own-root. She had little foliage and was in the process of dropping more leaves. I am happy to report that a mere 3 months later she is a beast of a rose. She takes a bit to get settled, and hates hates hates being moved, but once she got going here she really got going. Even with the intense disease pressure here in N. Tx, I rarely see a black spot on her. And even then she simply shrugs it off and fixes the problem herself.

And her fragrance - oh man, it will knock you right out of your gardening gloves.

How about Bishop's Castle, Baronne Prevost, Yves Piaget (although not an Austin or OGR) or Memorial Day (again neither Austin nor OGR)?

Or, perhaps Princess Alexandra of Kent, Brother Cadfael, or Frederic Mistral (a Romantica and a little lighter than medium pink)? Diane

Bishop's Castle has done well for me in the heat, is fragrant and pretty well-disease free. Yves Piaget, which I loved, was not successful in the long run, and was a rather lanky plant, with sparse foliage. I'm sorry to say that the flowers on my Grandmother's Hat did not last well at all, although the plant itself grew very quickly into a very nice bush. Perhaps shade in the afternoon would be a good idea; mine was in a very sunny spot.

Ingrid

Hi everyone :)

Here's a list of the Austin's I have tried thus far

Sharifa Asma- had issues with the summer heat or dryness? July- August it is relentless (Las Vegas )

Heritage - did not grow well

Golden Celebration - was great

Glamis Castle - has thick leaves, can take 8 hour of sun and 24 hours of heat, as it will not cool down until September ... I checked my local weather and it was 94 at 6 a.m.

Abraham Darby - burned ( morning sun)

I ordered Bishop's Castle a couple of days ago after seeing the performance and beauty of Ingrid's BC.

I am considering Yves Piaget for another location in a bed. It is a beautiful rose, and I am under the assumption that it remains on the smaller size ( 4')?

This rose will be placed next the house, near our porch, and the gate leading to the backyard. The width of the space that I have to place this rose is about 5' . What is currently there is a Black Magic H.T. that looks awful. It has no fragrance, it rarely flowers and has about 3 feet of bare legs showing. My house is 2-story so there's a lot of wall but a climber is not necessary; but some height would be great.

Ingrid, I had planned to place G.H. under the canopy of a tree, near a wall. It would receive about two hours of full sun, and about 5 hours of filtered sun. March - early June it will receive 6 or so hours of full sun as the tree that was supposed to be evergreen, loses its leaves during the winter, and they do not return entirely until June.

Lynn, the spot you have planned for Bishop's Castle sounds perfect. I was wracking my brains for a fragrant rose that would meet your specifications and had an "aha" moment. I'm thinking of Cl. La France. Large, sumptuous, very fragrant blooms, and my bush La France, while not a gorgeous specimen, still blooms those large confections of roses, and a climber would be both more sturdy and probably more leafy and aesthetically pleasing, with scads more blooms.

Ingrid

Baronne Prevost has done well for me. I haven't much luck with Golden Celebration although when it did bloom, it was to die for. I grow several tea roses. La Sylphide is a great rose; blooms all the time, fragrance is not that great however. I also love Duchess de Brabant, but her sister, Mdm Joseph Schwartz does better for me, but she is white-ish. Mrs BR Cant does well here. Souvenir de la Malmaison does well here and she is pink and fragrant. Catherine Mermet is good here; very fragrant. Also, Maman Cochet and all her clan do well here.
I have not had that much luck with Austin roses here, but I know some do. Don't know why I just can't grow them that easily, maybe I don't coddle them enough.

Good thing about teas is they don't take much fussing over here (except watering, of course).

Hi Lynn (desertgarden): My climate of 40" of rain and 23" of snow & lots of partial shade here ..... I'm still afraid to try Yves Piaget as own-root. Someone in my Chicagoland has problems with Yves Piaget being wimpy as own-root.

I am growing Yves's children from seeds ... they bloom well in gloomy & rainy weather, only 4 hours of weak morning sun. Frederic Mistral as own-root needs lots of water to produce perfect blooms.

For your hot and dry climate, grafted on Dr. Huey is best, Ingrid's Bishop Castle is grafted.

I probably shouldn't even contribute to this discussion, because I am coastal -- but I want to put in a good word for 'Baronne Prevost.' She's one of the few Hybrid Perpetuals that has EVER flourished here, without disease problems.

She would probably bloom well for you, in the spring, and again in the fall, though not a lot during the hottest summer months. She can be pruned to grow as a bush, but I have grown her as a climber of medium proportions. She's very prickly, but has great foliage.

I agree with Jasper's suggestion of 'Maman Cochet,' and you might also consider 'White Maman Cochet.' Truly carefree roses, and tough survivors.

Jeri

Here's 'Maman Cochet,' in the Sacramento City Cemetery:

Jerjin.... Oh my!!! Maman Cochet is a beauty!!! I will go to HMF to get the basic description.

