Rosa Pat Austin - English Shrub Rose

The Pat Austin Rose is a bright and charming English bush rose. It forms an arching and bushy shrub with a graceful habit, on which small clusters of roses bloom, blending different shades of orange, ranging from soft coppery orange to salmon ochre, almost yellow on the inside of the petals. This colour, quite unusual for English roses, radiates orange tones without being aggressive.   Double flowers with deep cups have a beautiful scent of tea rose. Despite the susceptibility of its beautiful dark foliage to rose diseases, the beautiful Pat Austin rose radiates until October. 

This rose belongs to the family of English Roses, a term coined by the breeder David Austin himself. These roses are obtained by cross-breeding an old rose (gallica, bourbon, etc.) with a Hybrid Tea or a Floribunda. English Roses are well known for repeat flowering and their beautiful rosette flowers, which are very fragrant. 'Pat Austin', classified in the group of Leander hybrids, is the result of a cross between the excellent rose 'Graham Thomas' and the rose 'Abraham Darby'. This variety has been awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society in England, as well as in Australia.

'Pat Austin' is a vigorous, bushy and regular shrub rose, elegantly trailing, which constantly produces new shoots. This variety does not exceed 1.25m (4ft) in height by 1m (3ft) in diameter, so it remains quite short and is perfect for layering a rose bed, in the foreground of taller varieties. Flowering takes place from June until September, throughout the summer, in successive waves, provided that faded flowers are regularly removed and the plant does not lack water or nutrients. The large salmon-orange buds open into large 8-10cm (3-4in) flowers. In the form of very double cups, they are composed of more than 40 bicoloured petals, pale coppery orange on the outside, more yellow on the inside. This combination of shades is reminiscent of Rosa foetida Bicolor. They exude a pronounced scent of tea rose, with warm and heady undertones. Its deciduous foliage is fairly dark green and glossy. Its resistance to diseases is quite low, depending on the climate and growing conditions.

The large flowers in beautiful warm shades standout in shrub beds with dark foliage, such as Physocarpus, hazelnut trees, or Cotinus Royal Purple. English roses are magnificent when planted in groups of 3 plants: they then form a true mass of flowers throughout the season. To enhance the softly coppery flowers of Pat Austin, for example, a white rose like Winchester Cathedral, or a mauve rose like Charles de Gaulle or Blue Girl can be planted alongside it. In mixed borders, it will also accompany light annuals such as Nigella damascena, and even grasses, whose tufted foliage will cover its sometimes bare base. All white, blue or mauve flowers go wonderfully well with the orange and yellow tones. Finally, the roses of Pat Austin are beautiful as cut flowers.

Bred by David Austin in 1995.