Marlorena, you've had VB for a few seasons correct? Do you recall if its fragrance changed at all for you? Mine was planted this spring, and it has the most unpleasant musky fragrance to me, it reminds me of Wollerton Old Hall during its first season. I keep looking at the tag after I smell it thinking it smells wrong.

Nick.. No I don't get that at all.. Nothing like Wollerton... A medium citrus lemony scent... First year not so much.. Just better with time... I don't recognise what you're getting from it to be honest..

Maybe a little musky at times, or mild citrus... This is 3rd year for me..

Thank you Marlorena, I don't get it either... It's a unique dirty funky smell, my Wollerton smells nothing like that now, only during its first season. Your VB is gorgeous, I can't wait to see what mine does as it matures.

Marlorena, she is amazing! I'm also so impressed that she's in a 15"x18" pot. Do you plan on repotting her? How long has she been in that size pot? I thought pots had to be bigger for roses this size but clearly she is thriving! So pretty.

Main St Garden... it's been in that pot since I had it, 3 years now.. I may transfer it to the garden this autumn, or keep it going in the pot for at least another year, it's good for that with just a bit of topping up with fresh compost on the surface... plenty of life left in that pot... like most Austins though, with these fullish blooms, it does require lots of water if you live in a dry or warm area..

I've just had a day of heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms... but she is largely unaffected by that. I think she might be best grown in semi shade, not full on sun if you are in a hot sun area... the position I have it in the pictures is actually facing north...

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I'm excited now as I've planted this this year. 10/10 is high praise!

This is a yellow i could love. So glad we have you to trial all the new Austins for us.

I’m super particular about yellow roses. It has to be just the right shade of yellow to earn a place in my garden. THIS... is the most beautiful yellow rose I’ve ever seen. It’s the most perfect shade of yellow on a rose I’ve ever seen. How many months out of the year does it bloom for you?

Ann..

..it is never without blooms... it starts in early to mid May, has a big long first flush, then a few blooms always on the plant, by which time it is ready for its next big flush..

I took these pictures yesterday.. a very healthy, bushy rose with plentiful fresh green foliage, and an elegant graceful habit..

Oh Come On!!! Really? LOL That is STUNNING!!!! And I really want to smell the lemon fragrance!!! GORGEOUS!!!!

I never knew a rose in a pot could be grown that well! The growth is lush and full, and the number of blooms! Please tell us more about your cultural routine -- where do you overwinter it, when do you start it back up, what is your potting mix composed of? Your results speak for themselves!

Sunny Michigan..

..thank you.. well, it's been in the same pot, 40 x 45cm [15 x 18 inches] for 3 years... left out all winter here, and I prune it in winter to about 3.5 x 3.5 feet.. during summer it attains approx 4 - 4.5 feet height and width.. that's what it is at the moment..

I feed in Spring and again early summer with DA rose fertilizer, which is an acidic pelleted mix, and liquid feed in between once a week or so... roses here do not like my tap water so I collect rain water and use that.. I do give it a bucket of rain water maybe twice a week during this time as it's very dry here at the moment.. in this part of England I do not get much rain between May and September..

In a hot dry climate I would think this rose would need drip watering or somesuch..

The potting mix I use is one I make up myself using roughly 50/50 mix quality lightweight potting soil, and heavy soil based potting soil. I also throw in a handful of composted manure and a shovel full of my own garden soil too.. that's good standard practice for potted roses here where I am..

I regard this rose as on a par with the popular and better known 'Olivia Rose Austin' except in a different colour..

That is really a nice looking plant. Thanks for the look. Do you happen to have any of the other yellow Austins? If so, which ones, and how do they compare with this one? I'm curious.

Marlorena she is such a gorgeous rose. Your comparison to Olivia really makes her a must have rose for me. Olivia is such a perfect rose (if only her color was a bit deeper), but again she is a great rose. VB just has such a wonderful yellow tone that she is hard to ignore but still just happy and lovely. How many hours of sun does yours get? Do you think she could do well with less than 6 hours?

Do you grow Vanessa Bell in full sun? Do you think she would do well in Full Sun (in hot and dry Southern California)... or do you think she would do better with some shade? I’m already trying to figure out the best place to plant her in my garden.

How does she seem to perform as a cut flower? I know that most Austin’s don’t tend to do well as cut flowers. Also, how does she seem to do with holding onto her blooms. I’m a complete novice when it comes to David Austin roses... and just recently learned that they were bred to self deadhead... therefore some of them tend to release their petals quite quickly. How is Vanessa Bell with holding onto her blooms?

