Five new roses for 2011 from David Austin include some pretty nifty new cultivars that would look fabulous in many a garden design. Rosa 'Susan Williams Ellis' is pictured above. Austin roses tend to do very well in heat and humidity, so they're usually a great bet if you encounter those kinds of conditions in summer.
This one is repeat-flowering, a sport of the disease resistant pink cultiver 'The Mayflower', and is hardy from zones 4-8. It grows to about 4' high by 3' wide and is said to have a strong "old rose" fragrance.
David JC Austin, the company's managing director, says the five new cultivars represent "our newest and best breeding," and the rose shown left, Rosa 'Lady of Shalott', is his personal favorite.
Similar in style to the well-known 'Pat Austin', its color is apricot and it's said to have improved health and performance. (Must be a real winner!). It blooms continuously throughout the season and has a warm tea fragrance. Hardy in zones 5-9, it forms a bushy shrub 4' x 3.5'. "The Lady of Shalott" was a popular ballad inspired by Arthurian legend and written by 19th c. poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. The rose is named after the Tennyson Society.
Repeat-flowering pink blooms with a scent reminiscent of cloves, it's a shrub that can also be trained as a climber. (I've never tried that, has anyone else?).
According to Austin, it has an arching habit and can be trained on trellises and arches to climb upright. About 5' x 5' as a shrub, or 10' as a climber. Zones 5-9.
Rosa 'Kew Gardens'
Who wouldn't like a rose named after the famous Kew Gardens botanical garden in London? This rose has single flowers with apricot buds opening to pure white. Austin says the flowers cluster in large heads somewhat like a hydrangea and it's great as a flowering hedge. It's 5' x 3' wide and is hardy in zones 5-9. This would probably fit well in an old-fasioned garden where you'd like to create the classic English garden atmosphere. It's also thornless and produces small red hips which need to be removed in order to encourage repeat blooms.
Rosa 'Tam o' Shanter'
A broad rosebush at 6' high by 5' wide, this new rose has a light, fruity fragrance with deep pink rosette-shaped blooms on arching branches. It was named after the Scottish poet Robert Burns. One of his most famous poems features a hero named Tam o' Shanter, although we might know the name better as a type of Scottish hat. Hardy zones 5-9.
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