Rosa 'AUSvibrant' YOUNG LYCIDAS® English shrub rose (David Austin)

YOUNG LYCIDAS® is an English rose by David Austin from 2008, named after a character of John Milton’s poem from 1637 where he calls his late friend Edward King by the name Lycidas. This rose was named so to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of the poet John Milton who, interestingly, was the one who introduced the word fragrance into the English language.

YOUNG LYCIDAS® is a large-flowered (10-12 cm across), heavily cupped, fully double rose of deep raspberry pink to almost purple pink flowers. The scent is strong, tea and old rose with hits of cedar. The plants form medium, well-branched, arching shrubs slightly over one meter tall and wide. Deciduous leaves are dark green, partially glossy, and very healthy. US patent No. PP20960 was granted in 2010.

Planting instructions: Prepare a hole of size 30x30 cm. Put your rose in the way that the grafting point is 3 cm deep in the soil. Water well and cover new shoots with soil or bark mulch about 15 cm high. Roses tolerate wide range of soils but thrive in deep, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil, in full sun.

Pruning: English roses don’t require hard pruning like tea hybrids. Just cut last year’s growth by one third to maximum one half in the spring (after frosts) to achieve desired shape, and strong and reliable framework. Cutting it back to 3-5 live buds is possible for re-juvenating. To support extra flowering during the season remove twigs past blossom: cut them off the first leaf with 5 leaflets. Mulch well before winter, preferably with leaf-mould.

Last update: 28-12-2021