Disease-resistant, heat/rain tolerant pink rose?

Nollie

I am looking for some pink shrub roses to replace my miserable David Austins (Gertrude Jekyll and Harlow Carr) who don’t like my hot, humid summers and I don’t really like them in return - GJ does not repeat well and HC is small, thorny and a bit insipid.

They are for my south east-facing cottage garden, which gets mostly morning sun, but a little in the afternoons as well. They need to be disease resistant and cope with a changeable hot/rainy climate. Scent is less important (it would have to be really strong for me to detect it in any case)

I love the deep pink of Mme. Isaac Periere, but wonder if it will cope and if I am just replacing one problem rose with another... Others I am considering are Princess Alexandra of Kent and Bonica. I originally thought of replacing GJ with Comte de Chambord but hear it balls in the rain...

I don’t have fence/wall space for climbers hence looking for shrubs, but I could add some support if any of the above are likely to get leggy...

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of above three or have any other recommendations? 

Dovefromabove

In my experience Bonica is a really good  rose. It is a beautiful clear pink, blooms non-stop, has lovely lush foliage and never seems to get diseases. It copes with wet spells really well. In a previous garden it loved a sunny spot and coped with quite heavy clay. 
This garden gets less sun and it’s at the foot of a tall north facing fence and Bonica tends to sprawl a bit and could do with a bit of support, but it didn’t sprawl in the sunnier spot. 
Its only drawback is its slight perfume ... but I can forgive it for that ‘cos it ticks every other box. 

yorkshirerose

I have found David Austin rose 'Mortimer Sackler' very satisfactory in my South facing garden.
No blackspot or mildew problems. Survives heavy rain, strong winds and high temperatures. Beautiful perfume, thornless and repeat flowering.(Still in flower in December last year)

Nollie

That sounds good, but sort of support do you give Bonica @Dovefromabove? It’s described as a ground cover rose on some sites (presumably because it gets more wide than tall?). Does it just need a few hoops here and there or does it need something to lean/climb against?

Thanks @yorkshirerose, I will check out Mortimers Sackler, but am a bit leery of DA’s as they generally don’t like my climate, I have learned, but PAofK seems to be the exception to this rule, by all accounts...

The rose that is outstanding here and ticks all my boxes is Absolutely Fabulous - if only they did a pink version of that!

edhelka

Princess Alexandra of Kent is a good rose and it is somewhat more disease resistant than many Austins but probably not enough for your climate. My PAoK is now almost defoliated but was healthy for a long time. But I have it right next to a rose which is most probably The Lady Gardener and which blackspots badly, so it really didn't have a good chance to stay healthy. But I would say she's better healthwise than Gertrude Jekyll.
On the other hand, it's a vigorous rose, ignores diseases, flowers well and take well both rain and sun. It has a very good reputation in hot areas like the south of the USA where it can grow like a climber.

Personally, I love her and if I move some day, it will be the first rose I will plant in any new garden.

Austins with a good reputation regarding disease resistance and nice pinks are The Mayflower, Princess Anne and Olivia Rose Austin. But I don't know how well they do in hot climates.
Maybe you could try some of these in pots and only plant them in your borders if they prove to be worth it.

Nollie

Hmm, thanks @edhelka, PAofK made the list because as you say, it does well in south USA, but if it wants to climb, like many austins in warmer climates, that would be a problem for me. Apart from disease issues, Golden Celebration, for example, refuses to be a shrub no matter how much I prune it back, it just keeps on sending out ridiculously long canes and flopping everywhere.

Mortimee Sackler is a climber, so sadly no go for that one, yorkshire...

Bonica leading at the moment. I have room for a few though, but would ideally steer clear of DAs.

Obelixx

Queen of Sweden - Coped with heatwaves and deluges and serious cold in the Belgian garden so I brought a pot of cuttings.  3 have grown and are doing well despite the much longer periods of very dry heat here.   Tended to grow quite upright in Belgium but is more shrub like here and hasn't shown climbing ambitions.  Lovely perfume.

https://www.davidaustinroses.com/eu/queen-of-sweden 

gjautos

I buy all my roses from Trevor White roses. They have just about everything you could want or need. And more importantly, if you email them they will help with ideas for the particular area you are planting. And they are considerably cheaper than david austin

Nollie

Interesting @Obelixx, although there are reports of QofS getting out of hand and throwing out long canes in Northern Spain and California. I think I really need to avoid DA entirely. They all suffered really badly this year, they just don’t like my high temps and humidity. The only one of 16 that did ok was my least favourite colour, Lady Emma Hamilton 🙄 

Trevor White do not ship to Europe. I am sure they will be glad of the plug though.

Dovefromabove

Nollie said:

That sounds good, but sort of support do you give Bonica @Dovefromabove? It’s described as a ground cover rose on some sites (presumably because it gets more wide than tall?). Does it just need a few hoops here and there or does it need something to lean/climb against?

Hoops will be fine. Son has promised to make me some bigger ones for Christmas  following that demonstration Monty did a year or so back. 

Busy-Lizzie

I have some bright pink semi double ground cover roses that have survived the heat and drought in SW France this year. But I don't know the name! They were a present, but came from a French nursery. No sign of disease.