April 28, 2006

We Promise You a Rose Garden

David Austin Roses

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Easy for Juliet to say: She had the things billowing down her balcony.

Star-crossed Southern gardeners, on the other hand? Our love affair with roses has always been ill-fated, given a climate more pleasing to pests, mildew, and oppressive heat than tempermental blooms. As it turns out, the hybrid tea roses that most novices fall in love with aren’t suited to our sultry climes.

But hark: English gardener David Austin has coaxed Atlanta-compatible varieties into bearing repeat buds and deeper fragrances than those we’re accustomed to.

Peruse Austin’s site and navigate recommended choices (Dark Lady or Golden Celebration, for instance) by color, bud-per-bloom, or the season in which you’re planting. And rest assured that your bushes are guaranteed for a full year.

A predestined happy ending if we’ve ever heard one.

Available online at davidaustinroses.com.