Photo by David Austin Roses
If you’ve received David Austin’s Handbook of Roses for 2020, you have already seen the introductions available this spring for US and Canadian gardeners. If you haven’t received the handbook, you can read about Austin’s 3 new varieties: ‘Tottering-by-Gently’, ‘Emily Brontë’, and ‘The Mill on the Floss’ below.
Tottering-by-Gently
Photo by David Austin Roses
When we visited David Austin Roses this past summer, ‘Tottering-by-Gently’, a cheery yellow single rose, caught our eye, but we knew it would not be available in the US until 2020. While Austin roses are better known for dense, many-petaled roses, this is their first yellow single rose. And it is stunning. It has masses of flowers growing in large sprays. Its five petals surround golden stamens that attract beneficial insects as well as pollinators. This shrub has a musk fragrance and grows about 4 feet by 4 feet. Another benefit is it can produce orange-red hips if not deadheaded. ‘Tottering-by-Gently’ was named in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the cartoon of the same name, created by Annie Tempest, that was first published in “Country Life” magazine.
Emily Brontë
Photo by David Austin Roses
What a charming rose Emily Brontë is with soft pink blooms of 100 petals. The soft pink is accentuated with pale apricot inner petals that surround a button eye. It is described by Michael Marriott, technical director and senior rosarian of David Austin Roses, as having flowers that “open with a fine tea fragrance” that changes in mid-bloom when “the tea fragrance wanes and old rose fragrance comes on strong.” The growth habit is about 4 feet tall by 3.5 feet wide. It is named for Emily Brontë, well-known author of Wuthering Heights.
The Mill on the Floss
Photo by David Austin Roses
Unique coloration is distinctive of ‘The Mill on the Floss’. The deeply cupped blooms present as medium pink, but as they open further the pink becomes lighter and the petals develop a carmine-red outline. The rose blooms in clusters of 100 petals or so and have a nodding habit, characteristic of many Austin varieties. This rose, named for the novel by English writer George Elliot, has a sweet and fruity fragrance. Growth habit is 4.5 feet tall by 4 feet wide, but in warmer climates, it may grow larger.
These new introductions can be ordered as bare root roses from davidaustinroses.com. They will not be available at garden centers in the US until Spring 2021.
