David Austin launch three new English Roses at Chelsea

David Austin® Roses will be launching three new English Roses for the 2015/16 season at this year’s (2015) RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The three roses are ‘Sir Walter Scott’ (Ausfalcon) an Old Rose/Scottish Rose; ‘Desdemona’ (Auskindling) a Musk Hybrid and ‘Kelmscott’ (Ausoutcry) a Leander Hybrid.

Sir Walter Scott (pictured in the banner above) is aptly named for the much admired Scottish novelist and poet. The variety is the result of a cross with a Scottish Rose. David Austin have long recognized the potential of the Scottish Roses in the breeding process and ‘Sir Walter Scott’, with its distinctive charm and exceptional disease resistance, is a triumph from this line of breeding.

With pretty little flowers which are rich pink in colour, each bloom’s many pointed petals are arranged around a central button eye, creating a perfect Old Rose style rosette.

Its short, dense, bushy growth and small, slender foliage very much reflects its Scottish Rose Heritage. However, unlike most Scottish Roses, it repeat flowers prolifically and has a lovely strong Old Rose fragrance. Tough and hardy, it will thrive in difficult conditions and is ideal positioned towards the front of the border.

‘Desdemona’ (pictured above) is a charming rose of exquisite beauty that has an exceptionally long flowering season. With pretty peachy pink buds opening to reveal beautiful, pure white blooms, it has an attractive hint of pink at the earliest stage of flowering. The blooms are chalice-shaped, the incurved petals creating an arresting interplay of light and shadow.

‘Desdemona’ forms a strong, very healthy shrub with broad open growth. With its long flowering season and strong fragrance (of an intense myrrh) it is ideal for combining with other shrubs and perennials in a mixed border. I have a feeling that the tragic heroine of William Shakespeare’s Othello will be another popular addition to the David Austin collection.

The third rose is ‘Kelmscott’ (pictured left) a Leander Hybrid which bears masses of very large blooms, almost continually from June until first frosts. The open blooms are a lovely rich glowing pink at the centre, becoming paler towards the edges. Overtime, a cluster of golden stamens is revealed at the heart of each bloom.

‘Kelmscott’ is a healthy and vigorous rose which will quickly form a larger than average shrub. While being a useful variety for positioning towards the middle or back of the border, it works equally well planted on its own, creating a dramatic display.

Kelmscott Manor was the Cotswold retreat of William Morris, Father of the Arts and Crafts movement. The gardens are home to a collection of David Austin’s English Roses.

Believing that “fragrance is the other half of the beauty of a rose”, David Austin made it his mission when he first began breeding roses over 60 years ago to restore scent to the modern rose. Today, his English Roses are renowned for their array of delicious fragrances and these three new varieties are probably going to be among the most fragrant group of roses introduced in some years.

I feel sure that the three new introductions will certainly quickly become popular and I am particularly looking forward to seeing them on the David Austin display at this year’s RHS Chelsea.

Log onto David Austin®Roses website for information on their full range of roses – available to order online – https://www.davidaustinroses.com