Rosa 'CHARLES DARWIN' shrub rose (David Austin)

The blooms of Charles Darwin are some of the largest to be found in the English Roses and are on a par with Brother Cadfael and Golden Celebration, creating a really impressive effect in the garden. The flowers are very full and rounded at first, then opening up to a shallow cup. They are a lovely shade of rich yellow - almost Old Gold - sometimes with lemony or sandy tints. It makes a most attractive, bushy and eye catching shrub that is very healthy and would be ideal for towards the front of a mixed or pure rose border.


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 need 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 bracts. Mulch well before winter, preferably with leaf-mould.

Last update: 24-01-2009.