Rose Emanuel

With its generous flowering, rich scent, and couture-inspired name, ‘Emanuel’ captures the spirit of refined beauty and classic romance. For gardeners seeking a showy, fragrant shrub with a story ‘Emanuel’ is a dazzling and rewarding choice. Each flower is a softly blushed rosette that looks hand-sculpted for a royal bouquet, each flush accompanied by a rich fruit fragrance. Provide sunshine, decent air movement and a touch of preventative care, and this stylish shrub will reward you with a runway show of pastel petals from May until the first frosts.

FLOWERING

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

Buds blush the palest peach-pink and unfurl into sumptuous, near-flat rosettes where soft blush, warm apricot and a golden petal base swirl together like silk in morning light. Petals twist and scroll at the centre, giving each flower a ruffled, bespoke look; towards the end of its life the bloom reflexes slightly

‘Emanuel’ bears large flowers, about 12 cm (5 inches) in diameter. The flowers are very full, they start as cupped and quickly open into wide, flat rosettes filled with numerous petals, many of which are delightfully twisted and scrolled at the center, creating a sense of dynamic movement and layered beauty. Over time, the petals may reflex slightly, giving the blooms an elegant, nodding posture that adds grace to their display and showing a mix of mingled pink and cream in the center.

The color shifts with the weather, presenting a deeper apricot-pink in cool temperatures and fading toward pale pink or cream in warmer sun. This variability adds depth and surprise to each blooming flush. They are often borne singly or in small clusters of 2 - 3 blooms together, and stems carry blooms at a graceful nod rather than stiffly upright, so flowers meet the eye.

The fragrance of the rose 'Emanuel' is strong and fruity with a hint of honey.

PLANT

The rose variety 'Emanuel' is classified as a Shrub rose and is part of David Austin’s English Shrub Roses collection. It forms a vigorous, upright yet bushy shrub with strong branching. The canes are mildly prickled and sturdy enough to support the heavy flowers. A mature and well-established plant has a height of about 120 - 180 cm and the width of about 120 - 150 cm. The foliage is abundant, deep green, lightly glossy, providing a dramatic backdrop for pastel blooms.

If pegged or lightly arched, the stems appear from nearly every node, making it a good candidate for creative training in borders or low walls. It can be used as a centre-piece shrub in a mixed or cottage border, paired with salvias, nepeta or silver foliage echoing the peach-pink tones. Its thick stems, powerful perfume, and large, flat blooms add instant opulence to arrangements and are perfect for flower arrangements. Suitable for rose borders or as featured solid shrub, designed for romantic mixed plantings.

It thrives in full sun with well-drained soil and can quickly fill a medium-sized space with color and fragrance. Deadheading helps maintain its momentum, and its strong, fruity-sweet scent attracts pollinators to the garden.

Its one known flaw is susceptibility to blackspot, especially in humid or wet climates. In regions where fungal diseases are prevalent, it may require regular preventive spraying to maintain good health. In contrast, it performs beautifully in dry, warm regions such as the western U.S., Mediterranean, South Africa, or inland Australia, where disease pressure is minimal.

Rose variety is recommended for growing in climate conditions similar to USDA 6 and requires winter protection in more colder climates.

This rose was named for David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the well-known dress designers. They designed the wedding dress for Lady Diana Spencer’s marriage to the Prince of Wales in 1981.

English Shrub Roses

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

Rose variety ‘Ausuel’ / 'Emanuel' originated by David Austin by crossing two unnamed and unpatented rose seedlings:

 female parent (seed parent) is result of cross pollination of the English shrub rose ’Auscer’ / ‘Chaucer’ with the male parent (pollen parent) - a Climbing rose ’Parade’;

 male parent (pollen parent) is result of cross pollination of the unnamed rose seedling with the Floribunda rose ‘Schneewittchen’ (‘Iceberg’).

USDA 6