THE IRRESISTIBLE CHARM OF ENGLISH ROSES.

English roses are perhaps the perfect compliment to any garden thanks to their rustic charm    reminding of romantic cottage style. The success of this kind of roses, which were bred by the British rose breeder David Austin (they are also called David Austin Roses) in his garden in Shropshire, England, is in their combining the positive re-blooming attribute and wide colour range of modern hybrid teas and floribundas with the vigour, form, and intense fragrance of the old garden roses. Most noteworthy are their romantic and soft cupped blooms with many nuanced petals and arguably the most intoxicating fragrance anywhere in a garden. Moreover, it is easier to learn how to grow English roses than traditional tea roses, consequently they are more of a landscape shrub rather than a finicky rose with more definite colouring. 

English roses are also a fabulous choice for cutting. Personally, I've always been a huge fan  of the pink, cream and yellow varieties and love using them for informal tablescapes or combined to other rustic flowers in a small cluster on my bedside table. Their abundant and incredibly beautiful blossoms, coupled with their delightful fragrance, make them real favourites to enjoy indoors or give to loved ones. And since it's always a special pleasure to cut flowers, fresh from your own garden, if you're so lucky to have one, you'll find that, thanks to their repeat flowering qualities, English roses produce exquisite blooms time and again, so that you'll always find a few perfect blooms that beg to be brought indoors. And when the rose bush you cut your flowers from is covered in blooms from early summer till frost, this pleasure can be happily renewed... 
So, dear readers, here are the varieties chosen for our garden. I'm sure you'll love them...

Wildeve: Soft blush blooms with a pretty apricot hue, the outer petals paling to almost white, produced on long arching branches forming a bushy, mounding shrub. Named after the character in Thomas Hardy's "The Return of the Native". David Austin, 2003.

William Morris: Apricot/pink double flowers with strong, exquisite fragrance,  blooming in small clusters forming a shrub throughout the season. This variety commemorates the University of East London's centenary year, David Austin, 1987. 

Graham Thomas: bears medium-sized, cupped blooms of an unusually rich, pure yellow. there is a light Tea fragrance, with a cool violet character. It forms a bushy, vigorous shrub, with smooth, green foliage. David Austin, 1983.

Cottage Rose: bears medium to large pink blooms in large clusters and with a mild fragrance. It forms a bushy, medium-tall shrub, with smooth, green foliage. David Austin, 1991.