Rose(s) of the Month for October/November!

Awesome Austins
    Reviews of:  Gertrude Jekyll, Graham Thomas, Lillian Austin and Abraham Darby
                       by Deborah Haydock

  Graham Thomas 

David Austin, a prolific hybridizer from Albrighton, England, has developed a strain of
roses which marry the gifts of old garden roses with those of modern roses.  He has been
been working since 1950 to create that "perfect" group of roses which have the fabulous
fragrance and form of old garden roses, with the repeat habit and color diversity of
modern roses.  David Austin crossed floribundas, hybrid teas, and modern climbers with
two of the most ancient roses, gallicas and damasks, and succeeded in creating
approximately 80 varieties to date (though not all are available in the U.S.) . This exciting
array of roses have become a worldwide phenomenon.

Roses tempt us with their beauty, but they hold us with their fragrance.  I can't bear that
sinking feeling I get when a beautiful rose doesn't deliver in the scent department.  Austin
makes fragrance a priority in his hybridizing, so that we should always experience the
"soul of the rose".  For that reason, "English Roses," which Austin's roses are now called,
hold a very special place in my heart and garden.   

Currently I have Gertrude Jekyll, Graham Thomas, Lillian Austin, and Abraham Darby.  I
plan to add several more next year (Golden Celebration, Evelyn, and Sharifa Asma).

Gertrude Jekyll was named after the trendsetting English cottage gardener.  She is more
old garden rose than modern, owing to a parent, the famous Portland rose, "Comte de
Chambord".  Gertrude's buds are small but open into large, rosette-shaped blossoms,
deeper pink in the middle with lighter pink on the outer petals.  She grew about 3 feet tall
the first year in my yard, though I read she can grow much taller.  Her foliage is delicate
and medium green.

Ms. Jekyll is one of the most fragrant English roses (with "Evelyn," I hear, also vying for
that honor.)  She was tested among many other roses and found to have more potent
essential oil for perfume extraction than any other.  I hope to bring one in next June and
give the fragrance category a little challenge.  (Janice Champagne's English Rose, "Sharifa
Asma" has taken this category two years in a row.)  One thing I've noticed in my fragrance
research is that a rose like Gertrude Jekyll (or other old garden roses) has a more complex
mix of smells, unlike that of a modern rose which can smell merely sweet.  My one
complaint is that she suffered pretty badly from blackspot, and I must try some organic
methods for saving her foliage next year.
Graham Thomas is one of the most popular English roses, named for the most beloved
rosarian in Britain who supported the reintroduction of old garden roses and paved the
way for the development of English roses.  Graham Thomas' cup-shaped flowers are a
deep, rich, glowing yellow rarely found in the rose world.  The shrub can grow to
towering heights of 6 to 8 feet tall, sending out occasional climbing type canes.  Its elegant
blossoms grow individually or in clusters with a relaxed, open style.  Though I have read it
is fragrant, I find its fragrance very light. Graham's claim to fame is his lovely golden color
and non-stop bloom.  Mine did very well in a container on the deck this summer without
any spraying, and it wasn't until fall that it started losing significant foliage due to
blackspot.  I had more blossoms than I could count.

Lillian Austin is one of the more modern looking English roses, growing much more wide
(5 feet) than tall.  Her spreading shape fills in holes in the perennial garden and works best
like a groundcover rose, at the front of a border.  Her unique color, a coral pink with
yellow undertones, is lots of fun planted with purples but may clash with traditional pinks.
The flowers have a sexy, wavy form and she throws out blooms abundantly, repeating
well, especially in early to mid summer.  Lillian has a unique fragrance, too, to me
something sweet and foody like baby powder and peanut butter. . .but I seem to be the
only one in my garden who agrees with this description.  Her disease resistance has been
excellent.

Lastly, my favorite English rose to date is Abraham Darby.  He is unique in that both his
parents were modern roses which had characteristics of old garden roses (Aloha, the
climber, and a yellow floribunda).  How do I love him?  Let me count the ways.  He is a
large, disease-resistant shrub, similar to Graham Thomas but a little less prone to
blackspot.  He grew over 5 feet tall in a container on my deck and put out non-stop
blooms all summer.  He is still my best blooming rose as we go into October.  The up to
four inch, heavy blossoms are a light apricot pink, and are tightly packed, with inwardly
curving petals, like an old garden rose.  Blossoms are best appreciated in a vase, as they
are heavy and nod down.  The unique fragrance is citrusy sweet and very cleansing, provoking
an "ah" out of anyone who inhales.  Mr. Darby holds very well in a vase, as petals are so tightly
packed they do not drop easily.

For further reading on English roses, I highly recommend "David Austin's English
Roses" by David Austin.  In this beautiful book you will read the detailed history of his
hybridizing work, with interesting rose family tree diagrams.  The full page photos of roses
by Clay Perry are breathtaking, making this not only an essential English roses research
book but a very handsome coffee table book or gift for a rose lover.  I found mine
(luckily) on the discount table at Borders.

And if you have any favorite English roses, especially the intoxicating fragrant ones, I'd
love to hear from you so I can consider adding to my collection.  Write Deb at
earthsong59@aol.com