It is bizarre how that happens. Before I started planting my roses in gopher-proof cages, the gophers used to gobble the roots of some roses and leave their immediate neighbors alone. It might have had something to do with their scent. They loved Mister Lincoln so much that I couldn't even grow it in a container. They chewed right through the bottom of a 5-gallon nursery container to get at the Mister Lincoln roots.

I wish they'd get my Mr Lincoln.. It would make it easier to get rid of then.. I keep threatening to dig it up because it always defoliates from blackspot and is a leggy and unattractive grower. I'd love to replace it with something better in that color range. I like the color next to Double Delight, but haven't found the right one to replace it. sigh.

Sherry, Mr Lincoln's are the ones that want to be trees in my place. I thought it was me and my soil. Guess it's the Lincoln's that is the reason. But they sure do have some huge deep red blooms.

Here in the wood's things change annually as the forest tries to get back in here. I have 2 roses that I planted in full sun and today they are shaded by pines etc. I really need to move them.

Mr. Lincoln went to live in a new place today.. Now I've got a beautiful hole in need of a new rose

Sherry, I planted a row of red roses because I wanted to compare performance. In this row:
Mr. Lincoln
Chrysler Imperial
Double Take
Veterans Honor
Always and Forever
Crimson SKy (a climber)
Lavaglut
Olympiad
Oklahoma
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Of these, I would suggest Always and Forever and Crimson Sky. The blossoms on both are nearly perfect, and the repeat is nonstop well into fall. Neither one of those turned purple in harsh sun and heat. Archbishop Tutu is even better as far as performance and health, but it does not have the classic bloom form. It also held the deep red color regardless of our heat. I'm still looking for that perfect red rose that can handle the winters and the heat, AND last in the vase. I have just a few red Austins, and many red floribundas, but each red hybrid tea seems to have one little issue...lack of scent, blackspot tendencies, dieback in winter, etc etc. I admit it might be my erratic watering, feeding, mulching. In better hands, they might all be 10's.

Lavaglut has always caught my eye. How does it rate for you Cindi?

My only named red is Opening Night and I love it.

Oh! I remember buying Opening Night, and I'll bet it's my good red mystery rose! Thanks!
Lavaglut took a while to get going for me. It was one I got from Palatine and the weather went south the day after I planted it. Last summer it had sporadic bloom in June and July, but in August it was almost covered with blooms! I love the shade of red. It also bloomed well into November. No disease on it, and this was an unusually humid, rainy year.
Funny thing, I planted a daylily named 'Lava Flow' next to it, and they bloomed at the same time, and the colors actually matched. Lava Flow the daylily was a late bloomer also!
Crimson Sky climbed into my espalied apple tree and it looked like I had a new crop of apples in November. The blooms were bigger than the biggest apples, though. Really huge, unusual for a climber here.

Opening Night looks like a great shade of red, scanning through data base photos they look consistently bright.

I'm still kicking myself for not picking up Archbishop Desmond Tutu last summer. There was only 1 left when I saw it at Lowe's, and I kept going back and looking at it and considering. I finally talked myself out of it for some reason.

It would take a miracle for our Lowes to get in good roses with accurate names.

Neal: One of the Austin roses that performs well for me is Tradescant, with a wonderfully strong rose fragrance.
It grows right up through a ligustrum that stands nearby and despite my neglect, blooms well. Would probably
do much better if I gave it better care, but I love it.

Golden Celebration and Graham Thomas have also performed well. I love roses with fragrance, so that's a criterion
of mine when buying new roses. Gertrude Jekyll is wonderfully fragrant, but oh, those thorns! Wicked, wicked.

Thanks Angie! I love hearing how they perform when neglected- its very telling about a rose's constitution. Tradescant is an older one I had forgotten about- I love the purple tones it takes on in some photos!

The depth of color has to be seen to be believed, but it matches the depth of its fragrance!

Thanks for a nice list Cindi. I'll need to research them a little. I'm big on fragrance and garden worthiness. I don't cut many flowers to bring in anymore, so a beautiful, high centered bud is not a deciding factor.

My neighbors suggested Prospero, but I can't find it available anywhere. If anyone has some cuttings to share, I'd be happy to pay postage.

Sherry:

Try this link for Prospero:
http://www.davidaustinroses.co...

Prospero is lovely! Such a nice short one

Almost have to get it just for the name.

Oh funny, I thought I'd looked on his site and didn't find it. Thank You Angie!

I told my neighbor I'd put out a request for 'Swan'. She left it behind when she moved from Southern California many years ago. It is one that Austin discontinued.

.
Neal, I took this photograph today.

Heritage

Awww, a perfect bloom in January! What a perfect way to start the year