David Austin Wedding Roses
The rose Carey is a member of the ‘David Austin Wedding Roses’ collection. In the year 2000 David Austin began breeding for cut roses with the shapes and fragrances of old Garden roses but with the vase life of a commercial cut varieties.
David Austin Wedding
Rose KATE™
Named in honour of the Duchess of Cambridge, the David Austin Wedding Rose Kate is already proving to be a popular choice for weddings and events. The garden-style blooms perfectly complement cottage garden flowers and foliage.
Kate is beautiful at all stages as the long elegant buds with attractive, silvery magenta pink outer petals gradually open to wide blooms of up to four inches across. The David Austin Wedding Rose Kate has many magenta pink petals which give the overall impression of rich raspberry pink. As the roses age the petals deepen in colour, taking on hints of purple.
The flowers are fully double with exquisitely waved outer petals. Over time golden yellow stamens are eventually revealed. The mature flowers are in the style of 18th and 19th century Gallicas, with some of the character of both Charles de Mills and Tuscany Superb, which are generally considered amongst the most beautiful of all roses.
The fragrance is a beautifully balanced, pure rose fragrance with what our fragrance expert, Robert Calkin, describes as having a “touch of after-rain freshness”. There are also subtle hints of raspberry, redcurrant, geranium and bergamot. The fragrance varies in intensity as the flower ages.
The David Austin Wedding Rose Kate benefits from a long vase life of seven days.
Specifications of David Austin Wedding Rose Kate:
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Shape : Cupped rosette
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Color : Rich Magenta Pink
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Petal Count : 65
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Diameter : 10-12 cm
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Fragrance : Strong and fresh with hints of lemon and pear drops
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Vase Life : 7-9 days
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Breeder : David Austin
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Plant Name : Auschris
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Best use after: 4-5 days
The Story behind David Austin Roses
David Austin was born in 1926 on the farm where he lived all his life. He is the son of a farmer and began farming before going into business as a nurseryman in the early 1960s. From an early age, he has been interested in gardening.
In the 1940s, a copy of George Bunyard’s book on old roses gave him the idea of crossing old roses with modern roses. The old roses – that is the Gallicas, Damasks, albas, etc. – had all but died out at that time. His objective being to create new roses in the style of old roses, thus combining the unique charm and fragrance of old roses with the wide color range and repeat-flowering qualities of modern roses. He was also particularly interested in producing well-formed shrubs that would make good garden plants.
In the year 2000 David began breeding for cut roses. He was looking for roses with the shapes and fragrances of old Garden roses but with the vase life of commercial cut varieties. Tambuzi, Rosaprima, and Alexandra farms amongst others are growing these varieties for the cut flower markets of the world and they are testing dozens of new varieties for introductions in the coming years.