Just one thought. You say you have St Augustine grass. Nematodes (like the ones they have in Florida and many parts of the south) are known to be attracted to St. Augustine grass. In Florida they grow St Augustine grass and roses on fortuniana. Is this something you might want to consider, perhaps. I have some patches of St. Augustine that we have been trying to eradicate for years (was here when we moved here) and I grow about 300+/- roses, many of which are on fortuniana and others on their own roots. I have had no luck with Dr Huey rootstock (the choice of the large vendors since it is so well suited for California). I have a few roses on r. multiflora but have them in areas where the soil is quite acid as it was used prior for azaleas.

Perennial blue flax (linum narbonense) 'Heavenly Blue' can be grown from seed. It blooms in the morning, then the flowers are gone as the day heats up. The next morning, they are magically blooming again. They don't change color, but the bloom sequence is fairy like. I love this flower and it reseeds. Taking little room, you can weave these through other plants. I have some at the feet of roses. Linaria 'Canon J Went' is a toadflax that reseeds a lot, but the pale pink delicate spires on blue foliage is so nice. The blooms are constant and they look like teeny tiny snapdragons. My allium christophii bloomed back in April, but I still have the sparkler looking remains standing in the garden. I use wooden skewers to keep them upright at this stage. Some folks paint them, too! If you could use yellow and burgundy (looks good with blue), then I highly recommend coreopsis 'Redshift' as it changes from pale yellow and gradually turns more burgundy into autumn. It's about 3 feet high, but mine are very upright in full sun. I don't deadhead these and they just keep on blooming. Cameron Here is a link that might be useful: Heavenly Blue Flax

wow...I hadnt heard of Madame Scipion Cochet before this - and she comes from two of the loveliest teas as well ! shes amost edible hehe. Not to mention Mme Caroline Testout... Well heres mine.. Mary Magdeline - late summer last year, so she is rather pale..very floriferous considering you can still see the remains of spider mite infestation on her leaves. then this Spring - unfortunately shes gone into hibernation this summer it would seem.

Molineaux really is a sturdy floriferous rose. Shame about the lack of scent though. I've got Charles Austin, it's a big fella, also disappointingly scentless.. I'm not planning to cull him, but if I had time over I'd probably get something else. There's so many lovely Austins..my faves would be Pat Austin (Glorious on every level! A must have, and not at all strident in colour which you could expect from the photos and labels...very very fitting he named it for his wife) Jude the Obscure (sensational perfume...when it's running) Abe Darby (Lovely flower, lovely perfume, lovely lovely rose) Cymbeline (yucky myrrh type smell, but sensational colour) Eglantyne (great smell, and very pretty too) ...easy to go one, as is often the case, the ones that make the most beautiful shrubs aren't so hot on the perfume... ...have you checked out the Austin section at Werribee?