Are there any good red varieties of English Roses?
David Austin has had mixed success breeding red roses. Most older red English Roses (such as ‘Fisherman’s Friend’, ‘Prospero, ‘The Squire’ and ‘William Shakespeare’) have produced beautiful fragrant dark red flowers on weak plants that are disease-prone (especially to blackspot). Recent crosses, especially with the vigorous and disease-resistant Mary Rose, have attempted to improve on those weaknesses and seem to have produced some better red English Roses, ‘The Prince’, ‘L.D. Braithwaite’ and ‘The Dark Lady’. It may be misleading to think of these as red roses, since many varieties of “red” English Roses can be quite purple in many climates. • The Prince • L.D. Braithwaite • The Dark Lady ‘The Prince’ (1990, 2.5’x3′, ‘Lilian Austin’ x ‘The Squire’) has some of the darkest flowers of any rose, described as either dark red or purple-red. It is very fragrant, though its flowers may be much less fragrant during hot summer weather. The flowers have a short vase life. It is a good repeat bl