Do we have to wait until next spring for Vanessa Bell, or could she be available this fall? This is the shade of yellow I've been waiting for.

Thank you, Marlorena, for such good comparisons. Mine would get some shade throughout the day, so sounds perfect. I'll call the Austin people to see if they ship in the fall. I've never ordered from them, but always hear great reviews.

Thank you Marlorena! I actually love the two tone effects of Austins and love roses that fade in general 😁

MarLorena: Thank you for sharing the details in this gorgeous yellow rose. I simply ADORE the two tone look of this yellow rose as it fades... it’s honestly the most stunning yellow rose bush I’ve ever seen. The color seems to have a ethereal luminosity to it. I can’t wait to grow it in my garden.

Ann in SoCal.. I'm delighted you are obtaining this rose, I just know it will be magnificent for you there I'm sure.. and no octopus canes I hope.. I've not seen any here.. best of luck with your roses...

Glorious bush...and the yellow is insanely gorgeous!!! I'm in love with your rose bush!!!

Stunning! I need more yellow roses (oh, why don't teas and noisettes grow in my zone?! :-)) and 'Vanessa Bell' will have to be my next choice. Now, if DA would only name one of their next roses Virginia Woolf, it would be wonderful to have two sisters together. Thank you so much for sharing this glorious beauty, Marlorena.

Oh my goodness! THIS is how I want my roses to look! Wow, I am in awe!

Marlorena, is this an own-root potted rose from DA? I'm going to order the DA fertilizer and follow your regimen. What is the "liquid feed" you use?

..thanks so much,..

BirdsLoveRoses..

oh thank you too..

No, we don't get own root roses over here, they are all grafted.. It was planted as a bare root.. I would like to see it grown on 'Fortuniana' rootstock, which I think you have where you are maybe..

I use 2 liquid feed regimes for my potted roses..

Early on I use one with NPK either 7-3-5 or 9-3-6, whichever I can get.. later I switch to one used for tomatoes.. NPK 4-3-8... I feed about once a week, but in my climate I do not have to water every day... Austin roses need lots of water for all that foliage and continuous bloom - maybe hard work in warm climates... in places like California, I would grow more Tea roses.. I think Duchesse de Brabant is fantastic,.. I have it here and it's doing really well..

..

Thank you so much for the info, Marlorena.

I'm so glad to know that yours is grafted. That answers my question about whether grafted or own-root make a better looking shrub. Looks like grafted makes a beautiful specimen. I think the DA USA website states specifically that they are grafted onto Dr. Huey. It does well here for rootstock, so that's fine. I don't know anything about Fortuniana - is it better? Maybe better for cold climates?

When do you switch from the higher Nitrogen fertilizer to the Tomato one?

Potted roses definitely need water more than once/week here. But that's ok for me as long as I don't have too many :-) But if they would all look like your Vanessa Bell I am tempted to try many more!

I know I have looked up Duchesse de Brabant before, but I couldn't remember why I had dismissed it. Just looked at HMF again - they note that specifically along the Cali coast it mildews particularly badly. Shame because it's a beauty. You must not have powdery mildew where you are?

I'm off to the DA website to add Vanessa Bell to my shopping basket! ...hopefully they have enough stock for all who want her after having seen yours!

BirdsLoveRoses..

..Oh I didn't know about the powdery mildew on that Tea rose, I don't see it here so far at all.. but mildew is not something I see that often in my garden..

...I don't know about U.S. rootstocks that much, I hear about Fortuniana, I thought it was for warm climates, but it seems to produce good roses..

...when I liquid feed, I use the higher nitrogen until just before first flush then I switch to the tomato one, then I intersperse the two.. sometimes it's a case of whatever I have to hand, especially this year..

..best of luck with Vanessa Bell... do consider The Ancient Mariner, it's fabulous..

Many thanks for telling your (obviously successful) rose growing secrets, Marlorena. I hope this regimen will guarantee success for me as well. You're lucky you don't get the powdery mildew...

Just out of curiosity, what rootstock do they use in England?

Do you have The Ancient Mariner in a pot also?

Peggy... no, The Ancient Mariner is in the ground.. I wouldn't like to grow it in a pot here... it could be done if pruned but I think the rose is seen to best advantage allowed to get as big as it wants.. 6 x 6 feet is reasonable here for that rose with light pruning..

