Rose Miss Alice

‘Miss Alice’ produces flowers of a soft pink colour. The outer petals quickly turn pale pink, which gradually spreads over the entire flower as it ages. The flowers are about 6 - 7 cm in diameter, have a romantic rosette shape filled with small, closely packed petals. They have a delightful Old Rose fragrance with hints of lily of the valley. This rose forms a small, neat shrub that is particularly well-suited for a rose bed or the front of a border.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

The following is a detailed description of the rose variety ‘Ausjake’ / ‘Miss Alice’ with color descriptions using ordinary dictionary color definitions.

FLOWERING

The variety has a very good repeat flowering habit, blooms in flushes, with very short breaks, from early summer until frosts. This variety is one of the first roses to start to bloom among all the David Austin’s English shrub roses collection.

Flower bud:

The flower buds are medium sized, about 2.5 cm long when the petals start to unfurl. The form is rather rounded with pointed apex. When the sepals first divide, the bud color is light pink closer to the base and transitioning to carmine pink closer to the edges. When half brown, the upper sides of the petals are light pink and the lower sides of the petals are light pink with transition to deep pink closer to the edges.

The colour of the sepals is deep green with a blush of violet brown. The surface texture is dull and leathery. There are 3 lightly appendaged sepals and there are 2 unappendaged sepals with hairy edges.

The receptacle has deep green colour and smooth surface. The shape of the receptacle cup shaped; the size is medium, about 2 cm.

The peduncle is medium sized, strong and erect. The surface is smooth and glandular, the colour is medium green.

Bloom:

The flowers are medium sized, the average open size is about 8 to 9 cm (3.5") in diameter. They are born mostly singly or more seldom in small clusters of 3 - 4 together.

Upon opening the flower has a rosette shape which quickly flattens. The flowers are very full, the number of petals under normal conditions is about 120 on average.

The colour of the just opened flowers is soft, light pink on the upper and on the lower sides of the petals, the colour transitions to slightly darker shades closer to the center of the flower. As the flower ages the colour becomes lighter, light pink, fading to almost white closer to the end. Under normal growing conditions no variegation is observed on the flowers.

The general tonality at the end of the first day is light pink. At the end of the third day, the color of most of the petals is very light pink, almost white.

Petals:

The petals of this variety have a thin and silky texture. The shape of the petals is deltoid, heart-shaped, with retuse apex and the tips are slightly recurved. They have imbricated arrangement with few petaloids in the center.

The petals drop off cleanly before drying. On the plant the petals last fairly long, about 7 to 10 days under normal growing conditions. As a cut flower the lastingness of the flowers have not been tested.

Fragrance:

The fragrance of ‘Miss Alice’ is moderate, of an Old rose character, with distinctive notes of lily of the valley.

PLANT

The variety is classified as a Shrub rose from David Austin’s English Shrub Roses collection. Forms a small, compact, rounded and bushy plant. The mature and well-established plant can reach the height of about 90 - 100 cm (3 - 3.5 feet) and the width of about 90 cm (3 feet).

Foliage:

There is a normal quantity of foliage on the plant. The number of leaflets on normal mid-stem leaves is 5. The new foliage has medium green colour and the mature foliage has darker, deep green colour.

Wood:

The new wood has medium green colour, the bark is smooth. And the old wood has dark green colour, the bark is smooth with some rough patches.

Prickles:

The quantity of the prickles on the main canes from base and on the laterals from main canes is ordinary. They are medium sized, pyramidal. The colour of the young prickles is yellowish green with purple tips, they are evenly distributed around the stems. The mature prickles have gray brown colour.

Small prickles:

There are some small prickles on the main canes and on the laterals of this variety. The colour of small prickles is the same as the larger.

Disease resistance:

The rose variety ‘Miss Alice’ has good resistance to black spot, botrytis and rust. The variety is somewhat prone to mildew, especially in colder and wetter weather. Pest resistance have not been tested.

The variety is recommended for growing in climate zones similar to USDA 6 and warmer and require winter protection in more colder climates.

Named in honor of Miss Alice de Rothschild, who established a stunning rose garden at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, now owned by the National Trust. The rose garden was restored in 2000 and features many English roses varieties.

English Shrub roses

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

The rose variety ‘Ausjake’ / ‘Miss Alice’ of the Rosa hybrida class originated by David Austin by crossing in 1991 the variety ‘Ausmary’ / ‘Mary Rose’ with the unnamed and unpatented rose variety.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

‘Ausjake’ / ‘Miss Alice’ may be distinguished from its seed parent, by the following combination of characteristics:

whereas the seed parent ‘Ausmary’ / ‘Mary Rose’ has large mid pink blooms with strong Old rose fragrance, ‘Ausjake’ / ‘Miss Alice’ has smaller soft pink flowers and lighter fragrance. Also ‘Ausjake’ / ‘Miss Alice’ has a much shorter and compact plant and fewer prickles while ‘Ausmary’ / ‘Mary Rose’ forms a large shrub very well armed with prickles.

USDA 6