Rose scepter d’isle or Gertrude Jekyll?

[WellTidy]

I am going to buy a shrub rose and am weighing these up against each other. Both have the same height and spread, are repeat and long flowering. Both pink - Gertrude a brighter pink, scepter d’isle is a softer pink.

It is going in front of an east facing fence, which has sun all morning until about midday or so and then another couple of hours in the afternoon.

Anyone with experience of either or both please?

I am all about as many flowers as possible for as long a flowering season as possible!

Shit I thought you meant names for a baby

I have quite a few roses and Scepter’d Isle is by far my favourite. It is simply stunning, with a beautiful scent. But, in my garden it’s only just started to flower whereas most of my other roses have been flowering for weeks.

If you want real flower power it might also be worth having a look at Olivia Rose Austin. Beautiful flowers, gorgeous scent and starts flowering way before any of my other roses and then just keeps producing flushes of flowers until the first frost. It’s pretty low maintenance too, which is always a bonus!

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve taken a look at Olivia Rose Austin and that is very similar, isn’t it. A long flowering season is what I’m looking for, so I may well go for that. Thanks.

I have Gertrude Jekyll, it's stunning and the scent is amazing, it flowers all summer.

I don't know Sceptr'd Isle.

Why not buy two?

Gertrude Jekyll is incredible, it's a thorny sod though.
The colour is incredible and the scent is divine! It's my all time favourite and I have loads of David Austin roses.
I just moved and GJ was the first one I bought for my new home.
It flowers almost non stop if you deadhead, all summer.

Didn’t realise that Gertrude Jekyll was so thorny. I’d prefer something less thorny, but maybe it is worth it for the pay off. Still tempted get that Olivia Rose Austin one too. I only have room for one or I would not about fifty!

I would buy about fifty!

I’ve bought the Olivia Rose Austin as recommended. I went to the garden centre today and they had lots of them. The scent is gorgeous - I am really hopeful for it. Also bought a load of bedding plants, dahlia tubers, nerine bulbs and bamboo supports for the runner beans whilst I was there. It turned out to be quite an expensive rose, all in!!

blue for you.
stunning purple/pink with a lovely scent.
open flower as well, si great for pollinators

Great update WellTidy. I hope you’ll enjoy your new purchase(s)! 😀

I know you made your decision but I hope you don't mind me showing you my Gertrude Jekyll. It smells so good its unreal. I love her more than the children

That Gertrude Jekyll is absolutely lovely. How old is it please?

I'm just glad this wasnt a baby name thread as I first thought.

No advice sorry.

I know you've already been to the garden centre OP but I can't resist chipping in to this lovely thread! I planted a whole row of roses about 4 years ago and Olivia Rose Austin is the best performer by far. Not a touch of black spot, never sick or sorry, and flowers & flowers & flowers. I liked it so much I went and planted two more last Easter which are coming along very nicely. As the first Olivia Rose Austin did so well on my soil, I couldn't see the sense in planting anything else.

However a friend who has a wonderful garden and LOVES roses absolutely swears by Gertrude Jekyll. It's similar to ORA but a more intense, slightly darker pink.

He said that when he was choosing what to plant he looked at dozens and dozens of varieties of roses and whenever he visited a nursery and it had been wet (and let's be frank, we get a lot of wet summers in the UK) he said all the roses would often look terribly bedraggled with their wet faces, but Gertrude Jekyll was always the one that seemed to shrug off the bad weather.

The moral of this story is if you're in a wet part of the country, plant GJ!!!

Gertie, as we call her, is 4 this year. Or maybe 3? We've been in our house 4.5 years anyway.

Anybody tried Emily Brontë?

Why torture yourself, get both 😂
I have 10 different David Austin roses in my small courtyard garden, the smell when I come outside is knockout.

No sorry. Is it the paper ones that you prefer?