The rootstock here is a kind of dog rose they call 'Laxa'.. on poor soil it can take some time to get going with poor results in the first year or two.. on good moist soil where roses have never been grown, it takes off like a rocket, especially in good potting soil.. they grow it from seed, does not have rose mosaic virus, and I rarely see a sucker from it... although it can sucker for some people.. it also thrives on all our different soil conditions here, not every rootstock will do that.. they use it now in Europe too, but not further east towards Russia, as they need a hardier rootstock for those cold winter regions... one called 'Schmidt's Ideal', another dog rose variant, is popular the further east you go...

Tantau roses, who you might hear a lot about, use a different one again... so many nurseries have their own preferences in Europe... Standard/Tree roses also can use different stocks to these, with two grafts, one at the base, and an interstem for the trunk, which will be a different stock..

So a Tree rose might have R. canina 'Laxa' as the understock, then grafted to that may be R. canina 'Pfanders', which produces thornless stems, then on top of that, will be the rose cultivar..

David Austin tree/standards in England, are grafted this way according to what I was told..

Thank you for sharing! I've been looking at Vanessa Bell in DA's fall catalogue and I loooove the clear, refreshing, and bright color. The Right Rose review rated it as 7 out of 10, and listed "floriferous" as one of its pros and "only good disease resistance (not excellent) as one of the cons. It is nice to hear people's personal experience! I'll probably give it a try after I receive my first 9 roses. :-)

Oh btw, I also really want to get hold of an Emily Bronte, which is seems to be more of an apricot color.

..thank you..

...Well I have to disagree with The Right Rose review, because the disease resistance on this rose, for me,, is amongst the best I have.. in fact, the continued healthy foliage is one of the plus points of this rose.. which makes it a pleasure to look at even when just a few blooms are showing.. but my rose is in a pot, not in the ground surrounded by other plants, so that might make a difference..

@mollymarie32 Good to hear! Right Rose and DA also rated it to be one of the best for containers. I'll put it on my list for Spring to try. As a newbie who hasn't planted one single rose or any patio plants yet, I've already ordered climbers, DAs, floribundas, and one hybrid tea to push in my zone. I surely hope I'll give them the care they each require. I'll be patient and make a note of what you did to take care of your beautiful roses!

yogi_mi..

...that's ok, but you do need to be advised that my experience here may be very different to yours where you are.. also I understand that in zone 5a, growing roses in pots can be problematic for over wintering unless you can bring them inside like a garage or something.. I don't think they all survive but others in your zone should advise on that..

I wouldn't want you to waste your dollars on keeping roses in containers without good advice... maybe you should start a thread about that...

Well known member 'Seil' is in your area I think and grows roses in pots.. maybe speak to her..

Gorgeous rose!!

@Marlorena - thank you so much for the info about rootstocks. It's all so interesting - so much to learn.

Wow - 6x6' for The Ancient Mariner? DA says 4x4'. I know their roses might grow bigger in a warmer climate, but I would think their sizing would at least be right for England! They say 3 1/2 x 3' for Vanessa Bell and you say 4 1/2 x 4'? I had better look at only 3 feet or smaller roses if I want to keep them in a (large) pot.

Thanks for all...

~Peggy

I think this rose behaves a little bit differently in California, in particular the color.

This is the second year I have Vanessa Bell. Similar to Marlorena's, I can testify that it is very floriferous and has great health. I live in northern california with strong coastal climate. About 75 - 80% of my roses require spraying every 2 weeks to prevent rust, powdery mildew and downy mildew. Not Vanessa Bell. It does fine without chemicals.

The color, however, is a pale yellow here in California, and can fade to almost white in 2 - 3 days. I have Vanessa Bell in the north part of the house, and in general it does not get more than 4 - 5 hours of morning sun during the summer. Moreover, it is planted in between 2 Scepter'd Isle standard rose trees, so some lower branches get even more shade from the trees themselves. Nevertheless, I never have the intense lemon yellow color in the center of the bloom as shown by Marlorena. Not even in the spring or the fall. I think the intensity, or the UV index of the sun here in California makes all the difference, not just the amount of sun.

I do like the light yellow color. Also, as most David Austin roses, it gets far taller and bigger than advertised. You can't really rely on David Austin's catalog for size in California. For my Vanessa Bell, this year it grew to 5&1/2 feet in height and 4 feet in width, and that's after very aggressive pruning after both spring and the summer.

