r/DavidAustinRoses

Hello, I am currently waiting for my Beatrice and Lady of Shallot to arrive, which I wonder if these two will have their blooms shrink smaller or not. Can anyone recommend roses that can maintain bloom in a constant hot and humid area with no winter at all? I'm from Southeast Asia and I've always wanted to find roses that can maintain their large blooms. Any answer is much appreciated!

A while ago, I wrote in a comment that I’d write a thing or two about my David Austin roses, and many of you were interested. I’m sorry it took so long, but I believe I’m still in time for the bare-root season.

Roses are my favourite flowers so I grow a lot of them in my garden, and most of them are David Austin roses. They’re my favourites for multiple reasons; looks, scent & repeated flowering the main ones. Not all of them are equally healthy though, and some are outright drama queens and a pain to grow.

So in this post I’ll share a list of my favourites. All photos are from my own garden.

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Wollerton Old Hall

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The colour is a pale apricot, the flowers are cup-shaped and abundant. Abundance is the keyword for this rose anyway, because it grows vigorously and produces flowers from late May/early June until late autumn (it once still had flowers in December during a very mild winter), almost continuously. They also smell amazing. Originally a climber, I grow mine on an obelisk, which also works very well – just make sure to use a large enough obelisk (2 m tall) and plant it in the back of the border (which I didn’t - even a seasoned gardener makes mistakes sometimes). Deadheading and a gentle mid-season prune for almost eternal flowering.

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Desdemona

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David Austin advertises it as white but it’s actually a really tender pink, very pretty. It has a strong scent and keeps flowering almost as enthusiastically as the aforementioned Wollerton. The shrub will grow about 1 meter tall and wide, so it’s also suitable for smaller gardens. Apart from regular deadheading and the annual prune in March it’s a rather low-maintenance rose that’ll look great in any garden.

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The Lark Ascending

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I chose this one for the name as well. It’s a yellow-apricot coloured rose with semi-double flowers, which makes them interesting for the bees as well. The colour is just amazing, especially when they catch the sun, it’s as if they’re lit from within. For beauty, this has to be one of my absolute favourites. It’s a large shrub, at least 1,5 m high, so this one needs a bit more room. It also has more thorns than most other roses so gloves are a must when pruning. Repeat flowering, light scent, and overall just an amazing rose that doesn’t look like any other rose I know.

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A Shropshire Lad

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In terms of flower shape this has to be the most beautiful rose in my garden. They’re so photogenic. I also love the dark foliage on this one. Unfortunately, I just learned that David Austin has for some reason discontinued this rose. I have never had any problems with it. On the contrary, I was always really pleased that it grows so well even in partial shade. It’s a short climber and not a fast grower, so it’ll reach 3 meters eventually. Lovely fruity scent and repeated flowering.

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The Pilgrim

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Also a climber, but I bought mine as a standard tree rose which also works really well. I was never a fan of yellow flowers until I bought this one on a whim and I’ve developed a soft spot for yellow roses since. It’s just as vigorous as Wollerton Old Hall, endless flowers which last for days, a lovely fruity scent. I’m just in love with this rose, it’s so worth its money. Only small downside is that after its first flower explosion in June, it takes a 6-week break before it starts all over again. Another thing I like about this rose is that the shape of the flowers changes so much from bud to full bloom, it's almost as if it's a different variety.

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Tottering-by-gently

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Another one that caught my attention because of the name. It has single yellow flowers with 5 petals each, and while this may not as impressive as the other ones, they attract a lot of bees and hover flies because they’re so accessible, which is a lovely sight if you grow it close to the terrace (I grew it in a pot initially, moved it to the border last November). The colour is a soft, buttery yellow, and it’s just a rose that sparks joy, it looks so simple and happy.

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Gentle Hermione

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Large, pale pink flowers on a rather tall shrub (>1m). They smell amazing and they look so soft. Never had any problems with this rose, it just flowers as long as I keep deadheading. I planted this one along a well-trodden path so that I can smell it every time I pass by.

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Princess Alexandra of Kent

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This rose is a statement. Enormous hot pink flowers on a rather small shrub. Amazing smell. Repeated flowering as long as I keep deadheading. It loves full sun. It’s always a special moment when her flowers appear, they’re just so huge. Not as many flowers as Wollerton and Pilgrim, but their size and colour make up for that.

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Golden Celebration

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This rose looks great against a hamstone wall or something of a similar hue (top left, not my house). It has this amazing deep golden yellow colour, so it also works against a dark background, like a cherry laurel/yew hedge. The flowers are cup-shaped and the same size as Alexandra, and they smell amazing. Only small downside is that raindrops cause red freckles on the petals, but this isn’t really ugly. Looks amazing with Nepeta as companion plant.

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Eustacia Vye

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Eustacia Vye

A rather new variety from the David Austin nurseries, lovely pink flowers with apricot centre. Strong smell. Mine is still small but it should grow to 1.25 m when mature. It’s healthy, loves a sunny spot and flowers repeatedly when deadheaded. The flowers themselves are just incredibly pretty.

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Jude the Obscure

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A wonderful rose, warm pale apricot, almost like Wollerton but more saturated, although they turn cream when the flowers mature. They are very large and round, and have an intense, unforgettable scent. It’s a shrub that grows over 1m tall and the foliage is pretty and shiny. Unfortunately in the light of climate change David Austin Roses has decided to retire a lot of popular varieties, which includes this beauty.

