I grow this in NZ and was excited to plant it, as David Austin himself credits it as being his best white to date. Have so far (2nd year) been very disappointed. Stingy growth, and hardly any flowers, as they ball terribly. A 6 month old Windermere has already overtaken it 10 fold in growth and flowering stakes. Maybe not suitable for warmer climates, and does better in the UK....(?) I would recommend Windermere (off white) or Glamis Castle and Winchester Cathedral (true whites) as far better varieties.

Since Claire Austin is a relatively recent rose, I felt like I was taking a leap of faith when I planted it in my Zone 6b CT garden. I bought it as a 3 gallon own root rose and planted it in May 2013, and so far it's been a great bloomer and relatively disease-free. The flowers are really beautiful, but unless you treat the rose as a short climber and tie it to a trellis they have a tendency to end up in the dirt. We had a typical hot and humid summer this year, and the flowers have been lasting about 3 days on the plant before they shatter--pretty much the same as every rose I grow! If you cut the flowers just when they start to open they last about 3 days in a vase as well.

I'm hoping it survives the winter and comes back just as strong next year, because I've grown quite fond of this rose!

I planted this rose in May as a three-gallon own-root shrub in my Zone 6b garden. So far it has shown very good vigor and resistance to foliar disease. The heavy, pale yellow blooms do spot in the rain, but so far the petal dropping hasn't been any worse than that of Jude the Obscure or Heritage. I like the subtle lemon-vanilla fragrance.

It's not a show-stopping rose, but the flowers are very ethereal in low light.