If anyone in California wants to get this rose, my suggestion is don't plant this rose in full day sun. It won't tolerate it. Also the petals of this rose is very thin. With > 90% humidity during the evening (our evenings are very humid, but humidity drops to 40 - 50% during the day), I sometimes find the blooms ball. I also thinks that the petals may burn in full sun. It is a delicate rose and should be placed in part shade in sunny region of the US.

Here is a picture from early spring this year. It is not a good picture as the resolution is poor. To the left of the photo is Vanessa Bell, which intermingle with the Scept'd Isle rose tree next to it. Notice the light yellow color and the many buds. You can notice the height is almost to the top of the Scept'd Isle rose tree, which is at 6 feet.

Here are a few photos from last year, 3 months after planting on the ground.

Rose Lai,...

...your rose is doing really well, and as you say gets much taller.. thank you for contributing with such useful information for those more local to you in California.. I had wondered what differences you would see... it was interesting for me to read too..

She does get paler in heat, when we get 90F or so, like we're getting now, but it doesn't last long for us.. although I like it when she changes to almost white, especially in the evening it really glows.. I said upthread that I thought she should be placed out of full sun in warm climates for best effect, so you've confirmed that...

Rose Lai: Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your growing experience with this rose for those of us living in California and areas that get hot. The pictures are super helpful to see the difference in color between your plant and Marlorena’s plant. What is the form like? Does it seem to want to grow tall and leggy?... or will it grow into a full roundish shrub?

Rose Lai - Beautiful!!! Looks amazing with the Sceptr'd Isle standards!!

Hi Ann, Vanessa Bell is quite upright, bushy and as mentioned earlier, get tall here in California. It is taller than wide. It is not leggy at all. During the first year, it threw a couple of long canes in excess of 5.5 feet, but you can easily prune it shorter without affecting the rose. The leaves are lime green, which is a very refreshing color. I do agree with Marlorena that it is almost on par with Olivia Rose in terms of flowering capacity and health.

Very hot again here, and humid,.. for us.. in the 90's... this is Vanessa Bell today.. out of full sun, she retains her colour better I think.. but you can see the fades to white.. I don't know whether to repot this winter,.. I might give it another year as it is...

@mollymarie32 Thanks for the reminder. I've been admiring so many roses here and on youtube, but yes most of these are from much warmer areas. last night after I admired a few beautiful home-made garden tour on Youtube, I searched for "midwest garden tour", or "colder climate garden", and what did I end up with? All are vegi gardens. It's hard to find posts or videos of beautiful rose gardens in colder climate. That discouraged me a little and wonder whether I'm fooling myself thinking I can attempt to get a beautiful rose garden where I am. I frankly haven't seen anyone's yard with lots of roses and the only roses for sale in our local stores and nurseries are knock outs, easy elegance series. ... I sure would love to connect to those who are in colder climate.

@Rose Lai - your Vanessa Bell is GORGEOUS! I love the paler yellow as I'm not much of a yellow rose gal. The bloom form is perfect! Thanks for telling that it gets 6' tall and that she's healthy.

@Marlorena - I can't believe you're getting 90+ degrees! Vanessa is such a trooper! She scoffs at heat! I don't know if you should mess with her - she is so beautiful! You think she wants out of the pot?

We are having such a cool summer along the coast here in Southern Cal. It was 57 degrees this morning and low 70's for highs - in August! Crazy! And the ocean temp is 58 degrees! Brrrr...

I am definitely getting me a Vanessa Bell!

~Peggy

Do you think this rose could be kept to 3 - 3 1/2 feet. Also, I hear some varying opinions on the fragrance - some finding it unpleasant. How would you describe it?

..yes Dave, quite easily... it does not throw up those long octopus canes for me, and is easily managed with pruning.. maxing out around 4 and half feet tall with light pruning only..

..as for scent, well it varies like most, sometimes it's citrusy, othertimes not so much, and mid season it can be rather musty, which is what some find unpleasant...

Thanks Marlorena! I lost all three of my Molineux last winter and really want to grow it again but I’m afraid I’d just lose it again to another hard winter in the future and so I was trying to find another option. That’s good to hear it should be manageable to keep at that height. I think I could live with that fragrance even if the citrus aspect comes and goes. Thanks again :)

What a delicious color of yellow!