Help with buying roses

LesleyH

Good afternoon everyone!
This is my first post and I'd appreciate help and advice please. Just moved house and can now finally grow roses! I adore DA roses but they are so expensive and so many to choose from! I know that much time, effort and expense has gone into them, so want to ensure that I buy ones that are not prone to problems. So, which would you recommend, where is a good supplier for these roses and finally would you recommend other rose types that are fragrant, vigorous and relatively problem free. Its a small garden. (I'm thinking of the climber Teasing Georgia' by my back door )
Thank you

Omori

I have Teasing Georgia, and while it is trouble-free, it is very thorny and the scent is not as strong as I would like.  If you are the patient type and want to save money, David Austin run sales in the Autumn on their bare root roses.  I can't remember the exact amount, something like 15 or 20% off.  These don't ship until November.  There are a number of repeat blooming old roses that are nice, as well as floribundas, in addition to Austins.

If you make a list of roses you like the look of, people could comment on their experience with that particular rose. 

Off the top of my head, some of my favourites are Desdemona, Ferdinand Pichard, Boscobel, Mme Isaac Pereire, Graham Thomas, Margaret Merrill, Well Being, the list goes on.

LesleyH

Thank you Omori. That's very interesting re TG, as I specifically liked it as it is supposed to have a very strong fragrance. And very thorny might not be ideal by kitchen door! I'll do as you suggested and put together those that I like. Graham Thomas was another climber choice for kitchen door, as was The Pilgrim. I'll also find out compass direction of my garden. Thank you for your help; much appreciated. 

batwood14

Hi DA roses are not the only ones you can buy. Most garden centres have their own suppliers then there are other suppliers such as Peter Beales, Harkness, Dickson Roses to name a few and these sites you can view them to see what you might like etc. 

Also, in winter you can get bareroot roses which are a lot cheaper than grown ones.

Janie B

Hi there @lbh78lbh78, welcome aboard!

Check out all the lovely roses on the rose thread (if you haven't already), and when you see something you particularly like, you could ask specific questions of the posters...

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1026222/the-rose-season-2019#latest

HeftyBetty

I've got a few DA roses and really love them, a few I would recommend are Gertrude Jekyll which flowers early in the year and seems very healthy. 

Queen of Sweden looks really interesting as it stands straight up with neat stems and beautiful perfect pale pink cups. 

and a new one I've got last year was Royal Jubilee which has amazing flowers in a bright pink that almost look like a peony. 

I've also got a few roses that weren't DA but are just as healthy, one of my favourites is called Raspberry Ripple and it looks amazing. 

LesleyH

Thank you batwood14. Yes, I forget other suppliers of old fashioned type roses. I'll check them out. Many thanks to you

LesleyH

Hefty Betty, thank you. Exactly the type of information I needed. I appreciate your time. I will look at your suggestions. Cheers!

Nollie

Hello and welcome!

If, like me, you are a newbie rose grower -first planted in new house/garden three years ago - one thing I have learnt the hard way is that its better to plant roses suited to your conditions (are you in Cornwall or Aberdeen, is your site exposed/windy, does it get full sun or mainly shade, are you by the sea, is your rainfall high etc.) rather than struggle to grow ones not really suited just because you fell in love with them. Ideally, both things would combine and you may be lucky enough to have the perfect rose growing conditions.

David Austin English roses are beautiful but they are not as disease resistant as they claim (and many other suppliers do very good roses as a better price). I have heavy summer rain so blackspot is rampant and they don’t do as well as others in my warmer climate. Admittedly, my conditions are more extreme than the UK and I face a number of challenges you won’t experience, but a bit of research is still valuable. For example, if you have heavy rain, avoid ones that ‘ball’ and look miserable in the rain, if your garden is very shady, avoid ones that need to get as much sun as possible...

For your first roses, I would mainly go for a few tried and tested repeat bloomers that state disease resistance is ‘excellent’, and that if a shrub rose, keeps a good compact habit/if a climber, that is pliable, easy to train and mainly thornless - until you get more confident with pruning and your ability to manage the tricker ones. I can recommend the following, that shrug off heavy rain and hot weather, seem to have good disease resistance and repeat bloom well:

Iceberg - there is a climbing and a shrub version (white, plus there is a burgundy one)
Absolutely Fabulous (also called Julia Child) - fab yellow floribunda/shrub rose
Wild Rover - climbing floribunda - dusky purple/pink
Lady of Shallot - DA, relaxed sprawling english shrub/short climber - deep peach.

There are zillions of roses out there tho, the choice is baffling!

LesleyH

Billie, thank you so much. Everything you say makes perfect sense and I'm thinking that DA roses shouldn't be the only ones I look at. I'd been thinking about Iceberg as a climber and will definitely start to think with my head, not just my heart! I've looked at your choices and they're lovely. Thank you.

Joy*

New Dawn is a healthy old fashioned rose. She is a delicate pink with wafting perfume - despite some sites saying that it doesn't have a lot of scent. It grows readily and is easy to manage.  I've kept them small but one secretly grew up an old apple tree, at least as high as the house. I wasn't aware of its growth until a neighbour spotted it from her bedroom windows! I grew some cuttings and kept them like a shrub, no higher than 3 to 4 feet so you might say, they are versatile.