My shrub of Geoff Hamilton has been in the ground, thriving and blooming his fool head off for 6 years now. I had seen the plant when it was introduced at the Chelsea Flower Show, fell in love with the blooms and was eager to get a plant when it became available in the USA. I also wanted to replace Heritage, which I found to be competely unsatisfactory -- floppy stems, short lived flowers and stingy rebloom. Geoff Hamilton turned out to be everything Heritage was not, and more. The new growth is a rich plum purple and the plant is very vigorous. The first spring bloom is amazing -- the plant smothers itself in lovely pink flowers. The blooms, though full of petals, clean perfectly when they're done. Unlike other Austins with tons of petals, GH rarely balls during our damp summers. The rebloom is quick, new canes break conistently from the base and the leaves are untroubled by mildew and rust, and only show some signs of blackspot in September. Overall, it is very disease resistant. There isn't much scent to the blooms and they don't last well in the vase, but these are small matters when the bush performs so well and looks so lovely next to the delphiniums and campanula. This is one of my favorite Austins, along with Gertrude Jekyll, Eglantyne, Molineaux and Fair Bianca.

I think the Austins do well in coastal California, some very, very well. I sympathize with rose growers who struggle with mammoth Austins that simply won't bloom in the summer heat. These plants just don't like heat -- they grow weedy and refuse to bloom. Also, the heat washes out the flower color, making all these Austins look rather depressingly alike -- an old, faded pastel washcloth color. It's a shame, because with our 55 - 60 degree F night temperatures, the colors are as ravishing as the catalog promises. And the growth, in general, stays within bounds, and the reblooming is quick and thick. You just have to move here (West coastal strip of USA), Northern Europe or New Zealand and your Austins will be glorious.