Since moving into our new home, I have become obsessed with roses. The gardens here are large and mature with several small rose bushes planted here, there and on each side of the back door. I’ve listened to numerous podcasts and read books and magazine articles dedicated to these most romantic of flowers. I adore both the scent and taste of rose. I use rose essence often in my baking and cooking- but it is their blousy, old-fashioned aesthetic that appeals most.
David Austin Rose Gardens and Nursery
Even before we moved, I knew that David Austin has won numerous gold medals at The Chelsea Flower Show. Their (free) catalogue is a joy to behold and there are numerous books available about the man himself and his rose varieties. What I didn’t know until recently though, is that the David Austin rose gardens in Shropshire are open to visitors. Ian and I spent the weekend in Lichfield a few weeks ago so we took a detour to visit en-route. As well as the rose gardens, there is a cafe at which we had a huge quiche and a slice of the most divine rose Battenburg cake. There is also a plant nursery and a gift shop.
I got so much inspiration from the gardens; it was incredibly useful to see and smell the roses because as beautiful as the catalogue is, it is difficult to be certain about the colours, sizes and fragrances. As well as that though, we noticed low yew hedging along many of the borders, which inspired us to take cuttings from a large yew tree in our garden, (more on that another day but you can see what we’ve been up to here). I’ll let the photographs speak for themselves.
I thoroughly recommend spending half a day tat David Austin if you’re in the vicinity and It’s well worth a detour if you’re not. We visited at the end of August. The majority of plants were still in bloom but I’d be interested to see it earlier in the year too- perhaps in June. I shall be buying my roses bare root over in a month or so and I can’t wait to get them planted. I’ll share the progress when I can.
