David Austin Vs Hybrid Tea Roses

General Gardening
#1

When I bought my house 16 years ago, it came with some gorgeous roses in pastel shades - cream, peach, pink, light yellow, lavender, etc and the flowers were HUGE!

I remodeled / expanded the house and all the roses were removed when the fruit trees came :grin: I do not have any pictures of the roses. After searching online, I think these were hybrid tea roses like Just Joey, Brandy, Crescendo, etc They had only 1 flower per stem.

Now I have a few David Austin roses and I enjoy them but my husband keeps saying the previous roses we had were stunning and these David Austin roses don’t look great. I have to agree with him but I think there is something classy about the David Austin roses. For wedding roses and closeup pics and fragrance nothing can beat David Austin roses but for landscape uses may be bigger is better (has more impact?)…

What do you think? I am going to be getting new roses. Can I please get some inputs from the rose experts here on what varieties to get so I can have these huge pastel shade roses again? I am in zone 9B and pretty much all roses do well here.

Here are some pics of my current David Austin roses -

Thank you!

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#2

Do you have pictures of the old roses? Were the shrubs long established? I ask, because an established rose will make larger blooms than a young shrub. Were the roses grafted or own root? If your hubby is like a lot of people, hybrid tea flower form IS quintessential “rose”. If you wanted to strike a compromise, I’d suggest floribundas: HT roses in sprays, great bloomers. Since you’re in a warm zone you can do some of the fragrant old tea roses. They are larger shrubs, though, but very tough. Marie Van Houtte is a favorite of mine.

#3

I go for large and garish. “Joseph’sCoat”.

I don’t go for the faux “classy”marketing campaign of David Austin. “Tick the box” and whatnot in their catalog.

Partly that’s because I’m familiar with their base of operations in East Texas. If you actually talked like that around there you would get your head runned through the wall.

#4

David Austin roses are very good, I had many. Do not mix a variety call a ‘tea rose’ with David Austin which is a brand of roses. Roses have a huge family that include raspberries too! Many of the many petaled DA roses were old roses and his hybrids. I had loved his yellow ‘Pilgrim; climber. They sell them here as well. But now I have access to the old French Bourbon roses. The fragrances are incredible, along with the colors. Their heads don’t droop. DA rose heads are so heavy, many of them flop.

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#5

That’s interesting that they grow roses for the U.S. market in East Texas. But David Austin lived his whole life in England (apparently died in the same village he was born in), and from what I can tell the company is still based in the same part of the UK. And if you take a look, the site for their US operations and the site for their UK operations are basically identical. So, to each their own in terms of taste, obviously, but it’s not like the “Britishness” is just a facade they faked up - that’s legitimately where their roots are. (So to speak.)

Joseph’s Coat looks pretty amazing, by the way - go big or go home!

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#6

I have looked through Antique Rose Emporium for varieties.They may have what you need. I figured out what I needed, someone gave it to me but I would be happy to order from them.

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#7

His son is running the company. The roses are grown in England. The shipping branch is in Texas.

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#8

You have to decide whether you want cutting roses
or landscape roses, and how much work you’re willing to do. If you want long stem cutting roses that will last a long time in a vase, go with HT’s. But they will require a lot of work, spraying, dead heading, watering, feeding. If you want landscape roses, you already have David Austins. You seem to enjoy them already.
Why not add a few HT’s to your DA’s, then you’ll have both.

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#9

Good information. I have been looking for very fragrant roses. My daughter wants ones that smell like lemons/citrus.

#10

My wife loves fragrant tea roses. In my climate in S. NYS I grow Mr. Lincoln without any special input beyond piling up soil in the fall in case we get a test winter that might kill it. I get about 3 crops of beautiful blossoms for cutting every season (they are almost continuous until hard frost) and the fragrance of the flowers is as attractive as their visual appearance. My wife complains about the perfect roses she purchases during winter because they have almost no scent.

Peace is another disease resistant variety as is Tropicana but both are faint in aroma compared to Mr. Lincoln.

For me and here the trick is deep, rich, well drained soil that is mulched every year with shredded wood. They also get adequate N.

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#11

@Girly
I am jealous of your climate. Your roses do not suffer black spot like ours do in the east. You have so many choices of wonderful roses to choose from. Since you already have DA roses, you should pick some fragrant Hybrid Tea roses. Some of very fragrant HT roses are Double Delight, Secret, Mr. Lincoln, etc.

If I were you, the things I would consider for new roses are height and colors. Do you want your rose bushes at the same or different height? Should they all be pastel, or a color-coordinated or contrasting theme?

I prefer Kordes roses to David Austin roses. They are more disease resistant and cold hardier (good for my zone).

I don’t know if you know this, if you want to look up any rose, you can google Helpmefind+the name of the rose.

For example, if you want to know more about the rose, Secret.
Just google Helpmefind, Secret rose.

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#12

The Mr. Lincoln was one rose I grew successfully. It was one rose that stood the test of cold weather and the blistering heat we get here. The rest of the roses I tried never did well for some reason.

#13

Try Veterans Honor. It’s much better, in every way, than Mr. Lincoln.

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#14

Thank you for the recommendation. This rose is hardy in my zone. Ever since you posted photos of your roses, I have wanted to grow Rio Samba but it just won’t work this far north.

#15

OK, I will bite. How is Veterans Honor MUCH better than Mr. Lincoln. I confess to having some love for that particular rose and being a bit offended by your dismissal (which is irrational, of course). I can’t imagine that the fragrance is better, or the color or the perfect shape of the blossoms. Disease resistance can’t be that much better either since mine never get any fungicide and have never needed it, even on the wettest seasons.

Of course you are speaking of in your climate which is much different than in NYS. But you also have a lot more experience with a range of roses than I do- at least that is my assumption. Alfruit could be my forum name if I went by your method.

Opinions without information may be useful, but it’s hard to tell ahead of time.

#16

I only got one rose left, it live on my deck for several years, now transplanted in the ground.
Come late spring, early summer when roses are discounted I,ll buy 6 for rootstock to graft cuttings from this rose. I still want to do a tree rose with a Lincoln rose and this one.

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image1366×1025 595 KB

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#17

Granted, NYS is not the best climate for growing roses, but it’s the #1 selling red rose in commerce and has been for some time. It didn’t achieve that distinction without reason. Try it and find out, if it works
in your climate.Everything is site specific.

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#18

I don’t grow too many tea roses because I love my bees and butterflies, and they don’t accommodate them with nourishing pollen. I just grow enough for some cutting

#19

Bees, butterflies, and humming birds are frequent
visitors to my rose garden. I’ve been stung more than
once.

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#20

Hi rose experts,

Can any of you reccomend a nice, disease free and fragrant climbing rose? David Austin’s site says they can handle shade…is this true?

Thanks - sean