Jack Frost comes calling….

A frosty morning with the few roses cocky enough to be flowering all rimed with ice. A little rose garden with climbing rose The Generous Gardener on tall black obelisks, accompanied by a trio of English shrub roses also from David Austin, Gertrude Jekyll, Geoff Hamilton and Winchester Cathedral. The whole scheme is bordered by…

Jude & Gertie

Jude the Obscure, with hints of Gertrude Jekyll and Graham Thomas Gertrude Jekyll - a beautifully scented shrub rose and Fragrant English Climber Two glorious David Austin roses, in bloom now and probably (given the long summer, after a late start) in flower for many weeks to come. Few other plants can give so many…

Here she comes again…

Lady Emma Hamilton Lady Emma Hamilton, my favourite English rose from the David Austin stable. I'm inflicting yet more pictures on you here, my one-man crusade to bring this rose up to the levels of popularity enjoyed by Gertrude Jekyll. Fresh, rich plum foliage, gorgeous citrus scent and glowing blooms. Healthy as anything, repeat flowering.…

Lady Emma Hamilton

Lady Emma Hamilton - a David Austin rose with stunning colour and dark foliage This remains my favourite English Rose - dramatic colour to both the flower and foliage and a fantastic, zesty fragrance - lemons and melons and Sauternes. An intoxicating package.

Thank you, Mr Austin

Friday Gallery - Roses from David Austin If there have ever been any complaints that there is no variety in English Roses, look again! My Friday Album is all about David Austin Roses, showcasing just a little of the wide spectrum of colour, form (and not forgetting fragrance) within their catalogue - and these are just…

A touch of the Lady Hamiltons

Lady Emma Hamilton, an English Rose from David Austin Make no mistake, the impact of this rose is just as strong as Super Trouper, but it is saved from being at all garish by the dark foliage, plum when fresh, and the gold centre to each of the flowers. The young buds are flashed with…

Shades of Copper and Flame…

The luminous Pat Austin I'm reading through David Austin's The English Rose for passages relating to this rose, introduced in 1995 and named for his late wife, Pat Austin. Writing on the choice of colour and introducing new colours in particular: 'Here we are looking not simply for a variety of colour, but for good…

Split personalities

One plant, two roses. David Austin rose, Winchester Cathedral Winchester Cathedral, the white, is a 'sport' of an old David Austin favourite, Mary Rose. A sport (in a nutshell) is a spontaneous mutation, identical in all outward respects save, in this instance, flower colour, (though it may also, for example, be a climbing sport of…