Chelsea debut for three new beauties in the rose garden
Three new roses made their debut at last month’s Chelsea Flower Show and they’re real beauties. David Austin Roses won another gold medal with a traditional rose garden provided the backdrop for the launch of varieties Emily Brontë, Tottering-by-Gently and The Mill on the Floss..
David Austin Jnr said: “Our roses work really well, even in smaller spaces such as planted in a large container on a patio.” Here’s more on the new roses: Emily Brontë: named to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the famous novelist.
The distinctive blooms are soft pink with a subtle apricot hue.
The central petals deepen to rich apricot and surround a button eye.
It flowers freely and almost continually from early summer into autumn.
The fragrance of the flower is strong, beginning as tea but becoming more old rose with hints of lemon and grapefruit.
It forms a tall, bushy shrub with strong, upright growth; the foliage is tinged red at first, later turning green. Size 4½ x 4ft.
Tottering-by-Gently: named to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Annie Tempest’s weekly cartoon, first published in Country Life in January 1994.
This variety’s beauty is found in the simplicity of its single bright yellow flowers and the spectacular display they create when viewed en masse.
Flowers have a light musky fragrance with fresh notes of orange peel. Size 4½ x 4½ft.
The Mill on the Floss: named after the novel by George Eliot.
A very free-flowering rose, bearing large clusters of small, neat, deeply cupped blooms.
Initially mid-pink, verging on lilac-pink, they pale as they open, the individual petals defined by carmine edges.
There is a sweet, fruity fragrance, size 4½ x 4ft.
Bare root roses cost £21 plus package and posting, potted roses are £27 plus P&P, visit www.davidaustinroses.co.uk, freephone order line 0800 111 4699.
For more information, plus cook what you grow, recipes, environmental news and more, log on to the website at www.mandycanudigit. com – which is also now smartphone friendly.
You can also follow Mandy on Twitter @MandyCanUDigIt or you can like me on my Facebook page at Mandycanudigit