Best English Garden Rose
Background
The English garden rose has been a symbol of politics and war since the fifteenth century in the ‘War of the Roses.’ In 1455, York and Lancaster fought over the control of England and as a result York adopted the white rose and Lancaster adopted the red rose as symbols of power.
Today a rose grown in England feeds from soil rooted in memories of its political past and grows with pride. On a warm summers evening, the English garden rose fills the atmosphere with radiance and is a delight to see. Even on a rainy day the English rose garden waves it magic as you watch the rain fall like tears from its petals.
It was the Victorians who first invented the formal English rose garden, where they used to display their talents at growing roses for everyone to see. The climate in England was kind to species brought in as guests from far off lands in times of old and they soon became residents, grew up, bred and cross bred. In some parts of England we have continued what the Victorians started and have some of the most beautiful rose gardens only England can offer.
One of the best places for roses in England is the Garden of the Rose in Hertfordshire, home to the Royal National Rose Society and is heaven for rose enthusiasts who come from all over the world to admire.
English Garden Roses
One of the most successful rose breeders in England is David Austin. He combined spring flowering old gardening roses with modern floribundas and hybrid teas which came to be known as “English Roses.’ These beautiful roses are wonderfully fragrant.
From a survey of gardeners in England here are some of the best roses in English rose gardening.
Canary Bird (Rosa Xanthina)
This beautiful rose is very large and has arching stems with neat leaves and single canary yellow fragrant flowers about 2 inches wide. This bright and cheerful rose is extremely tough and is classed as wild managing to grow up to eight feet. Not only is it eye catching, this lovely English garden rose offers a musky scent and appears in late spring but very rarely in autumn. If the winter is particularly severe, this tough rose can die. The Canary Bird Rose loves the sun and well drained soil to thrive.
City of London Rose
What a strange name for a rose, I hear you say. However this rose is nothing like the grey image of London. With a strong citrus scent and light pink petals this rose should have a better name. It was introduced in 1987 and forms a rounded bush about 3 feet tall, spreading to approximately 2.5 feet with bright green foliage. This rose was grown by Harkness in England and is a cross between the New Dawn and Radox Bouquet roses.
Gertrude Jekyll
David Austin launched the Gertrude Jekyll rose in 1986. This wonderful English garden rose is vigorous, free flowering and extremely disease resistant. The Gertrude Jekyll rose grows up to 5 feet tall producing double pink flowers. This rose has a damask scent so potent there have been experiments to produce perfume commercially from it.
Jacqueline du Pre
Launched in 1989 this free flowering rose grows to a height of 6 feet and spreads to 5 feet. Like the City of London rose the Jacqueline du Pre was bred in England and is a cross between the Radox Bouquet and the Maigold. A stunning flower, this rose has double cupped petals 4 inches across, ivory white with a pink tinge and a distinctive red stamen. Like many of the English garden roses the Jacqueline du Pre has a marvellous musk perfume and has been used to create stunning hedges to accentuate any English rose garden.
Rosa Moyseii
One of the most eye-catching of all the English roses is the Rosa Moyseii. It has single dusky scarlet flowers with yellow stamens very close to the branches. It grows to a massive 12 feet tall, spreading across 10 feet and has long red hips produced in autumn, which offer enchanting colour to the English winter garden.
Rosa Mundi (Rosa Gallic a Versicolour)
One of the oldest English roses, this beautiful variety has been growing since 1581. It is believed this rose was named after Henry II’s mistress, Rosamund. The Rosa Mundi thrives in the summer and grows to 5 feet in height. Unfortunately this stunning rose suffers from mildew; however it has breathtaking crimson flowers striped with pale pink and offers unique beauty to the English rose garden.
