My dad used to love his roses and had some beautiful hybrid teas. They're the type that have lovely tight buds and keep their shape well as they open. I can remember a fabulous velvet red rose, a pretty lilac rose called "Blue Moon" and, what's probably the most popular rose of all time, "Peace", a pretty mixture of yellow and blush pink. Every Saturday evening during summer, I'd go down the path and pick the most perfect bud I could find to take to our local working man's club for my uncle to wear in his buttonhole. I was about six at the time.
None of us stay children forever though and by the time I'd reached my mid teens I'd learned to hate them. Being planted to flank the path on both sides meant that my tights were constantly being snagged, several favourite jumpers received nasty pulls and I lost count of the time I went to get the washing in only to find the bed linen hooked to the roses. Those beautiful flowers that I'd so lovingly picked as a child had turned into the enemy! Their beauty, as far as I was concerned, was there for no other reason than to entice innocents to come closer so that the wicked thorns (that are actually prickles because they grow on the surface of the stem) can, at best, ruin your clothes or, at worst, rip into your flesh, drawing blood and leaving you screaming obscenities at it. Stop and smell the roses? Not me, thank you very much.
This strong dislike of roses followed me into adulthood and, although I’ve always loved flowers and gardening, roses have never featured on my plot. Not only had I never planted one, I actually removed several from one of my gardens. However, this has recently changed.
We've been sorting out the patio and wanted something to grow up a 15 foot wall and although ivy or virginia creeper would've done the job beautifully, we really wanted something that would flower. Clematis was out, at least as a stand alone, as it just wouldn't reach the necessary heights; honeysuckle could possibly have done the job nicely but we already had one growing on the opposite fence and really wanted something different.
"What about a climbing rose?" a friend suggested.
My
immediate response was one of dismissal. I don't do roses, climbing or otherwise. But try as I might, I couldn't find anything else suitable and as Richard, my other half, quite liked the idea of a rose up the wall, I ordered the David Austin catalogue. It arrived within a couple of days and was one of the most beautiful catalogues I've ever seen. I'd ordered several other rose catalogues too and whereas the majority were equally as informative as far as roses go, none of the jumped out and grabbed me the way David Austin's did.
After reading the whole thing from cover to cover, I felt I was in a far better position to make a decision. There were indeed roses that could climb to 15 feet and more! And what's more, they didn't appear to be too difficult to look after. A prune in February, a handful of rose fertiliser once active growth gets underway and again in June, and a mulch in winter. They also recommend an occasional spray against aphids but that wouldn't be popular amongst organic gardeners, like myself. Personally I prefer the ladybird method.
Obviously, a catalogue like this is limited in that they simply don't have the room for an illustration of every rose they have available. Wanting to see more, I logged onto the website to have a peek at some of the roses that sounded useful for particular need. While the choice wasn't huge (most roses don't grow to such heights), there were pinks, scarlet, magentas, crimsons, whites and yellows available. Surely that's enough for anybody? Even I had to admit that some of them were particularly beautiful.
The website's easy to use. You first arrive at a splash page where you choose your location by clicking on a flag. You're then led to the main introductory page where you'll learn a little able David Austin himself. From here you can search for roses, order the free catalogue, find information related to choosing and cultivating roses, see the photo gallery and various other bits and pieces. During my search for the perfect rose, I did find another company, Peter Beale's Roses, to have a better website, especially as you could search by height which saved me having to click on each climber to see whether it would be tall enough for us. That's something that would be worthwhile for David Austin to add, but even though it wasn't best, it was still a top class site.
After reading the catalogue and browsing the website, I'd made a decision. I'd leave my 30 year long loathing of roses behind me and grow one in our garden. Once the decision had been made, I could hardly wait to get in the car and head south to Albrighton, just outside Wolverhampton, and luckily only about an hours drive from our home in Crewe. A friend, the same one who originally suggested a rose, wanted to come with us so a date was agreed upon and soon we were trundling towards what may well be one of the sweetest smelling places on earth.
The nursery is located of a narrow lane in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, although on closer inspection proved to be overlooking the main runway at RAF Cosford. A map is provided in the catalogue and on the website under the "Contact Us" section (you have to click on a further link to bring up the map), and as the nursery is well sign posted from the A41, it's easy enough to find.
The sales area is extensive with all current retail stock displayed in a pleasant courtyard type area along with a more open area to the side. As we visited late in the year (early September), only a minority of plants were in bloom but all appeared to be strong, healthy examples. These were container grown plants and can therefore, so we were told, be planted at any time. They are, however, slightly more costly than their bare-root counterparts. The drawback with bare-root plants is that they can only be planted during the cold half of the year. To weight the balance back though, bare-root plants (and this goes for all shrubs and trees) will generally grow to be stronger, more vigorous plants.
