Jackson & Perkins had a great deal on a group of David Austin™ English Roses earlier this year, so I succumbed to their beauty and bought some. They came before we really had a break in the weather and I could plant them in the ground, so I soaked them, then planted them in potting soil in large pots. They're all now planted in the gardens, of course, and blooming fairly nicely.
David Austin™ Roses are bred by crossing old garden roses with more modern roses to achieve the superb fragrance, delicacy and charm of the old-style blooms combined with the repeat flowering characteristics and wide color range of modern roses. Some English varieties are extra vigorous in warm areas as very large shrubs and some may want to become semi-climbers. Hardy in zones 5 through 10.¹
Now living in our gardens are Abraham Darby, Golden Celebration, Falstaff, Jubilee Celebration, Glamis Castle, Crown Princess Margareta. For the most part, they're all still small, thanks in part to our hot, dry summer. But Golden Celebration and Crown Princess Margareta both show signs of being possible climbers, judging from the long stems they've already produced. No open flowers yet on these two, but several buds are present.
The big surprise, for me anyway, has been Glamis Castle (pronounced Gläms). White roses have never had much appeal for me, but this one has won me over. It's a very small plant at this point, but it's been blooming its heart out. And the flowers are gorgeous. They remind me of camellias as they unfurl.
Sometimes they even look like butterflies...
Glamis Castle is the childhood home of The Queen Mother and the legendary setting of Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
The other English Roses have been blooming off and on and I'm rather proud of their performance, being new and young and all, and in spite of this horrid hot dry weather. I'm just happy they haven't died.
'Abraham Darby'
'Falstaff'
'Jubilee Celebration'¹Heirloom Roses
"Bejeweled"
7 comments:
Someday, hopefully in 5 years or so, my husband and I want to build our dream home. He has often mentioned wanting a rose garden. I am slowly being turned on to the idea. These roses are gorgeous! I think I can even smell them! How fragrant! Are these hardy roses? or are they high-maintenance?
Kylee, I thought about you today. I was in Dollar General and there were seeds on sale. I am an extreme, uber-novice gardener. I bought wildflower seeds and a few bachelor buttons. Who knows how they will do, but I thought about you and your fancy gardening skills, and I laughed at myself for buying wildflower seeds for 12 cents a packet... Anyway...
Gorgeous roses.
Thanks for visiting me. I guess it will be next year before I see my garden at it's best again. Too much leaf spoilage.
It's good to see such beautiful English roses over there in Ohio.
I will come read the rest of your blog when I return from our little trip.
Your roses are beautiful ... the shot of the white rose looking like a butterfly is adorable!
Oh, delicious! My friend Catherine has a number of Austin roses, but I have had only two, both of which died probably due to my neophyte ways. BUT!!! You know how they talk about rose replant disease, and how roses planted where other roses had been and died often die too? Well...I put a Buck rose where Winchester Cathedral had been, and it continues to do just fine. (I always say to try something because plants can't read....)
Stacey - These are supposed to be hardy to our zone (5), but next spring will tell the story on that, won't it? ;-)
And good job on the seed find! And what do you mean, my 'fancy gardening skills'? I didn't start gardening until 2005, so I'm pretty new at it, too.
Jodi - I didn't know that thing about not planting a rose where another rose has died. I sure hope that doesn't mean my 'Diana, Princess of Wales' is going to die again this winter. I replaced the one that didn't make it and planted it in the same spot. I will say that it has been doing much the same as the first one did - this strange browning of leaves, which I originally thought was due to one of our cats spraying it, but that cat is gone, sadly, and the other cats don't do it. I wonder what it could be and if this means eventual death for it. I hope not, because I LOVE that rose a LOT.
Kylee, your "fancy gardening skills" was a compliment, actually. =] You "sound" and look so professional with all your high-falutin' species names, an gorgeous bloomin' flowers! So, from where I sit, your garden looks gorgeous!!
Aww, Stacey, thank you, but I'm really a beginner and there's so much to learn! But it's a fun learning process. :-)
I try to put the botanical names in as much as possible for a couple of reasons. One, in case someone sees a flower they like and want to get it, they'll be sure to get the right thing and two, it helps me learn and remember them, too.
Sometimes, too, what one person calls one thing, another person calls something else, so if the botanical name is there, there's no question what I'm talking about!
See...there's a method to my madness! :-)
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