I have recently put in a new border garden which is 90ft long with widths of between 4ft at one end, 6ft at the other end, and 8ft in the middle. There are already a couple of trees in there that have done nothing for 5 years so I don't expect much growth from them at all. The bed gets sun all day and good frosts in winter. I want mainly Austins in there and have planted quite a few but I'm starting to think I have over-filled it a bit because the notes on the label are very casual when describing the eventual size of the plant. This is what I have so far, with the space between each plant; Glamis Castle-5ft-Belle Story-6ft-small tree-Kathryn Morley-5ft-Wollerton Old Hall-7ft-Ambridge-4ft-a white camellia-6ft-Alnwick-8ft-Jude the Obscure-4ft-small tree-3ft-Sharifa Asma- then 30ft of space left.
The roses aren't in a row but towards the back or front depending on growth habit. I have on order Evelyn, Jubilee Celebration, Windermere, and Boscobel although Boscobel may not be available. The colours are mainly pastels with a couple of stronger pinks for a pop of colour. Is this too many roses for the bed?
I will attempt to post photos of before and after making the bed so you can see what the slope is like. It is maybe a foot of soil then clay. I am in Tasmania zone 8.

The fence at the back stops the sheep from nibbling and the small fence around the front is to stop the pademelons (pron. paddy-melon) from browsing. Pademelons are a small type of kangaroo that only get to 2ft tall and they love roses. I let them eat anything they can reach so they keep the garden beds trimmed, and they are very cute so I forgive them if they step out of line occasionally. Lola.

Lola, in Southern California, 'Evelyn' grew 14-foot canes.

Quite a project! Keep us posted.

It doesn't sound overcrowded to me, but I'm probably the wrong person to ask. If I had a rectangular plot of available land 90 feet long, I probably would be growing 100 roses on it.

I looked up pademelons on Google Image. They're adorable.

https://www.google.com/search?...

Oh no! Jerijen, have I created a monster that will get out of hand? I live an hour from the National Rose Garden so I assume roses grow well here. I have 30 feet to put the 5 I have ordered in but the ones I have already planted probably can't be moved until next year. If I space them out more next year will it still be too many do you think? Lola.

I should adopt your attitude, zuzu.

Are there any Austins in this pastel colour range that don't grow very tall? I don't mind strong pinks and peaches but I don't like reds or bright oranges. Lola.

Graham Thomas grew 12-ft. canes here in SoCal. We found that Golden Celebration was more manageable in our conditions, making an arching shrub perhaps 6-ft across. Evelyn was a Jolly Green Giant, as I said Mary Rose was a moderate, bushy 5-ft x 5-ft. The Squire was a manageable shrub, but Othello was a vicious monster with 10-ft. canes armed with prickles.

Clair Martin, when he was curator of the Huntington rose garden (San Marino, CA) observed that if Austin said a rose would be 4-ft. or less, it would be in that range. BUT if Austin said it would be 5-ft. or more . . . STAND BACK!

I found that to be a good rule of thumb, for my conditions.

Jeri's advice is much more useful for your zone than mine from a cold zone, but there are some Austins that do have a reputation for being relatively compact. In my estimation, that would include: Happy Child, Pretty Jessica, Munstead Wood, Tamora, Sharifa Asma, Darcey Bussell, Othello, and The Prince (the latter if it survives our winter). In my zone, those are no more than knee high in a good year, which would mean probably something smaller than a compact car in yours. Among the newer Austins, Olivia Rose and Princess Anne are supposed to be small and compact, but I won't believe it till I hear from folks in warm zones if that's really true.
Cynthia

Thank you Jerijen and Nippstress. I had Sharifa Asma at the back because I thought she would be enormous but I will move her towards the front now. I will be picking up my ordered roses today and will look for others that state they grow to 4ft and under as well. This is probably my last trip into the city (Launceston, pron. Lon-ses-ton) until after the bare root rose season because it is lambing time here and very busy, so I need to buy them all today. I can't wait to post photos of the new garden in bloom. I just hope the path doesn't become a dangerous alley with rose canes out to grab the unwary. Lola.

There's always clippers to keep those in check!

Can't wait to see them all filled in and in bloom, bet you are excited!

And

Othello is a long-caned viciously-armed monster. I would only grow it again if I could espalier it on a fence, and that task would require tough gloves with elbow-length gauntlets.

I echo Sue's sentiments, Welcome! I love seeing folks from all over on this forum. I get to learn so much! I got to look up Pademelons on the internet. Adorable!