Baronne Prevost has always caught my eye; I have been ambivalent as I do not know if it would like the extreme heat and dry climate.

The area near my porch/gate where I want to place the bush will receive sun from about 10:00 a.m until 4. The worst of out heat has shifted from 3-5 to 4-6 so it will escape that, but summers are just bad for my roses; nothing really blooms in July and August or the roses become really small.

There is a walkway next to the porch, leading to the gate. There is a short iron fence separating the porch from the walkway and I have 5 roses growing on the walkway side. All of these roses can be seen and now with changes hopefully smelled from the porch. There's a Tropicanna that was already planted there and with the exception of the Black Magic ( where the new pink one will be placed), all of the previous roses have been removed. I have read that Princess Alexandria of Kent fairs well in hot climates so she is already on my list to replace Tropicanna. I've decided to give Gemini an additional year to perform or it too will be replaced ( I planted it last year).

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 15:24

As I said -- I'm coastal -- but everyone I've known who lives in a desert climate ends up doing at least SOME shadecloth sun-shelters for roses. I'm thinking that you might find examples of some of them on the websites of desert-based rose societies.

I SUSPECT that you can dispense with them, during the cooler months, and put them back up in spring.

'Cause -- everything you read says roses need all these long hours of full sun -- but those instructions don't come from folks living in desert conditions.

Even here, near the SoCal coast, where the sun is usually moderated by fog, roses can definitely get too much of it.

Jeri

Jeri is so right about the sun in inland areas. The roses don't need or want that much of it. My La France is getting quite a bit of sun and overhangs a large cement area a bit (which is making Blue Mist next to it dry up in spite of all the watering and mulch), but La France has a huge bloom on it right now, and this little plant is actually showing some new growth! For that reason I'm still suggesting it, and I remember someone (it might have been labrea) saying that the climbing form of La France is spectacular.

Ingrid

Ingrid, La France is beautiful and fragrant! The soft shade would definitely work better in my " secret, but really not so secret garden" as this area has roses, is where Charles R. Mackintoshand Therese Bugnet will be. I am making suggestions to my hubbie to pour a little cement in the dog run area on the other side of the house to accommodate a move of the two large trash cans, making more space in that area. I am hoping to find a medium pink for the porch area.

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Tue, Jul 30, 13 at 19:55

Thank you all for the input. I rarely see folks growing anything other than hybrid teas floribunda roses, a handful of Austin's, knock out roses and flower carpet roses. That is all we have available at the local nurseries and big box stores here. The local rose society only lists essentially the same classes of roses on their website, and the list has not been updated for years; it has been the same for at least 8.

After having success with a couple of Austin's, and learning that folks in places like Sacramento, Arizona and Texas have had success growing these OGR beauties, I hoped that I too could grow them. I do not expect much in July and August other than healthy leaves.; which is okay because my blooms begin in late March, last through mid June, with some small sporadic blooms in the dead heat of summer, and then flower beautifully from September through often December. Roses catch my eye. The odor of the air here i find to be repugnant. My desire was to fill our space with the beauty and fragrance of these flowers. I live in a desert filled with modern roses.

Lynn

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 2:53

Nahema would be rather good in a hotter climate than mine (practically a goner this winter) and has one of the strongest fragrances I have come across as well as a rather lovely classic shape.

Another suggestion is Perfume Delight, but it is hybrid tea. However, it is great in my hot hot climate. I think it is the only rose blooming in the garden right now. Very pretty rose and great scent.

Campanula...Nahema is a beauty . I went on help me find and it is described as a light pink? Is that color description accurate or what you find if to be?

Um, it is a fairly rich pink although the outer petals fade to a more silvery pink. A very nice rose although mine suffered badly this winter, it is roaring back. For fragrance buffs, this is one of the best, I think, and is named after some famous Guerlain perfume.

Well, I have it narrowed down to the following:

Mrs. B R Cant
Duchesse de Brabant
Le Vesuve

Any thoughts? Size, performance of the bush in a dry, warm-hot climate... Fragrance... ?

Duchesse de Brabant is the only one of the three in which I can detect fragrance. I've tried twice to grow this beautiful rose but for me it did not do well in the heat and they're both gone.

Mrs. B.R. Cant and Le Vesuve both do well in the heat but will get very large and I can't detect fragrance in either one, but that may just be me. I hope you have plenty of space because as they get older they can really spread, although some pruning can help them to stay smaller. Le Vesuve is the thornier of the two. I've found Le Vesuve to grow more quickly than Mrs. B.R. Cant. I prefer the more swirly flowers of Le Vesuve, although they're rather fleeting and require frequent deadheading.

Ingrid

Mrs. B.R. Cant does have fragrance, tho. I can barely smell it, but I've had others tell me it was like "old ladie's bath powder."

