English Roses
If you’re looking for a hardy, disease-resistant rose with a pleasant rose fragrance, this might be the rose for you. Available in a variety of colors, these varieties have been carefully cultivated for reliability, most notably by David Austin in the UK. Mostly shrubs, which makes them ideal for practically any garden setting — containers, hedges, and more formal settings.
Source: Darren Harwood
CHOOSE ENGLISH GARDEN ROSES FOR YOUR GARDEN
As the famous British floral designer Sheila Macqueen rightly said, “It is an impossible task to choose a collection of roses!” The following are hardy, reliable and easy to grow varieties, and all but one repeat flower. Among the best David Austin roses to cut in the USA are:
CHARLOTTE – The upward-facing flowers are pale yellow on strong stems that grow on small bushes. Good as a standard.
CONSTANCE SPRY – Sheila Macqueen calls this one of the best. The flowers are large pink, musky shiitake, with the look and aroma of 19th century cabbage roses. Flowering only once.
EGLANTYNE * – Large, pale pink disc-shaped flowers, with a mild fragrance. A large shrub well suited for a corner or back of the border.
GOLDEN CELEBRATION* – A hint of citrus radiates from these vibrant yellow multi-petaled flowers. Place it in a mixed border where its canes can blend in with perennials.
GRAHAM THOMAS * – Yellow cup-shaped flowers on curving stems, dense petals, with a passionate aroma of tea roses and an antique look.
LD BRAITHWAITE * – The large crimson flowers are lightly scented. Can be used as a standard.
MARY ROSE – Deep pink color with rich brocade scent and antique look. Grows on a small 4 x 4 foot bush. It flowers early and is one of the last species to finish in the fall.
MOLINEUX – Fragrant rose gold tea with a hint of musk. This short, uniform shrub is suitable for a large container or a low hedge.
Queen of Sweden – This rose has 140 petals that open from small round buds. Soft pink then develops a bit of apricot color. Very few spikes and long life of the vase.
TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES * – Deep, large cup, crimson in color, with an aged rose fragrance. Use two climbs on a pole.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 2000 – The most popular crimson rose, with clustered roses and an aged rose scent. “Quarted” means many petals arranged in a scalloped layer forming a scalloped arrangement.
* These plants should be pruned after first flowering to encourage better and faster repeat flowering.
A classic fusion of ‘The Generous Gardener’ with the big, full ‘AUShunter’ (AUShunter) steals the show arranged in a low bowl.
CUTTING, CONDITIONING AND ORDERING ROSES ENGLISH
Immerse the stem immediately in a bucket of water, then re-soak it in the water before brewing. If you keep rosemary in the refrigerator, discard apples and pears because these fruits release ethylene, a natural ripening agent that causes roses to lose petals.
Arrange the English roses in a mixed arrangement, or a variety of shades of one color. Or, drop the roses in a cut glass or silver bowl.
An impressive trail of British roses ‘Constance Spry’ (AUSfirst).
ROSE GARDEN DESIGN ENGLISH
These days, you rarely see a garden full of roses. Gardeners today mix one-third of roses with two-thirds of other flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals to cover their “knees” and complement the color and shape of the roses. Surround each rose with combinations like white ‘Becky’ daisy, blue Siberian iris, mint, ‘Rosanne’ geranium, pink phlox, dianthus, veronica and plumbago.
Allow tall perennials like salvia, thalictrum, delphinium and artemisia to grow right through the canes. Shorter counterparts for the rose front are the anchusa, lady’s mantle, and Campanula persicifolia. Plant roses with spring bulbs. Try using some sunscreen for something to consider in winter. Balance the visual weight of a large rose bush with a group of three small shrubs. The combination of domes and pergolas adds vertical dimension.
Most English roses grow well and repeat flowers in U.S. Zones 5-8. For regions colder than 4–5, some good varieties are: ‘Crown Princess Margareta,’ ‘A Shropshire Lad,’ ‘Graham Thomas,’ ‘Redouté,’ ‘The Mayflower,’ and ‘Mary Rose.’
For warmer zones 9–10, choose ‘Huntington Rose’, ‘Miss Alice,’ ‘Scepter’d Isle,’ ‘Sophy’s Rose’ or ‘The Prince’.
