By Our First Year with David Austin Roses
Tucked in my wedding bouquet was the sweetest rose I’d ever seen. Plump as a marshmallow, its petals strained to unfold against each other, tightly spun around its center. That’s how I was introduced to my first David Austin Rose. It felt only fitting that David Austin Roses should be included in our forever home’s flower garden.
Four triangular beds make up the center feature of our flower garden. My vision for these beds is an English meets cottage garden aesthetic. The beds should play off one another without feeling identical or symmetrical. Intentional in variety and spacing but snug and bountiful with overflowing blossoms and ever blooming flowers. David Austin Roses would be the perfect shrub to start our flower garden’s transformation.
Selecting Our David Austin Shrub Roses
As the central element of each bed, I chose repeat-flowering, pale pink David Austin Shrub Roses that would work well for the bed’s unique sun exposure. I bought two of each type and paired them together to create a fuller look
The Alnwick Rose
In the sunniest bed, I chose the Alnwick Rose. Alnwicks prefer full sun and grow to a height of 4 feet. They have an Old Rose scent and medium bloom size. I adore how each variety of David Austin Rose has a story behind the name, and this variety is named after the Alnwick Gardens in the UK. Alnwicks are suitable for zones 4-11.
Of the four shrub roses, Alnwick has been the most prolific for us.
Gentle Hermione
In the second sunniest bed, I chose Gentle Hermione. Gentle Hermiones also prefer full sun and grow to a height of 4 feet. They have a strong myrrh scent. Unfortunately Harry Potter fans, this gorgeous rose is named after the faithful wife of Leontes, the King of Sicila, in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Gentle Hermiones are suitable for zones 5-11.
Known to attract bees, the blooms open slightly wider than our other varieties exposing their anther for pollinators.
Queen of Sweden
Queen of Swedens are ideal roses for shady areas. Our bed gets about 5 hours of morning sun before it is shaded by the house. With a mild myrrh scent, these shrub roses can grow to a height of 5 feet. The Queen of Sweden was named to commemorate the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Sweden and Great Britain.
The least prolific of our four shrub roses; however, when flowering the blooms are simply stunning.
Olivia Rose Austin
Olivia well tolerates a shady area. Depending on the season, ours gets 5-7 hours of morning sun. With a mild fruity scent, Olivia Rose Austin can grow to a height of 4.5 feet. Olivia is named after the daughter of David Austin Junior and granddaughter of David Austin Senior.
The first of our shrub roses to bloom, Olivia Rose Austin is a close second to the Alnwick for dependable flushes of stunning roses.
From Bare Root to Blooms, A Timeline
David Austin Roses are workhorses in the garden, providing flush after flush of roses to enjoy. I am completely stunned that our bare roots have gone from the delivery truck, to ground, to beautiful full blooms, all in their first year. Below is a timeline of our first year with our David Austin Roses.
April 22 | Bare Roots Arrive
Bare Roots arrived in classic David Austin Rose boxes. Swoon. Used an old plastic bin to rehydrate the roots. Look at that new growth!
When you receive your David Austin Roses, you will receive an invaluable booklet of exactly how to care for your bare roots. The guide covers planting, pruning, fertilizing, and trouble shooting common problems. I have been following this guide to the letter.
April 22 | Bare Roots went in the ground same day!
Following DA’s Instructions, the Bare Roots went in the ground the same day. Because I’m looking for a fuller look, I planted pairs of each type of shrub about 12-14″ apart. I did sprinkle the roots with David Austin’s Mycorrhizal Fungi.
May 5 | Behold, New Growth!
The most delicate and lovely new growth appears.
May 23 | Our First Buds Form
Olivia Rose Austin came through with the very first bud.
May 27 | Wait for It
By this point I am checking the garden hourly for our first bloom.
May 31 | Our first Bloom!
Behold! Olivia Rose Austin provides us with our first rose bloom. It’s only been 35 days since these little shrubs were bare roots on the back of a delivery truck.
September 14 | Our Shrub Roses start to anchor the flower beds.
Here the Alnwick Roses are the main anchor in this sunny flower bed. Accompanied by dahlias, peonies, echinacea, yarrow, hyssop and a few zinnias, the Alnwick’s pink blossoms are in good company.
September 23 | David Austin Shrub Roses enjoying their first Autumn
Olivia Rose Austin has become a full shrub rose. About 24″ high, she is full of new growth. She’ll get her first pruning next spring after a full first year in her forever home.
First Year Woes
I don’t get bent out of shape about a little wear and tare on my plants, but what I try to look out for is all out damage that is overwhelming the plant.
Deer
Roses are a delicacy to Deer. “But the thorns?!” you might say. They do not care. They will eat that gorgeous new growth right off your rose bushes.
Deer came right up to the house and totally decapitated the Queen of Sweden and then had a few nibbles of Gentle Hermione for dessert.
People have gone to such extremes as surrounding their rose bushes with electrical fencing, and taunting the deer to nibble it by globing peanut butter on the wire.
Solution. Here’s what I did that felt a little less ‘off the rails.’ I placed tomato cages upside down around each shrub. I quartered bars of Irish Spring Soap and placed it on the tomato cages’ prongs. Deers hate the stuff. Occasionally, during a tough drought this summer I would spritz the new growth with Bobbex Deer Repellent. (Remember to spray in the evening when pollinators are less active).
Companion planting can also help. Deer hate plants with overwhelming scents and fuzzy textures. This fall I’ve added bleeding hearts around my shady shrub roses and I plan to add lavender and lambs ear around my sunny shrub roses next spring as added protection.
Japanese Beatles
These disgusting creatures descended on our home in late May and caused havoc through July. Here they are mocking me from inside some Olivia Rose Austin blooms. They will chew straight through a rose bud and completely kill or deform it.
Solution. The best defense I found was walking through the garden each evening with a bucket of soapy water and flicking the Japanese Beatles in.
Rose Slugs (Sawfly Larva)
White spots showing up on your shrub roses’ leaves? Flip over a leaf to see if you’re dealing with sawfly larva. The underside will reveal these buggers feasting on your healthy shrub roses.
Solution. Insecticidal Soap will usually clear these pests. It’s a bit tricky because the soap needs to touch their soft bodies to do its damage, and their soft bodies are on the underside of the leaves. Wearing gloves, spritz upwards from the bottom of the plant. Insecticidal is organic and safe to use around beneficial insects, but I still use it in the evenings when most pollinators are less active.
Mud Pies and Peonies 