I want my new garden to contain some bold colours that I have been too scared to use in my long rose border. I want to use mainly Austins but other singles and doubles would be welcome as long as they are common enough to be available to me down here. I have been looking at reds but they are never really red because they lean to pink, purple, orange, or even brown. These roses are available to me but I need to know where they lean colour-wise before I can plant anything to avoid them clashing.
Munstead Wood
Benjamin Britten
Falstaff
New William Shakespeare
Tess of the D'urbervilles
Thomas A Becket
Young Lycidas
Fisherman's Friend
L D Braithwaite
The Squire
Sophy's Rose

What colours do these tend to in your garden? Are there any that turn a terrible hue when they age? I don't want to plant anything that will only keep it's deep crimson colour for a day before turning orange.

I've never found a really red Austin. Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Prospero sometimes start out a nice true red, but the blooms turn bluish-red after a while.

I've grown all of the others on your list except for Thomas a Becket and The Squire, and I wouldn't call any of them a true red.

Zuzu - I'm making a list and am noting what colours these rose tend to. I'll put a B for blue next to TotD and Prospero. What colours would you say the others you have actually are? Are some more pink? More orange? I nearly bought Darcey Bussell yesterday but chickened out because of conflicting information about colour.

I've spent a couple of hours looking at photos of all these roses in different stages of bloom and have come to the conclusion they all end up as either a messy blue or faded and bleached magenta. I think I will rethink the whole red thing because they are just too difficult to get right.

Yes, Lola, and some even start out as a messy blue. I think you can safely put a B next to all of them.

Lola, me too, looking for adding red to my almost pink rose garden.
My list for next year( limited selection)
Red Eden
Rough Royale
Darcy Bussell
Mundstead

Lynnez said:Lola, me too, looking for adding red to my almost pink rose garden.
My list for next year( limited selection)
Red Eden
Rough Royale
Darcy Bussell
Mundstead

It is very interesting that not many people mentioned Red Eden here. I saw it in Reagan nursery and very impressed, the color (true red) and form is perfect for me

I bought Munstead Wood yesterday and put it on the opposite side of the gravel path from Wise Portia. I have a red climbing Pierre de Ronsard which is pretty but it doesn't open properly and turns black fairly quickly. I nearly bought Darcey Bussell but chickened out. So many of the reds seem to turn into squashed blueberries after a day or so. I will enquire after Red Eden at my nursery as the colour looks really good.

Lynnez said:

It is very interesting that not many people mentioned Red Eden here. I saw it in Reagan nursery and very impressed, the color (true red) and form is perfect for me

I have red Eden Climber but thinking of removing it. It tends to ball, and so far I haven't got a decent flower yet. But I remind myself to be patient because Eden Climber didn't show any promise at all until the third year.

"Squashed blueberries"!

Munstead Wood is on my list but not Darcy Bussell. I originally had Dublin Bay, but it's not fragrant. So I have Ingrid Bergman on my list.

SoCalGardenNut said:

I have red Eden Climber but thinking of removing it. It tends to ball, and so far I haven't got a decent flower yet. But I remind myself to be patient because Eden Climber didn't show any promise at all until the third year.

How long have you grown it? As I understand Climbing roses normal grow branches for the first year or two.

Lynnez said:

How long have you grown it?

Less than 3 year. But my white Eden Climber has produced one gorgeous flower, it was bought the same time as the Red Eden Climber.

SoCalGardenNut said:

Less than 3 year. But my white Eden Climber has produced one gorgeous flower, it was bought the same time as the Red Eden Climber.

It is amazing that nursery Red Eden has so many rose buds even in container. Always wondering what fertilizer they use

Lola, of your list the only one I grow here is Benjamin Britten. It is an orangey-red.Very warm in colour. It has very beautiful fall foliage. As I understand it has rugosa in its ancestry. Its a very sturdy and bushy, quite tall. I do grow William Shakespeare 2000, which I don't know if it the same as New WS. Mine is clearly purple. Lovely, very fragrant and with very full quartered blooms.
Most of my deep reds are never DA's as justly points out Zuzu. They are the conventional high cupped HT's, still very beautiful ( i.e Senator Burda, Marcel Pagnol, Le rouge et le Noire, Norita. ). The other group that provides standard reds in my yard are the floribundas: i.e Intrigue, Matthias Meilland . Some of the climbers (i.e Messires Delbard, Santana) also provide the standard deep red that stays red.
I don't quite understand what you are searching for, beyond the obvious. ( red roses) or how you are visualizing your new garden. Are you thinking just red roses or reds plus other matching colours of roses ? Have you made a scheme of your future beds that you could share?
Arturo

Lynnez said:

It is amazing that nursery Red Eden has so many rose buds even in container. Always wondering what fertilizer they use

Mine has a lot of buds but they never opened fully, even in the heat. They're balling in the rain. I admit, I have not fertilized any of my roses yet. I will start doing it this year.

Here is a photo of mine this year.

I've just discovered my Red Pierre Ronsard is also called Red Eden, so I have it! It balls and turns black so I won't be planting another one. I think I will be looking outside the Austin range for most of the roses I want. The only rose shape I can't abide is the reflexed petals that turn triangular and pointed, so I really do have a lot to choose from. I just have to get my head out of the Austin catalogue.

Arturo - I was going to have a mix of colours in the new garden. I will have stronger hues than the mainly pastel ones that are in my border garden. I have Lady of Shalott ready to go in there and want to work with the yellow/apricot/deep pink/red colours that rose contains. I will put Benjamin Britten on the list because I think it will work well if it is a warm colour. I still don't like cool colours but I may find a corner to put some in where they won't disturb me too much. I bought some camellias a few years ago and I thought they were all more or less the same colour pink but one was a cool pink and it stood out to me while nobody else noticed it. I got rid of it. I think I must be overly sensitive to hues and chroma.

Lola, OK now I get an idea of what you're up to. There's a full range of very warm coloured roses to play around with. Some are more orange ( like DA's Summer Song) but from a distance it looks red. It is a wonderful colour. Then of course there are the apricots ( one of my most favoured) to bring out the warmth of summer. Bicolours , striped with reds etc. I can now easily visualize a very beautiful warm coloured new rose garden! Perhaps your thread should've been titled the warm coloured rose garden.... Could we suggest beyond pure red and come up with different combinations?
Arturo

Absolutely, Arturo. Different colour combinations would be most welcome. I looked at Summer Song but it seems to not be a particularly healthy rose. There are a lot of complaints about BS in reviews of it and although I love the colour I don't think I want the hassle of spraying all the time. I nearly bought Brass Band the other day but I only had the photo on the label and one review of it at the time and I thought it may be too 'in your face' orange rather than a soft apricot. I can go back for it if I find a nicer photo of it that changes my mind.

I can buy bare root roses still but they will be gone soon so I am trying to buy some and pot them up. I won't fence the new garden or take out the grass until summer because I don't want to poison anything while we have rain. I have 6 huge bales of hemp mulch to go on the new garden but I don't want to have just a mulch garden for a year. I have learned my lesson with planting annuals among my roses and I won't be planting anything that may seed itself. I am sticking to roses, geraniums, daffodils, and irises.

SoCalGardenNut said:

Mine has a lot of buds but they never opened fully, even in the heat. They're balling in the rain. I admit, I have not fertilized any of my roses yet. I will start doing it this year.

Here is a photo of mine this year.

they are beautiful even not fully opened.
Yes, it will make a difference with fertilizer.