Rosa 'AUStango' 'SUMMER SONG' shrub rose (David Austin)

Summer Song is a poetic enough name for a rose, however, I would suggest an alternative name for this ineffable beauty, something like Summer Coral or Coral Splendour which is exactly what this rose really is. An extraordinary mixture of salmon pink and coral orange makes this rose an outstanding experience in the rose world. Moreover, the fragrance is something you cannot miss when passing by. David Austin fragrance expert description is “like a florist’s shop, with hints of chrysanthemum leaves, ripe bananas and tea”. Wow, what a lure! Leaves are medium green, reasonably healthy. The shrub grows upright and may produce unsightly defoliated canes in summer therefore pruning to half their size in late July will help maintain the plant in a nice form.

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 leaflets. Mulch well before winter, preferably with leaf-mould.

Last update: 03-02-2015.