Rose Barbara Austin

‘Barbara Austin’ is a beautiful rose with mid-pink flowers that fade to a soft blush pink, sometimes with hints of mauve. Its blooms are lightly cupped and form informal rosettes, and show a mass of petals arranged as an informal rosette with a button-eye in the center. The rose blooms profusely, covering the bush in shapely flowers on a strong, upright shrub with mid-green leaves, though it may require staking as it matures. Resembling a Portland Rose, ‘Barbara Austin’ has a lovely fragrance of Old Rose and lilac.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

Throughout this description of the rose variety 'Barbara Austin' is provided with color descriptions using terminology of the The Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society, except where common terms of color definition are employed. Phenotypic expression may vary with environmental, cultural and climatic conditions, as well as differences in conditions of light and soil.

FLOWERING

This rose variety has a recurrent flowering habit. Blooms in flushes with short breaks from summer until frosts. The number of blooms per plant during the growing season is profuse, but there are too many to count.

Flower bud:

The flower buds of 'Barbara Austin' rose variety are medium sized, about 2.5 cm long and 2.8 cm in diameter when the petals start to unfurl. The bud form is short, pointed ovoid. When the sepals first divide, the bud color is light red pink (Group 38B) with pink (Group 37B). When half open, the upper sides of the petals are light blue pink (Group 56D) and the lower sides of the petals are light blue pink (Group 56C) with light blue pink (Group 62D).

The sepals have a length of about 2.7 cm and a width of 1 cm. The shape of the sepals is lanceolate, the surface texture is hairy on the upper surface and waxy on the lower surface. The colour on the upper surface and on the lower surface is light green (Group 144B). There are 3 lightly appendaged sepals and there are 2 unappendaged sepals with hairy edges.

The receptacle is light green (Group 144B), funnel shaped and has a smooth surface. The size of the receptacle is small, about 1.2 cm long and about 0.6 cm in diameter.

The peduncle is medium to short, averaging to about 2.5 - 4.5 cm in length, erect and has a prickly surface. The colour of the peduncle is dark green brown (Group 152B) with dark brown purple (Group 184A).

Bloom:

The flowers are large, the average diameter of the open flower is about 8 cm. When first open, the flower form is flat, rosette-shaped, the outer petals curl back. Flowers are very full, the number of petals under normal conditions is 73. They are born in small clusters, of 2 - 6 blooms together, having a pyramidal shape. The flowering stem has normal strength, medium, and has an average length of about 25 - 60 cm.

The upper sides of the petals are light blue pink (Group 56C) and the reverse sides of the petals are light blue pink (Group 56B). The base of each petals is light yellow (Group 10D) or medium yellow (Group 4A). The major color on the upper sides is light blue pink (Group 56C). On the flowers of rose variety 'Barbara Austin' there is no variegation observed under normal growing conditions.

The general tonality at the end of the first day is light blue pink (Group 56C), at the end of the third day the general tonality does not change, remaining the same.

Petals:

The texture of the petals is leathery and the surface is smooth; the shape of the petals is notched, and the form is slightly recurved on the tips while the edges slightly quilled towards center. The arrangement of the petals is irregular, the petaloids are few and small, positioned in the center.

The petals of this rose variety have poor self-cleaning quality, they normally hang on and dry. Under normal climate conditions the petals last relatively long, on the plant they last for about 7 days, and their lastingness as a cut flower has not been tested.

Fragrance:

The fragrance of the rose 'Barbara Austin' is moderate to strong, soft, of Old rose character with notes of lilac.

Reproductive parts:

The number of stamens is medium, they are partly tucked in calyx.

The anthers have medium yellow orange colour (Group 15B).

The colour of the filaments is medium yellow (Group 8B).

The pollen is dark yellow (Group 15A).

The colour of the styles is light green (Group 149D).

Stigma are medium yellow (Group 8A).

The hips of this rose variety have not been observed yet.

PLANT

The rose variety 'Barbara Austin' is classified as a Shrub rose. The growth character is upright, bushy, and vigorous growth. Mature and well-established plant has a height of about 120 - 125cm and the width of about 80 - 125 cm.

This rose variety is closely related in overall appearance to the old Portland Roses, which were the first repeat-flowerers to be introduced after the China Roses. The Portland Roses are among the most beautiful of the repeat-flowering Old Roses and also some of the most fragrant. Occasionally, strong non-flowering shoots may appear, which should be cut back to encourage blooming later in the season. This rose forms a medium-sized shrub with a unique charm.

Foliage:

There is a normal quantity of the foliage on the plants of this rose variety. The number of leaflets on normal mid-stem leaves is usually 5. The foliage is medium sized, about 16.5 cm long and about 12.7 cm wide.

The colour of the juvenile foliage on the upper side is medium green (Group 143A) while the lower side is medium green (Group 143C). The mature foliage on the upper side is dark brown green (Group 137A) and on the lower side is dark green (Group 138A).

Leaflets:

The size of the leaflets is medium sized, they have an elliptic shape, the surface texture is leathery and semi-glossy. The edges are serrated, the type of serration is double and medium.

The petiole has medium green colour (Group 143C), and has a rough surface texture. The petiole rachis is medium green colour (Group 143C) with medium brown purple (Group 182A). The stipules are medium sized, about 2.5 cm long.

Wood:

The new wood of this rose variety has dark brown green colour (Group 146A) with dark brown purple (Group 183B), the bark is rough. The mature wood is medium green (Group 144A), the bark remains rough.

Prickles:

There are ordinary prickles present on the main canes from base, and on the laterals from main canes there are few prickles, they are quite evenly distributed up the stems. The shape of the prickles is short, hooked downward. The colour of the young and of the mature prickles is medium yellow brown (Group 164B).

Small prickles:

There are few small prickles on the main canes of this rose, and on the laterals from the main canes of this rose variety there are many prickles. The small prickles have the same medium yellow brown colour (Group 164B).

Disease resistance:

The rose variety 'Barbara Austin' has good resistance to most common rose diseases, in particular it is resistant to mildew, blackspot and rust under normal growing conditions. The pest resistance has not been tested yet.

Rose variety is recommended for growing in climate conditions similar to USDA 5 and requires winter protection in more colder climates.

Named after David Austin’s sister, Barbara Stockitt, who has a beautiful garden and specialises in growing topiary.

English Shrub Roses

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

Rose variety ‘Austop’ / 'Barbara Austin' originated by David Austin by crossing the variety ‘Fair Bianca’ with an unnamed, unpatented seedling.

BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY

The primary objective of this rose variety breeding was to create a new rose variety with good disease resistance, an Old rose appearance with pale pink flowers which repeat well, and Portland type leaves and flowers.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

The objective was achieved, along with other important improvements, and this rose variety incorporated the following unique combination of characteristics:

 Fairly upright growth;

 Portland type leaves and flowers;

 Large, pale pink blooms;

 Moderate to strong fragrance;

 Very good disease resistance;

 Profuse flowering;

Asexual reproduction of this variety by budding showed that the foregoing and all other characteristics and distinctions came true to form, established and transmitted through the succeeding propagations.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

The ‘Austop’ / ‘Barbara Austin’ may be distinguished from its seed parent, by the following combination of characteristics:

 ‘Austop’ / ‘Barbara Austin’ has blush pink, rosette-shaped flowers, and ‘Fair Bianca’ variety has white cupped flowers.

The characteristics of the pollen parent have not been disclosed.

USDA 5