Roses: Better David Austins for US Gardens

 

Rosa 'Carding Mill'

(click on photos to enlarge)

As everyone who likes roses ought to know, you want to plant own-root roses whenever you can.  Roses grown on their own roots -- instead of grafted onto other rootstock -- are far liklier to survive severe winters; they are true to their own form; and they live much longer, some of them up to 100 years or more.  Although own-root roses may be smaller than budded roses when you first plant them, they grow very rapidly and soon catch up to their cousins, so they are perfect for long-lasting garden design.

For the first time, David Austin roses is offering a collection of own-root roses specifically for American gardens.  You'd have to covet Carding Mill, shown above, with blooms of peach and apricot and pink.  This shrub rose will grow to 4 feet wide and 3-1/2 feet tall, and it has a strong fragrance of myrrh.

Rosa 'Golden Celebration'

The advantage of Golden Celebration is that you can order it either as a climber (on the short side) or as a medium-size shrub.  It features huge, pure yellow blooms and it has a strong, fruity tea scent.  It reaches 8 to 10 feet as a climber or around 4x4' as a shrub.  It's also repeat flowering.  Several years ago, it won the Rose Awards Day prize for the best shrub and the most fragrant rose.

Rosa 'Darcy Bussell'

A small-ish shrub with pure crimson flowers, this rose is named after a famous British ballerina.  At 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, it would be very useful along the border of a small garden or even in a container.   It's said to have good continuous blooming and a pleasing fruity scent.

  Rosa 'Gentle Hermione'

A four by three foot shrub, this is a very hardy rose with a strong "old rose" fragrance, excellent repeat blooming, and pure pink flowers.  Named after a female character in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale."  Stems are slightly arching and the petals are quite resistant to rain.

There are six other own-root roses available this year, including 'Crocus Rose' (soft apricot); 'William Shakespeare 2000' (red); 'Teasing Georgia' (yellow); 'Lichfield Angel' (creamy white); 'Crown Princess Margareta' (apricot-orange); and 'Strawberry Hill' (pink).

All of these roses also come in grafted form, so when you order, make sure to specify that you want "own-root."  Initial quantities are limited, so order soon if you find these appealing.

(photos: David Austin Roses)

 

Comments

[Jo the Garden Design Gal]

Very helpful garden advice about roses, something that beginners in the gardening and garden design world should know and take to heart is that they must know their plants and they must know the plants well for them to decrease plant fatalities and increase the longevity of plant life.