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New roses for a new year

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2020

This beauty is The Mill on the Floss rose, named for a George Eliot novel. (Photos courtesy David Austin Roses)

Austin introduces a surprising trio

With a new year comes new roses. Among the most interesting introductions for 2020 are three new varieties from David Austin Roses. Each has evocative names to match their individual charms: Emily Bronte, Tottering-by-Gently and The Mill on the Floss.

Austin roses have won fans worldwide for their fantastic scent and abundant blooms. Hybridized in England and grown in Texas, these English shrub roses have become right at home in Sacramento, where they thrive virtually disease-free. Sometimes they like it too much; Austin shrubs tend to get very large, often 6 feet tall and almost as wide. Give them room to show off.

The Emily Brontë rose has a transitional fragrance profile.

These new introductions tend to be more compact for today's smaller gardens. (At least according to the catalog.)

At first blush, Emily Brontë -- named for the the author of "Wuthering Heights" -- reminds me of Tamora, an Austin classic that I grow. It's a similar mix of soft pink and apricot. But Emily's blooms have a different, more compact form: flat and intensely packed with 100 petals, about 3-1/2 inches across. Its golden apricot center petals surround a button eye, a unique Austin trait.

"Emily Brontë is a tiptop choice for virtually any color and design scheme," said Michael Marriott, David Austin Roses Ltd. technical director and senior rosarian. "Its soft colors go with everything. And the beautifully formed bush is sized and suited for use in an informal or formal garden, hedge or large container."

Tottering-by-Gently doesn't look anything like most Austin roses. Instead of 100 petals per flower, it has five. But those flowers are set in large generous sprays with a musky fragrance "with a note of orange peel," according to Marriott.

The Mill on the Floss is an English rose fantasy: Deeply cupped, the dense 3-inch blooms are each packed with 100-plus pale pink petals edged in carmine red. The fragrance is sweet and fruity.

“These delicate-looking beauties are exceptionally strong shrub roses that bloom their hearts out, early summer 'til frost,” Marriott said.

Together, they reflect the remarkable diversity of flower forms found within the Austin breeding program, according to the Austin press introduction.

Tottering-by-Gently is named for a British cartoon series.

"Each also exemplifies the 'must have' attributes of all English Roses: overall charm and beauty in combination with romantic flower color, individuality and fragrance; a full beautiful bush; abundant bloom; quick repeat flowering; superior disease-resistance and adaptability to a wide range of different growing conditions, including colder areas plus hot/humid and hot/dry settings."

But how did they get those names?

Emily Brontë is among England's most famous novelists. "Wuthering Heights" was published in 1847 -- when Old Garden roses were very much in fashion. In fragrance, Emily Brontë the rose delivers an unexpected plot twist, said the release. "The flowers open with a fine, heady Tea fragrance. In mid-bloom, the Tea scent wanes and Old Rose comes on strong, followed by teasing hints of lemon and grapefruit."

"In the garden, the effect is magical. A rose fragrance that transitions from Tea to Old Rose is completely unexpected," said Marriott, who added that he cannot think of a single other rose that presents a similar fragrance scenario.

The Mill on the Floss is named not for an author but a novel, by English writer George Eliot (the nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans), published in 1860.

With its wildflower look, Tottering-by-Gently is named for a British cartoon series by artist Annie Tempest, which has appeared weekly, since 1993, in Country Life magazine.

Find out more at www.davidaustinroses.com .

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An article about gardening.

Keywords:

gardening Sacramento fragrance roses compact plants shrub roses old garden roses bare-root plants David Austin

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 2

Get out early in the morning and monitor your garden’s moisture needs. Deep water and add temporary shade structures for plants that are feeling a little burned. In particular, protect developing peppers and eggplant.

* Put off fertilization until this heat passes; plants need to concentrate on hydration instead of growth.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don’t let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Make sure to keep seeds and seedlings consistently moist.

* Plant potatoes.

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