BUT in a hot dry climate, you really might not smell her at all. In fact, I suspect that would be true of all three.

Jeri

Mdm Joseph Schwartz (sport of Duchesse de Brabant) is VERY fragrant for me, for what it's worth. I can't remember if Duchesse is fragrant as she is planted next to my neighbor's driveway and I don't go over regularly to smell her (don't care for the neighbors ).

Also, Mrs BR Cant is moderately fragrant for me.

Ingrid..good point. I will measure twice so I can plant once... That is when I make it home from Camarillo, CA.

I have to admit that I am so drawn to Constance Spry, but since there are so few things that flower nicely here... No clematis and so many others things, that roses have become my decorative "workhorse" . I just cannot bring myself to watch her flower for 6-8 weeks and then be leaves for the other 8-9 months during the growing season. I don't want to have 2 Grandmother's Hat when I only have about 30 roses at this point. I also contemplated a General Schablikine. Any thoughts... Experiences.

Thank you for hanging in there with me through this.

Are you IN Camarillo, CA???

Jeri

Left hours ago. We were with family for the 4th of July, and we are still on the road headed home.

I'm enjoying this discussion---very informative

Florence

I have several pink OGR's and Austins that have been growing in my SoCal garden for almost a decade. I love Grandmothers Hat (and her paler sport Larry Rose). Many are mentioned by others in this thread, but have you considered Mary Rose or The Dark Lady? Both do exceptionally well for me, and are prolific bloomers.

I am not in the desert, but Studio City isn't really coastal, so my suggestions could work for you.

Hi Lynn (desertgarden): I saw that you put Golden Celebration as GREAT in your garden. I have both Golden Celebration and Evelyn. GC is a wimp compared to Evelyn when it comes to heat.

Evelyn is very aggressive as own-root. I mounted soil on top to winter-protect her in my zone 5a, and she rooted all over, so her base is huge. I moved GC, and its own-root was big ... as big as Dr. Huey that I dug up.

Evelyn bloom lasts longer in the vase than Golden Celebration ... thicker petals mean more heat-tolerant. Below is Evelyn blooms, picked at 100 degrees during our drought last summer.

Evelyn own-root is actually better than grafted on Dr. Huey, Own-root is both a horizontal spread, and vertical spread, so it gets both surface water and deep water. Its leaves are thick, no disease-whatsoever (as own-root), the base of the plant is huge:

{{gwi:298222}}

Evelyn as own-root is aggressive in getting water to break out in multiple buds on top. See below:

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 7:37

Evelyn is by far the best Austin in my garden. She is one of my best roses overall.

Forgot mention this in my previous posts. Somehow I forget about her at times; not sure why as she is a great great rose here.

Another great great rose for me is Monsier Tillier. He is huge and blooms constantly from October through April or May.

I have General Schlabkine (bad spelling) and he is a great rose also. Very similar to Monsier Tillier I think but Monsier Tillier is probably a better rose in my garden.

Here's a full bush picture of Monsier Tillier last spring.

That is a gorgeous photo of Evelyn, strawberry hill, one of the best I have ever seen of Evelyn. Thanks for posting it. It's been a rough year on Evelyn with our recent heatwave, and my four E's are facing too much competition from trees. Still, she is one of my top favorite three roses and a fabulous beauty. Here's a photo from my garden. Diane

Of the 3 Old Garden Roses you mentioned;

'Mrs. B.R. Cant' has the strongest smell, to me, of myrrh and of, mingled with, as Jeri mentioned Old Ladies Bath Powder
I'd rate it 4-5 out of 10 on the fragrance strength scale.
followed by
Duchess de Brabant' which has a slightly less strong scent, but of fresh ripe raspberries, 3.5 to 4 out of 10.
'Le Vesuve' smells smoky to me and I wonder if it got its' name from the volcano Vesuvius, for that reason,
3 out of 10.

I'd rate 'Evelyn' at 4-5 out of 10 with a mixed floral perfume scent.

I've rarely seen a rose that blooms as often and as much as Le Vesuve, I too love its' "swirly" blooms which appear as gaily as butterflies frolicking. I think it would be a superb background plant for the reason that it grows very large and is nearly always in bloom. It has an interesting blend of pink and white, and the shape of the blooms are unusual, not just another pink rose.

.

Lux

Hi:)

Strawberry Hill, my G.C. was on Dr. Huey root stock and grown under the filtered shade of a palm tree. I wish I had photos. It did not do much at all during the first year but by the end of the second year it was about 6' tall and had great flushes of large 4' golden yellow blooms. It could be the root stock and the little micro-climate where it was grown.

Thank you all for the input; I wish I had more space for roses in the back and side yard. I ordered La Reine for the space in question, a Grandmother's Hat, Pretty Jessica, and a Reine Victoria.

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 21:22