Rosa x rugosa 'Wild Edric' - Rugosa Rose

The English rose 'Wild Edric' is a sturdy variety derived from Rosa rugosa. It is exceptionally vigorous, hardy, reliable, and capable of thriving under challenging conditions. Its semi-double flowers, deep pink with purple and mauve reflections, are powerfully scented and repeat regularly on a rounded bush. It is also comfortable in flower beds, in slightly wild areas of the garden, or a countryside hedge. This variety combines qualities and, for all these reasons, deserves to be included in every garden.

This rose forms a bush with sturdy, thorny and ramified stems of 1.25 m (4ft) in all directions, covered with beautiful embossed and shiny foliage. It shows excellent resistance to cold and diseases, tolerates poor soils, provides a perpetual flowering and is pretty fruiting. This variety combines the beauty of flowers and their beautiful size and an enchanting fragrance. At first glance, it is both powerful and delightful. It is complex and different depending on whether it emanates from the petals or the stamens: the petals exhale a fragrance of old rose, with notes of watercress and cucumber, while the stamens develop a clove aroma. The flowers are born from charming pointed buds, purple-pink, which gradually open into semi-double flowers of deep velvety pink, nuanced with purple and mauve, revealing a bouquet of golden stamens. This variety requires no treatment. It won first prize in the BARB trials in Pencoed, Wales.

The 'Wild Edric' will be used in all problematic situations, partially shaded areas, and poor soil, where other varieties struggle to grow and bloom. If it is planted in ideal conditions, it will, of course, flower even more abundantly. It can be paired with other rugosa roses (Rosa rugosa scabrosa, Rosa rugosa rubra, Rosa rugosa alba) in flowering shrub hedges. Still, it also goes very well with old or contemporary roses.

"Wild Edric" was a Saxon Lord from Shropshire who, it is said, married a fairy queen. One day, he reproached her, and she disappeared. Legend has it that his ghost haunts the hills in search of her.

Obtained by David Austin.