I wondered for a moment whether to order a bare-root plant instead, but that would mean a hard pruned rose that wouldn't be seen in its full glory until next summer. Richard had already found a healthy looking plant that would climb to 20 feet that was covered with bunches
Pictures of David Austin Roses Garden Centre
Renaissance Garden
of exquisite, shell pink flowers with a beautiful perfume, somewhat like a mixture of myrrh and sherbet. I simply couldn't resist taking it home and enjoying the flowers and scent for what remained of the season. Had I ordered a bare root plant, this rose would've cost £9.25 plus £5.50 carriage and packing. The one we bought was slightly more than 4 feet high with an equal spread, in full bloom and cost £10.95. I'll admit that compared to the £2.99 roses that are sold in plastic packages in supermarkets, this probably seems a bit steep, but you really have to see the quality of he plants to appreciate the prices difference and you'll certainly never find the same variety of choice in a supermarket. The choice is huge! I don't have a definite figure but there must be at least a thousand different roses available ranging from David Austin's speciality, the English Rose, to Floribundas, Ramblers, Gallicas, Damask, Shrub Roses, Ground Cover Roses, Wild Roses and Standard Roses, each beautiful in its own right.
The shop has a variety of tools available, although these are all at the higher end of the price range. A pair of secateurs costing £62.00 is out of my range, anyway. I appreciate that they're the mutt's nuts of secateurs but my £5.99 pair do the job to my satisfaction, thanks. They also sell some gorgeous, rose scented toiletries. I tried to drop a couple of big hints re the rose perfume but I don't think anybody sneaked back in so I'm not expecting any under the tree this year. There were books about roses, but at prices like £20.00, I'm sure they're more likely to be of interest to the enthusiast rather than the likes of me who may never grow more than one rose. There were cheaper ones but I'll just wait until I find something suitable at a car boot sale. I'm so cheap!
Alongside the nursery are the show gardens. Considering how few plants were flowering in the sales area, we were positively surprised at the floral display of the gardens. We were lucky because not only did we visit late in the season but also late in the day so had the gardens to ourselves. I can only describe them as stunning. Paths of perfectly manicured lawns lead you through walkways of the most delicate and impeccable roses. Arches and arbours are clad with yet more flowers and just as you start to think you'll go into sensual overload, the path opens out to reveal a fantastic renaissance garden featuring a long, oblong fountained pond a la Taj Mahal, flanked by fabulous standards and leading to a stone platform where one can sit amongst yet more roses for some quite contemplation.
Before I finish, I feel I should also mention that Claire Austin, who, if I remember correctly, is David Austin's daughter, raises hardy perennials and part of the nursery is devoted to her plants. We bought a beautiful delphinium, a hosta, a clematis and, as she has a reasonable selection of native wild flowers, a couple of dog tooth violets. The delphinium has now gone to bed for the winter, as has the hosta, but the violets are going great guns. I'm hoping they'll give plenty of the pretty little flowers in early spring, although on must've got a little confused by the warm weather as she bloomed last month. The rose has lots the last of her blooms, as has the clematis that's growing through her, but both still look healthy and I have every faith that the wall will one day be covered with beautiful blooms.
If you're close enough to Wolverhampton for a visit and you think you'd enjoy a display of roses, I'd highly recommend a visit to the gardens next summer. You can always get a little taster by looking at the pictures on the website. If you're looking to buy a rose, thanks to the mail order service, you can be just about anywhere in the world and still be able to enjoy a David Austin Rose. P&P is £5.50 inland for up to 3 plants, others must apply for a quotation.
With our pretty pink rose growing beside the patio, I'm more than happy to stop and smell the roses now - I just don't get too close! ~~+~~+~~
David Austin Roses Bowling Green Lane Albrighton Wolverhampton WV7 3HB
General Enquiries: (01902) 376300 Catalogue Order Line: (01902) 376376
Web: www.davidaustinroses.com
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How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
well... the roses are more a sort of yellow than peach! my austins have bloomed 3 times this year from April onwards! would love to visit the garden centre! :) x
fabfrog5 16.04.2006 20:54
yey! ive got peach david austins! i think the name is graham thomas? nice peach climbers - i bought mine part grown in a pot last september, they were reduced as the flowers were starting to die! bargain at £12 normally over £20!! a great review! handy to know theres an actual centre dedicated to these roses. :) x
mmpr 12.01.2005 12:33
Yes, we visited a couple of years ago. Great place. ~ Mark
Nov 28th, 2003
exceptional by (23%):
very helpful by (77%):
