Mary rose

Mary rose, Austin 1983 

English rose 

One of the first and ironically enough still one of the best DA roses. This rose doesn't have the floppy growth of so many DA roses so the flowers won't slap to the ground because of weak thin stems.

Pink very filled cupped flowers in clusters or alone with a good strong old rose and honey fragrance. Bushy growth up to 100 cm or a bit more. This rose is very disease resistant even today.

Reblooming is more than good. Named after the flagship of King Henry VIII, Mary rose.

In 1992 I gave five Mary rose plants to my aunty as a birthday gift. She planted them in a border with a box (buxus) hedge in front of it. This was against an east wall so the roses didn't have much sun, only in the morning. Now, thirty years later she still has the five roses and they thrive! Each time I visit her garden in summer and I see her Mary rose plants in full flush I smile ☺. A very enduring rose with grit!

Maybe the very best Austin after Constance Spry