Rose Winchester Cathedral

A white sport of 'Mary Rose', with the occasional touch of pink. It produces a mass of medium-sized, loose petalled, fragrant rosettes, and continues to bloom at regular intervals throughout the summer. It makes a well-shaped shrub with twiggy, bushy growth and nice foliage.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
The following is a detailed description of the new variety, color terminology being in accordance with the "Methuen Handbook of Color" published by Eyre Methuen Ltd (1963).

PLANT DESCRIPTION
Plant height is about 120 - 150 cm, the width is 125 cm in average. It forms tall, upright and bushy shrub.

Branches:
Young stems have greyish green colour (29D7), with red glandular hairs and about 5-12 prickles per internode with width 1-3 mm, length 1-3 mm and brownish red (8E7).

Old stems have dark green colour (29E8); have red glandular hairs and/or thorns. Thorns are many, 10-20 per internode, width is 1-6 mm and the length is 1-5 mm. Color is reddish brown (8E7).

LEAVES:
Stipules have length of 1.8-2.2 mm and width of 5-8 mm; angle of wingtips to petiole is variable, but most often less than 45° ; the color - medium green. Edges with red glandular hairs along central line (petiole) with distinct 11E6 violet brown blush. They have wings convex shape, clasping at base.

Petiole:
General description. Length of the petioles 8-11 cm, the colour is dark green (29F7) with violet brown blush (11E6) on the upper side. Present red glandular hairs, no thorns. Underside’s colour is greyish green (29D7) with sparse red glandular hairs.

Leaflets:
The number varies from 3 to 7 (mainly 5). Shape is ovoid with cuspidate tip, the serration is dentate; the texture is tough and leathery.

General effect of foliage is medium dense. Color of the young foliage on the upper side is deep green (29E8) and of the underside is greyish green (29D6) with 11F7 violet brown blush. Margins have violet brown colour (11F7). Adult foliage is dark green (27F7) on the upperside and spinach green (29E6) on the underside.

THE PLANT DEVELOPMENT Vegetation: Vigorous.

Blooming: Abundant and continual.

Aptitude to bearing fruits: None.

Resistance to frost: Good.

Resistance to disease: Very good.

INFLORESCENCE
Number of flowers per stem is very variable, from 1 to 15.

Peduncle:
Length is about 3.0-4.5 cm, have medium green colour. There are medium dense red glandular hairs.

Sepals greyish green (29D7) on the upper side with brownish red blush (10C6), have occasional ensiform appendages. The outer margins have sparse red glandular hairs. Inner margins entire, edged with fine white downy hairs. The underside colour is spring green (30C7). The texture is smooth. Sepal length is about 1.7-2.5 cm.

Bud shape is round, with cuspidate tip before bud break; length is about 2.5-3.0 cm before bud break, max. width is around 1.0-1.2 cm before bud break.

Color when opening pale/light orange (5A3/4) with geranium blush (11B7).

Flower shape is flattened cup. Outer petals recurved towards stem on the blooms as they age. The diameter of the flowers is about 5.0-6.5 cm.

Flower color when opening on the upperside is pale yellow (3A3) and cream (4A3) on the underside. The colour later changes when the flower is fully open to yellow white (4A2) and lighter on the upperside, the underside is yellowish white (4A2) but slightly deeper.

Flower coloring when finished blooming on the upperside is white (4A1) with yellow (3A3/4) basal tip, the underside is white (4A1), basal tip yellow (3A3/4).

Length of blooming season at production location: From June to October.

Fragrance: Strong, Old rose, sweet.

Lasting quality: Good. Range in number of days on the plant is 10-12 days. Range in number of days as cut flowers is 6-9 days.

Petals. :
Shape. The outside has width of about 2.5-4.0 cm and the length of about 3.0-3.5 cm. They are heart shaped, apex and bilobed, margin slightly irregular, narrowing to truncate base. Middle has width of about 2.5-4.0 cm and length about 3.0-3.5 cm, roughly ovoid, apex wide and flattish irregular or bilobed, narrowing to v-shaped or truncate base. The inside is fairly irregular, has round ovoid, apex rounded or irregularly lobed with some narrowing to a v-shaped true petal shape and others growing from the filaments and are not true petal shape, that is, staminate; the width is about 1.0-1.5 cm and the length is 1.5-2.0 cm.

Petals have fairly solid texture, their number on the flower is about 80-85.

Average good petals fall reasonably easily to leave a tidy looking rose but not quite as quickly as desired.

Reproductive organs
Stamens number is about 52-60 but on average 55. Anthers are reddish yellow (4A7).

Filaments have pastel yellow colour (2A4) and length of 4.5 mm.

Pistils number on a flower is about 46-53 but on average 50.

Stigmas have greenish white (30A2) or yellowish/white (1A2) colour.

Styles are yellowish green (30B7) and have length of about 5.9 mm.

Receptacle are deep green with greyish (30D8), have smooth texture, length is about 1.0-1.2 cm and the width is about 0.8-0.9 cm.

Named after one of the finest cathedrals in Britain.

English Shrub Roses

‘Auscat’/ ‘Winchester Cathedral’ is sport of 'Mary Rose' / ‘Ausmary’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of shrub roses, said new variety originating as a single seedling resulting from a definite effort to produce an improvement in this class of rose.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Primary features of this new variety which connote a distinctive advance over existing types are the vigorous, abundant and continual blooming that occurs for 5 months taken with the perfection of the fully double flowers of an old-fashioned shape, more particularly apparent in the accompanying illustration of a specimen thereof.

Class: Shrub.

Propagation: The variety holds its distinguishing characteristics through succeeding propagations by budding.

Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by budding has taken place at a nursery in Albrighton, Nr. Wolverhampton, England and was derived as follows: - Female parent (seed parent): Wife of Bath × Un-named seedling (both non-patented). - Male parent (pollen parent): Mme Caroline Testout × The Friar (both non-patented).

The operation of artificial pollination is therefore expressed by the following (Wife of Bath × Mme Caroline Testout) × The Friar.

USDA zone 4 and warmer