My Top Roses for the Adelaide Hills
- Kate Harvey
- Jul 4
- 5 min read
Rosa 'Abraham Darby'
Rosa 'Abraham Darby' has been my favourite rose since I was a little girl. The peachy, apricot, pink blooms are just gorgeous with their sunny centres and visible stamens. Bred by David Austin, it has a beautiful fragrance and grows to a medium or large shrub- this can be trained as a small patio climber. I certainly have a soft spot for this rose and so, I can over look the lower health rating. Still a fair plant, but perhaps less vigorous as some other varieties, none-the-less I would never be without it.
Rosa 'Brother Cadfael'
Bred by David Austin, 'Brother Cadfael' is a big beautiful bloomer with a wonderful perfume. A medium to large shrub rose with notably deep red stems and coppery/red new growth. Attractive foliage and very healthy. Minimal thorns. Fades to light pink with a large open cup shape.
Rosa 'Albertine'
Rosa 'Albertine' is a rambling rose bearing masses of salmon pink to apricot blooms. It is a heritage rose, bred in 1921 by French rose breeder Barbier Frères & Co. Being a rambler it will climb vigorously up to 6 metres, perfect for covering a structure or a wall.
Ramblers will only flower once a year but still worth growing for a beautiful display over several weeks in summer. Ramblers don't want pruning over winter- just a hedge back straight after flowering as they flower on last seasons growth. A very healthy and tough rose.
'The Children's Rose'
The Children's Rose is from renowned French rose breeder Meilland and is one of the longest lasting cut roses you can grow. Not only that, it has a strong fragrance, (one of my favourites) and hardly any thorns! Perfect for cutting with its long thornless stems of large, beautifully soft, powder pink blooms. A very healthy large hybrid tea bush rose.
Rosa 'Blushing Pierre De Ronsard'
Rosa 'Blushing Pierre de Ronsard' is a sport of the very popular 'Pierre de Ronsard' from French Rose breeder Meilland. It has all the same attributes of the 'Pierre de Ronsard' however it has a much lighter pink flush to the flower, some flowers are in fact more green than they are pink and I adore that. It's less showy but very romantic. Still a very healthy small climber which flowers constantly through spring and summer. Will grow well in part shade and has a light rose scent.
Rosa 'Jubilee Celebration'
Rosa 'Jubilee Celebration' was bred by David Austin and named for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. It has large salmon pink blooms with a tint of gold, and a nice geometric formation. A very reliable flowerer with a lovely fruity rose scent, growing as a medium sized english shrub rose. I have found it healthy and tough, despite its lower health rating.
Rosa 'Endeavour'
Another David Austin Rose, Rosa 'Endeavour' is a vigorous shrub rose with very healthy growth. Named after Captain Cook's ship the HMS Endeavour (used on his first voyage to Australia) it is apt that this rose thrives in our hot Summers. The blooms are large, cup shaped and vary from shades of apricot to coral pink- these photos show it looking more vivid pink than they naturally appear, but I have found the colour to vary throughout the season quite dramatically. It has a lovely fresh, citrus scent and is strongly fragrant.
Rosa 'Nahema'
Bred by the French Rose Breeder Georges Delbard, this is a truly beautiful climbing rose. The flowers are a very soft, almond blossom pink, deeply cupped and surround visible stamens which I (and the bees) just love. The flowers are gorgeous but also highly scented with a beautiful perfume, and if that wasn't enough the plant has minimal thorns- perfect for climbing on structures in close proximity to walk ways.
It's hard to find a rose that ticks all the boxes, but this one certainly does.
Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'
This rose is a little different to most other roses you may grow as it is a cultivar of a hybrid form of Tea Rose (Rosa x odorata), originating from China. It grows more like a shrub and does well in a border or as a hedge. The flowers are magical with this 'mutating' quality where each individual flower changes from yellow orange, copper to bright pink, and then a very soft pinky apricot. As each flower does this at different times you have many different colours on the one bush. The flowers are lovely and wild looking, each with 5 petals that look like butterflies flitting on the breeze (hence it's common name- the Butterfly Rose) and beautiful, big stamens. Because of the flower's more natura
l form they can look great in a wild setting, where a more traditional rose would look out of place.
Rosa 'Betty Cuthbert'
Rosa 'Betty Cuthbert' is a Kordes' Rose from the Fairytale Rose collection. Named after Australian track champion and four time olympic gold medalist- Betty Cuthbert. It's also associated with the charity MS australia - so an all round winning rose! It grows to a very healthy medium sized shrub and produces masses of clusters of soft pink to apricot blooms.
Rosa 'Earth Angel'
To me this is just the perfect old english rose, but with the benefits of being a healthy new variety, bred by Kordes' Roses from the Parfuma Collection. Similar to the 'Pierre de Ronsard' but grows as a small bush rather than a climber and the flowers are wonderfully fragrant. Such a delicate rose with a romantic old world feel. I love it.
Rosa 'Mermaid'
This rose has stunning large single blooms of very soft primrose yellow. I love the large stamens and open blooms, and it reminds me so of the elusive Romneya Poppy I'm yet to grow, but has been on my list for years.
Similarly to the Rosa 'Mutabilis' this rose's parentage originates from China and looks great in a more wild setting. It was bred in 1906 in the UK and is still well regarded today, showing it has really stood the test of time.
This vigorous climber has fierce thorns so it wants to be grown well out of the way- brushing passed this plant is risky business! A positive to this is that it makes a great habitat for small birds- I had a family of Blue Wrens living between this and my raspberry patch- so lovely!
The backwards thorns on these climbing or rambling roses actually help the plants cling onto things, useful if you have something you want covered without too much fuss.
Comments