Fragrant English roses for your Valentine

Why buy a dozen when you can buy just one that flowers for years?

If your Valentine loves roses, he or she might appreciate the gift of a David Austin rose bush for Valentine’s Day. This may not be the traditional gift of roses, and there is some work involved. But, for about the same price as a dozen cut roses, that probably won’t last more than a week, an English Rose bush will offer lush, scented roses that will flower throughout the summer and into the autumn for many years to come. You could visit the website (listed below), pick a rose based on fragrance, colour, poetic name, or just lush appearance, place an order (it will be delivered in time for planting this spring) and print up a picture of the rose for your sweetheart.

The fragrance of a fine rose beguiles, much like that of a fine wine or perfume. It teases and entrances both the nose and the mind. Among roses, those most synonymous with evocative fragrance are the sumptuous English roses bred by the team at David Austin Roses in Shropshire, England.

“Fragrance is bred into all English roses — it’s an essential trait,” says horticulturist Rebecca Koraytem, senior U.S. sales executive for David Austin Roses. “In fact, the quest to reintroduce the lost fragrance of antique roses is where David Austin’s romance with roses began some 60 years ago.”

Today, more than 100 English Rose varieties are available to Canadian gardeners coast-to-coast at www.davidaustinroses.com. Locally, they are available at fine garden centres that carry Austin roses, with varieties selected for best regional performance.

While English roses are known for fragrance, it is just one of the key traits they’re bred to deliver. “What gardeners want are roses worth sniffing,” says Koraytem, “that also check off boxes for nice bush, good health, and awesome bloom all season long.”

For reference, Koraytem provides descriptions of the primary rose fragrance groups, as outlined by David Austin Roses in its annual “Handbook of Roses/usa Edition”:

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY DAVID AUSTIN ROSES FOR TORSTAR David Austin English rose 'The Lady Gardener' has large, fragrant flowers in a beautiful, pure apricot colour that pales at the outer edges. The 10-centimetre flowers are quartered rosettes, each with approximately 65 loosely arranged petals. The tea fragrance has hints of cedar wood and vanilla. It grows 1.37 metres tall by 1.2 m wide. Repeat flowering.

Emily Brontë rose features a pink-apricot flower with a strong tea/old Rose fragrance with an interesting twist. The flowers open with a heady tea scent. In mid bloom, the tea scent wanes and becomes Old Rose, with delicious hints of lemon and grapefruit. Emily Bronte features a distinctive neat, flat bloom and a button eye. The open rosette is blush pink with an apricot centre and a subtle shimmer of palest apricot throughout, quickly fading to cream colour. Bloom size is large, with 106 petals. Repeat flowering. Grows 1.2 metres tall by 1.06 m wide.

Below, The Poet’s Wife: A lovely, rich-yellow English Rose with an Old Rose scent that has strong hints of lemon rind, peach and mango that become stronger and sweeter with age. The fully-double, yellow flowers are rich in colour. Bloom size is large, with 77 petals. Bush shrub with arching branches and glossy leaves. Repeat flowering. Grows 4 feet (1.2 m) tall by 4 feet (1.2 m) wide.

Gabriel Oak: A deep-pink English Rose with petal-packed flowers and fruity fragrance. The flowers are held on mulberry purple stems and framed by dark green foliage. It is a repeat bloomer, covered with flowers from early summer till frost. Bloom is large. Bush grows 4 feet (1.2 m) tall by 4 feet (1.2 m) wide.