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Lady of Shalott

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Orange with yellow/peach hue, large chalice-shaped flowers. It’s the darker/bronze foliage which makes this one so pretty. I’m not really a fan of orange flowers but this one certainly deserves a mention in the list.

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Queen of Sweden

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This one competes for “most beautiful” with Shropshire Lad. The flowers are soft pink and a bit smaller than average, but their shape is just perfect. The colour changes from apricot-pink when they’ve just opened, to pale pink when the flowers mature.

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Geoff Hamilton

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Named after the previous presenter of Gardener’s World. The flowers are pink and round, changing into a chalice shape, and the foliage is dark, almost red. Unfortunately this rose is retired, which is a shame because it’s really pretty and rather undemanding (in rose terms). Just a regular deadheading session and the annual prune in March.

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Wildeve

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This is another pink rose and it has such pretty flowers. They’re large and have an apricot hue, and they have a light smell. They do flower more than once, but it needs quite some time to form new flowers after the first flush. However when everything in the garden starts dying down in late summer/early autumn, Wildeve never fails to surprise me with an encore. It’s a healthy, rather lanky shrub (needs some support) that grows over 1m tall.

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Vanessa Bell

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A rather new variety (2019) with tender, pale yellow flowers, very pretty cup shaped, and bee friendly as they open completely. They smell nice and the foliage is bright green. I should grow mine in a somewhat sunnier spot because the stems are a bit floppy and as a result the flowers tend to droop. Other than that, a real beauty. It grows ~1 m tall so it's also perfect for smaller gardens.

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Roses that are absolutely pretty but have a few downsides:

Munstead Wood: incredibly dark burgundy colour, almost velvet-like, and an amazing old rose scent, but not as strong as I’d like. It takes quite some TLC to keep this one healthy – I reckon this is why David Austin discontinued this variety.

Abraham Darby: Large peach coloured flowers with an overwhelming perfume, but so incredibly sensitive. Mine fell victim to black spot (infecting pretty much all my other roses as well) and never fully recovered, 2 hot & dry summers did the rest, I had to dig it up and remove it.

Claire Austin: The prettiest cupped flowers, a pale buttery white, but although it flowers repeatedly, almost continuously, the flowers only last a day, sometimes even less when it rains.

Wedgwood Rose: really pretty flowers, the individual petals are a work of art, but the flowers are too heavy and they’re all drooping (a common problem with David Austin roses).

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Non-David Austin roses that I really enjoy growing:

New Dawn – Good old new Dawn, a perfect rose for beginners, practically indestructible, doesn’t mind shade or even a north facing wall, good climber, dark foliage, lovely smell, continuous flowering

Desprez à fleur jaune – very old (1826) climbing rose which loves a warm south or west facing wall, has blushing yellow flowers, sometimes almost pink, lovely scent, repeated flowering, very abundant and vigorous.

Pomponella – loads of bauble-shaped roses growing in clusters, intense colour, repeated flowering, bit floppy but an obelisk for support solves that problem

Clodagh McGredy – the healthiest rose in my garden (that summer when they all had black spot, this one didn’t), large pale pink flowers, continuous flowering, large shrub

Katharina Zeimet – small shrub, so perfect for small gardens, intense scent, flowers in clusters, repeated flowering after deadheading

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Companion plants: for some reason almost every colour of rose works really well with purple. Nepeta, lavender, agastache, dame’s rocket etc., but please don’t feel limited to these colours. I’ve planted lady’s mantle around my Munstead Wood and it looks absolutely great.

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I'm by no means an expert, I'm just a woman who spends a lot of time in the garden, but feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer to my best knowledge.

The rose itself is so pretty, I love the colours. My email confirmed that it’ll be dispatched from their nursery today, I’m so excited!

If you ordered roses this year from DA, when did you order and when/if did you receive them? I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival but they haven’t even shipped

I purchased 3 generous gardener roses (in 3 gallon pots) from a local garden center. I was originally planning to grow them as a freestanding shrub wall as I had read that shrub form would be 4' wide x6' tall. Further reading has made me question whether this variety is suitable as a shrub or whether it is a climber only.

I am on Cape cod Massachusetts, zone 7a, the location is an open area on a hilltop with full sun (not against a house or fence etc, and sometimes rather windy. I would like to plant for privacy in a front/side yard.

1. Can this rose be grown as a freestanding shrub? Or would it bloom less as a shrub/have a messy form/ be too susceptible to wind damage?

2. Are the canes suitable for pegging or too rigid? Would pegging the canes help prevent wind damage? What would be the height of the shrubs if pegged?

3. The website says these roses should be grown on a 10' wall. If I build a freestanding trellis it would be only be 5-6' tall, what would be the consequence of growing on a shorter structure than the recommended 10'?

4. I could build a freestanding trellis using 4"x4"x8' pressure treated pine posts (6' above ground) and either : cattle fencing, copper tubing, or 1"x2" cedar for the grid - which is best?

5. How much trellis width should I provide per plant for full coverage, and how far apart should I plant the roses on the trellis if the trellis is only 5-6' tall?

6. I may also do one wooden obelisk (4 sided, triangle shaped, 6'-8' above ground). Would this be a reasonable size for this rose? Would one rose bush cover the obelisk, or 2, or all 3?

I really appreciate your time, and your help. Thank you!