I live in a warm area (but not as much rain as you get). Austins tend to become monsters in my area. Ones that are on the smallish side for me would be Pretty Jessica (her name fits her if she is available where you live). She is an upright Austin that gets to be about 4--5 feet tall.

Mary Magdelene is another great Austin. She could be Sharifa's sister/cousin as she stays about her size but instead of the peachy center (like Sharifa), hers is a soft apricot. Just beautiful! Great scent too! She is also upright and not floppy.

Ambridge and Tamora both stay on the smallish (for an Austin) side. I grew Ambridge for years until she reverted back to rootstock.

Not knowing what you can and can't get down there makes it tough to give suggestions.

There are other roses that have that "Austin" look that are wonderful roses and I know you can get down there. Kordes roses are great. Coconut Ice, Fairy Tale Magic, Garden of Roses, and Earth Angel.

One of my favorite roses is called a different name down there but I adore this rose. For us here in the states it is Plum Perfect and the name describes the rose exactly. For you down there it is called Transplant Australia's Thank You Rose. It is a great rose! I just put mine into the ground this year and I am loving this plant!



Ambridge Rose


Pretty Jessica


Mary Magdelene


Plum Perfect AKA Transplant Australia's Thank You Rose

Yes, Mustbenuts, pademelons are adorable. Even when I'm shaking my finger at them and telling them not to eat the garden, they look at me with those big eyes and take another bite knowing the only harm they will come to is being cuddled a bit.
I went to pick up my roses yesterday but not all of them had come in so I will have to go back in a fortnight when the next lot are released from quarantine. To console myself I went over what they had left and picked up another Ambridge. This particular nursery has another shop in town so I will be checking both of them for the ones you have suggested. I can't leave home again until the last of my lambs are born so I can only search nurseries in other areas by phone at the moment.
I have seen Earth Angel in a catalogue but it looks to be a really sugary pink. What colour would you say it is? I'm fairly sure The Transplant Rose is available to me as are most of the ones with profits going to charity so I will be on the lookout.
As it is winter here I have no photos to share of my garden, but when the northern hemisphere is in winter I may be able to brighten the day with some shots of my new rose border.

For the moment I will post the only things growing at my place.......lambs!

Meanwhile, pictures of lambs are certainly welcome.

The lambs are adorable. Are they Moreno wool sheep? I am about the world's worst spinner and weaver.

I love the pictures of your land. So, so peaceful. It is beautiful!

I don't grow Earth Angel, so I can't respond to your question about the color. Perhaps someone else can chime in on that one.

Can you get roses from Australia? I think it is Treloar Nursery has some beautiful roses but I don't know if they ship to Tasmania. They have the DA rose Summer Song which I would love to have, but can't get here in the States. Not a rose that goes with your color scheme, but I love different colored roses, so it is right up my alley.

I am excited to see if you are able to get the rose with the longest name in the world, Transplant Australia's Thank You Rose. I just love mine!

Treloars is the only company that I can find that will ship to Tasmania. We have strict quarantine laws that have put many companies off. The nursery I go to takes orders from the Treloars catalogue but they must deal with another company as well as they have some Austins in a different bag that are not in the catalogue. Summer Song was in stock a couple of weeks ago and I nearly bought it but I had nowhere to put it, so I passed on it. I also missed out on Boscobel because they had sold out.

I am thinking of taking some more ground away from the livestock and putting in more garden so next year I will be on to the catalogue as soon as it hits the internet. It is only in the past two years that I have found a reliable source of mulch to enable me to put in any type of garden. Tasmania now grows hemp and a local farmer will sell me as many bales of hemp mulch as I want. It is the best mulch I have come across as it is slow to break down and doesn't change the soil except in texture. I do get a lot of tiny marijuana seedlings come up but the frost kills them off.

I don't have any merinos but my crossbreeds have very good wool which local people have spun with success. I must be the only one in my area without any craft abilities because even my shearer spins and weaves, and he wins awards at the local agricultural show with his spun wool. Lola.

Well, I am loving looking at the Treloar's catelogue and learning all of the different names for the roses we have here. Our Cream Veranda is your Garden of Roses (another pretty one from Kordes with great reviews on Help Me Find Roses website.

Of course, you have great roses that we can't get here as well. Addictive Lure (another Kordes) looks beautiful! Kerkules is one of those that we can't get. What a beautiful rose! I need to be on the look out for that one. You can also get Augusta Louise which we can't get here.

I also imagine that the manure you can get from your sheep must be great for your garden!