Rose Belle Story

Some time ago 'Belle Story' rose had introduced a distinct flower form to the English Roses. The petals are slightly spaced apart and curve inward at the edges. The flower is neatly rounded, with yellow stamens clearly visible at the center. The color is a delicate pink, fading slightly towards the petal edges. Forms a strong and reliable shrub and has been rated "excellent" by the American Rose Society.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

FLOWERING

'Belle Story' has very good repeating, almost continuous flowering, blooms in flushes from early summer until frosts.

Flower bud:

The flower bud has an elongated ovoid shape. The colour of the bud color as the sepals first unfold is medium green. The flower buds borne mostly several together, generally 3 to 7 flower buds per stem.

Bloom:

The flowers of this variety are large, they can be as large as 11.4 cm (4 1/2 inches) across, with the center bud opening to a 15.2 cm (6-inch) spread. The flowers are shallow-cupped, opening from pointed buds to semi-double blooms of pale peachy pink with a hint of yellow at the petal base, and display red-gold stamens at the center. The outer guard petals reflex back, giving the flat, open flowers a grace and charm rivaling the classic old garden roses.

The petals drop of cleanly before drying.

Fragrance:

The flowers of 'Belle Story' have a wonderfully strong myrrh fragrance with a spicy overtone.

PLANT

This rose is classified as a Shrub rose from David Austin’s English Shrub roses collection. The plant has a strong, vigorous growth habit. The plant has very neat, upright, branchy and rounded growth. Forms upright and bushy plant, reaching a height of about 120 - 150 cm and the width of about 120 - 150 cm at the end of the growing season.

The plant of this variety can grow a bit wider than tall. This cultivar works best when grouped in plantings of three or more for maximum impact. Like many of Austin's finest English Roses, 'Belle Story' has the great landscape shrub rose 'Iceberg' as one of its parents and imparts its grace as a landscape shrub and the charm of its flower to its descendants.

Foliage:

'Belle Story' is adorned with large, dark green foliage that has good natural disease resistance. There is a normal quantity of foliage on a plant. The number of leaflets on a normal mid stem leaf is 5. The young foliage has red brown color and glossy appearance, while the mature leaves are dark green and have semi-glossy appearance. The edges are serrated, the type of serration is medium and single.

Prickles:

Its stems have quite few prickles on the main canes from base, and few on the laterals from main canes. They are medium sized, and the form is pyramidal, slightly hooked downward. The colour when young is purple red and the mature prickles have brown gray colour. The prickles are evenly spread around the stems.

Disease resistance:

The variety has good resistance to most common rose diseases. Pest resistance has not been tested.

The variety is recommended for growing in climate zones similar to USDA 5 and warmer and require winter protection in more colder climates.

This cultivar honors the first woman to serve in the Royal Navy as a nursing sister in the 1880s. Belle was one of the few women to serve on board ships during a time when the navy was deemed unsuitable for women. Much like her namesake, this rose is a resilient and charming presence.

English Shrub Roses

Modern Shrub Rose, West Pasco Rose Society Show, 1998;

Modern Shrub Rose, Jacksonville Rose Society Show, 1999;

Modern Shrub Rose, Mother Lode Rose Society Show, 1999;

Modern Shrub Rose, Pacific Southwest District Show, 1999;

Modern Shrub Rose, Thomson Rose Society Show, 1999;

Modern Shrub Rose, Glendale Rose Society Show, 2000;

Modern Shrub Rose, East Bay Rose Society Show, 2001;

Modern Shrub Rose, Jackson Rose & Garden Society Show, 2001;

Modern Shrub Rose, Rogue Valley Rose Society Show, 2001;

Modern Shrub Rose, Rose Society of Greater St. Louis Show, 2001;

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

The rose variety ‘Auselle’ / ‘Belle Story’ of the Rosa hybrida class originated by David Austin by crossing two rose unknown and unnamed rose seedlings, the parentage of which can be summarized by the following formula:

 The seed parent, or female parent was an unnamed rose seedling with the following parentage:

   - the seed parent or the or female parent was the rose variety ‘Chaucer’ by David Austin, 1970;

   - the pollen parent or male parent was a Climbing rose ‘Parade’ by Boerner, 1953;

 The pollen parent, or male parent was an unnamed rose seedling with the following parentage:

   - the seed parent or the or female parent was the rose variety ‘The Prioress’ by David Austin, 1969;

   - the pollen parent or male parent was a Floribunda rose ‘KORbin’ / 'Iceberg' by Reimer Kordes, 1958;

The parentage of this rose can be summarized with the following formula:

('Chaucer' X 'Parade') x ('The Prioress' X 'Iceberg')

USDA 5