Firstly I would like to thank David Austin Roses for kindly supplying all of the following rose images and of course the roses!  We have placed our rose order for delivery at the end of March next year and there is nothing like ordering roses for next year to lift the spirit on short, dark days.  I started writing this article in November but had to delay finishing it due to work commitments and as many of you will be aware, Sir David Austin passed away on the 18th December aged 92.  It is always sad when someone passes away but Sir David Austin has left a legacy that has undoubtably made the world a more beautiful place, did you know that he created more than 200 new roses?  His work will be carried on by the Austin family and hopefully there will be a new rose named in his honour  in the near future.  If your spirits need lifting and you long for the rebirth of spring just take a look around your garden, if you are lucky you will find signs of life.  I walked around The Moosbach Garden this morning and found masses of peony and rose buds, these are the promise of glorious flowers in 2019 and it made me feel joyful.  We will be making all of the following roses available on our website as soon as they arrive from David Austin Roses in late March, until then they will show as out of stock but we are happy to take pre-orders.  We will also be sowing an array of delphinium seeds in february which will be available from around May-June.  We hope that you have all had a good Christmas and let us all look forward to a fantastic 2019.

 

Seasons are good

You hear lots of people complaining about the cold weather and the short days and for those that suffer with winter depression it is no laughing matter.  However, there is so much to be said for seasons.  I wonder if we would appreciate the beauty of flowers and our gardens if it was summer all year round?  What would there be to look forward to and how would we ever get to rest our tired gardener’s bones and muscles?

A few notes on roses

The performance of roses will vary depending upon your location, soil type and altitude.  So do not be surprised if the colour of your rose blooms are a little different  to the photographs but generally speaking they should be pretty close.  My experience with growing roses is that they need plenty of watering in the first year after they are planted. The best practice to follow is this, roses mustn’t be allowed to dry out in the first year but neither do they like their roots sat in water.  The dimensions quoted for the height and spread of roses is a guideline and given a good supply of water, feed and at least 4 hours sunshine per day they should thrive.  I’ve included some basic notes on each featured rose but you can find more detailed information on the David Austin Website. All of these roses will be available from The Moosbach Garden from April 2019.

 

Bobby James is a very healthy rambling rose which can grow to 11m (35 feet).  Once flowering with a very strong fragrance. Ideal for covering a fence or building with attractive hips in winter.

Etoile de Holland is a beautiful red climbing rose growing to 6m (20 feet)> it is a repeat flowering rose with a strong fragrance.

Frances E Lester is a Rambling rose suited to pergola’s and large buildings, it grows to 6m (20 feet) and is a once flowering rose with a strong musk fragrance.

Probably the most famous Rambling rose available, it grows to 12m (40 feet), flowersonce per year and has a strong musk scent.  Ideal for covering a large tree or a large building.

Graham Thomas is a vigorous upright climbing rose, it grows to 3.75m (12 feet) and is a repeat flowering rose.

Spirit of Freedom has beautiful soft pink blooms and has a myrrh fragrance.

Strawberry Hill is abailable as a shrub rose and as a climber, we are offering the climbing variety, it grows to 3m (10 feet).  It repeat flowers and has a strong myrrh fragrance.  We have the shrub variety in our garden and it is wonderful.

The Generous Gardener is a very popular climbing rose, we love it so much that we have 2 planted in our garden.  It grows to 4.5m (15 feet), it repeaat flowers, has a strong old myrrh fragrance and beautiful large hips in winter.

Wollerton Old Hall is a wonderful climbing rose and is another favourite in the Moosbach Garden, we have 3 planted here!  It grows yo 3.75m (12 feet), repeat flowers reaally well and has a strong myrrh fragrance. Highly recommended.

Emily Bronte is a shrub rose that is very beautiful, we will be planting some next year I’m sure.  It grows to 140 x 120 cm, it has  a strong old Tea rose fragrance and repeaat flowers.

Boscobel has a beautiful colour, we have a number of these planted around the garden and I find that the blooms last very well in heat.  It grows to 120 x 110cm, repeat flowers well and has a strong fragrance.  Highly recommended.

Desdemona is simply a beautiful rose, it grows to 110 x 110cm and repeat flowers well with a strong old rose fragrance.  Highly recommended.

Gentle Hermione is  lovely rose, we have 3 planted and they reached 1.5m in their first year, it has beautiful blooms and repeat flowers well with a good strong fragrance.

Gertrude Jekyll is probably the most fragrant of the English roses, it’s quite vigorous, we have 4 planted here and they are 2m tall. A good repeat flowering rose, plant it somewhere you pass everyday.  Must have rose, highly recommended.

Golden celebration is a good addition to any garden, wonderful scent, beautiful roses and flowers from June unil the first frosts.

James L Austin bears large, many petalled, deep pink rosettes, each with a buton eye.It forms a neat and tidy shrub (120 x 110cm)

Jubilee Celebration produces large, domed, delicously fragrant blooms.  The colour is best described as coral pink.  It has a strong fruity perfume.  It is a good repeat flowerin rose (120 x 120cm).

The Lady of Shalott is a striking rose, with beautiful chalice-shaped blooms.  Rich orange-red buds open to chalice-shaped blooms filled loosely with orange petals (140 x 120cm).

Bears medium-sized, neat rosette blooms, (90 x 90cm)

A favourite here in The Moosbach Garden, this is a stunningly beautiful rose that is disease resistant (120 x 110cm).

Another favourite here in The Moosbach Garden, also very disease resistant (110 x 110cm).

A beautiful rose which bears numerous cupped flowers.  A strong myrrh fragrance (150 x 120cm)

The Lady Gardener bears large, quartered roses ach about 10cm across. (140 x 120cm).

Thomas A Beckett is just a wonderful colour and akes a good addition to any garden (150 x 120cm)

Brother Cadfael is nother great rose, it has very large, peony-like blooms, with a strong old rose fragrance, (140 x 90cm).

Large cupped, yellow flowers with a strong delicious fragrance, (140 x 120cm).

One of our favourite roses of all time. Beautifully sunning rose with a gorgeous perfume and a very good repeaat-flowering rose,  (120 x 110cm).

Lady Emma Hamilton has glorious blooms of tangerine-orange and aa strong fragrance, (90 x 90cm).

A tall and airy shrub with clusters of graceful, semi-double flowers (170 x 150cm).

For those who love dark red roses then this is a good choice(125 x 100cm).

Clearly there are so many wondeerfful David Austin rses available that it can be hard to choose which is right for you but winter is the perfect time to research which one is perfect for your garden.