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For my birthday this past weekend we went to David Austin Roses for the second time this year. I was lucky enough to have beautiful, sunny day to wander around the gardens at my leisure,  and had time to take lots of photographs. Although the sun was very bright, which can be a problem for taking photos as they tend to have too much contrast and shadows, I managed to get some that I think are pretty good under the circumstances.

I tried to focus on roses that I don’t already have photos of. I was able to get many that I haven’t shot before, but had to work against the time of year as many roses were between flushes, and on such a hot day some of the blooms looked very tired and thirsty indeed.

I picked up three roses to bring home (a birthday gift from Gaz!): Ambridge Rose, which looked so lovely in the garden and has a wonderful, strong myrrh scent; Brother Cadfael, which has huge blooms and a strong old rose scent; and an old rose… La Reign Victoria, a bourbon which I’ve always loved and with the most delicious scent.

Here are some of the photos from Sunday, July 24, 2011

 

Ambridge Rose

 

Queen Anne

 

Lady of Shalott

 

The Generous Gardener

 

William and Catherine

 

Grace

 

Lilian Austin

 

Jayne Austin

 

Mary Magdalene

 

Molineux

 

Susan Williams-Ellis

 

Hyde Hall

 

Redouté

 

Golden Celebration

 

Lichfield Angel

 

Scarborough Fair

 

Fair Bianca

 

Brother Cadfaiel

 

The Lady’s Blush

 

Charlotte

 

Swan

 

The Shepherdess

 

The Pilgrim

 

The Prince

 

Wisley 2008

 

Geoff Hamilton

 

Peach Blossom

 

Miss Alice

 

Lady Salisbury

 

Buttercup

 

Cordelia

 

Maid Marion

 

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 

Rose of Picardy

 

Swan

 

Hero

 

Noble Antony

 

Port Sunlight

 

Glamis Castle

 

Rosemoore

All of the roses in the garden have bloomed, and some have moved on to a break before the next flush, here are some photos from the past few weeks.

Wollerton Old Hall is proving to be an outstanding rose! It reminds me of a cross between Jude the Obscure and Scepter’d Isle. It has large, cupped blooms that are intensely fragrant, with a colouring just softer that Jude, but with a scent closer to Scepter’d Isle.

 

Princess Anne also seems to be a winner from David Austin’s newer roses. It doesn’t have as strong of a scent as most of my other English Roses, but the scent is still good, and it’s the colours and abundance of blooms that makes this rose such a treasure.

 

Sharifa Asma is one of the very best English roses. She has been blooming in constant flushes all summer, the colours are stunningly gentle and bewitching, and the scent is absolutely heavenly. A wonderful rose.

 

Lady Emma Hamilton has a few blooms on her. A very good scent, but not as strong as Jude the Obscure, which is what the scent seems most similar too… a sweet, fruity smell with a touch of wine.

 

Spirit of Freedom has started to bloom; big, fat, round flowers loaded with petals with a good scent.

 

The Wedgewood Rose has huge, fluffy blooms with ruffled edges. It has a medium scent, which to me smells of freshly cut flowers at a florist shop.

 

Alan Titchmarsh has masses of plumb globular blooms and a deep rich scent. In rainy weather, the blooms will ball, but when the weather is nice the blooms are lovely indeed.

 

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed the roses!