I would like to know too and also about Thomas a Becket. They look somewhat similar.

Cath

Am I the only one who got suckered in by the romantic literary allusion marketing? Hmmm, what to say about Heathcliff? Superlatives escape me. The growth habit and foliage are almost that of a grandiflora: upright, few lateral branches; not especially vigorous, height about 3'. Foliage a bit sparse, large, fairly glossy, healthy. I think I got three blooms all summer and these had an attractive shape, good rain tolerance, and were long lasting. The color was magenta, a bit bright though not gaudy. I'm hopeful that will improve with time; most reds & purples in my garden tend toward pink, and I often don't see deep colors until the 2nd year. I have him in a bed with other DAs and OGRs and he really clashes. I'm going to move him next year to a bed with modern roses.

As for Thomas ÃÂ Becket (which I don't grow), DA describes it as "closer to the Species Roses than to the Old Roses and more natural and shrubby in growth." So that doesn't sound like Heathcliff. You know what that reminds me of? Their description of Tam o'Shanter, and I've always been curious about that one. I have never heard it discussed on this forum and there's very little on HMF.

I bought a Heathcliff this year. It had exactly 2 flowers in the spring. That is it. They both opened quickly, from bud to full open overnight. The color was a lighter red, not a solid red, and nothing special. So far, I am not impressed. Maybe it will do better next year.

Whew! You all saved me some dollars!
Thanks.
Susan

I have had Heathcliff in my coastal Southern California garden for (I think) 3 years. On the plus side, the flowers are beautiful and fragrant, and make good cut flowers. In the first couple of years it would bloom OK at the beginning of the season, then just sit there and not do anything. Through experimentation, I found that it would bloom again if I pruned it very severely. This year, it seems to be different. It has lots of buds, and looks like it wants to perform like a normal rose. The foliage has always been disease-free, but it lacked vigor. I'm hoping that this year is the charm, and that it will start to perform like my other David Austin roses. I think that you need patience with this rose, at least in this Southern California climate.

Mark thanks for reviving this thread about Heathcliff. I have it and have been wondering about replacing it because of the exact experience you had the first couple years. OK blooms in the cool spring, then nothing once heat sets in, then a fall flush, but a little too late to really enjoy it (December rains). Lack of vigor.

I will prune severely after the spring flush and see what happens. I do like the blooms and unique fragrance, and don’t really want to dig it up, so it’s worth a little effort.

Thanks for the tips!

I got a bare root of it from DA recently and it's a huge bare root, so it must have had some vigor in their fields.

I have assumed Healthcliff does better in places with cooler summers since it does OK in spring, but that has just been a thought. :-)

I have a grafted one which I planted in completely the wrong spot with morning sun only and then SHADE. It got a beautiful spring flush before the trees leafed out and then went backwards. After potting up and recuperating it gave a nice little flush in the Fall. I think in the right conditions it will do well. I'm keeping mine IN THE SUN in a pot until I can provide those. However, our sun isn't as drastic as Cori Ann's so YMMV! In any case I do adore this rose.... it's lovely tea fragrance and unusual color send me.

Heathcliff- I ordered this this spring and from David Austin Roses before definitively discovering Multiflora rootstock does better here in my garden by far versus what Dr. Huey can do.
It's not grown overly much and I've had three sets of blooms of two to three at a time.
I've gotten a bit more growth over the last couple weeks, but it's not much.
The growth is stout and sturdy. Upright more like an HT, comparatively sparse foliage.
I like the scent. It's a pungent, peppery and tea scent to my nose. The colour is a medium crimson so far, and like all reds, hard to photograph.
I like the bloom.
I'm debating if I should spend twice as much and get one on Multiflora from Cattail Creek. That's where I got Othello from, and it's a Canadian raised Multiflora budded one.

Steven

I put my grafted one in too much shade. I am not sure where I got the second one but I potted it up and put it in more sun. It doesn't seem weak to me, and reblooms well. It has some of the largest blooms of DA's red/ magenta roses, at least the ones I've had. I think it's stunning.

It looks pretty true red in these pics ..it may actually have more blue in it but I think mine's red, not magenta.

Steven and Eramus: How do you like Othello's scent compared to other Austin reds? thank you.

Straw, to really compare them I think it would help to have them all blooming at once and sniff each one. I know I like Othello's fragrance. I am not sure it is stronger or better than others. Most of the reds are fragrant but I don't think L.D. Braithwaite or The Squire were back when I had them. My Heathcliff plant is about to bloom again so I will take note what the fragrance is like. The Prince has been blooming lately ...small blooms in this heat.

Straw, I've been disbudding my Othello all season so far because its scent is good enough that every bud that would drop sepals would instantly attract Japanese beetles. One that opened just enough to get a sniff seemed to have a spectacular scent. I'll wait until I get some autumn blooms when the bad bugs are gone.

Since crimson roses are my favourite, I have several different ones from different classes. Virtually all of mine were planted this spring.

Amongst the Austins, I have been collecting and now have (in "red"):

Chianti 2018 (Dr. Huey; this one is a treasure and grows amazingly)

Darcey Bussell 2021

L.D. Braithwaite 2021

Thomas a Becket 2021 (not doing well)

Heathcliff 2021 (not doing great)

Falstaff 2021

Munstead Wood 2017 (own root)

Fisherman's Friend 2021

Othello 2021

Tradescant 2017 (Dr. Huey)/2021 (Multiflora)

The Dark Lady 2021

I think I find Othello and Fisherman's Friend to have the best scents so far with a very good note of warm, pure rose. Munstead Wood has great fragrance, but has fruitier notes to go with its rose scent.

I'll have to share when I'm able to compare!

Steven