''Rosa'' Constance Spry is a light pink shrub rose introduced into

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in 1961. It is the first rose

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

commercially developed by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

rose breeder, David C.H. Austin. 'Constance Spry' was introduced at a time when the shrub rose was out of style, the hybrid tea rose being the most popular rose with gardeners. The new cultivar renewed the popularity of the more old fashioned type of rose.

Description

'Constance Spry' is a vigorous, spreading shrub, 8 to 20 ft (243–609 cm) in height, with a 6 to 8 ft spread (182–243 cm). It has been described as a "lanky grower" it can be grown as a climber or large shrub. It blooms in clusters of medium to large, fully double flowers, which are cupped and globular in shape. The blooms are pale pink on the outside, and a deeper, darker pink within. The rose is noted for its strong, distinctive "

myrrh Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus '' Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh mix ...

like" scent, a characteristic inherited by many of its descendants. It blooms once a year for four weeks in late spring or early summer. The plant has abundant foliage and flexible canes that are easy to train.

History

'Constance Spry' was the first rose developed commercially by David C.H. Austin, an amateur rose breeder at the time, living in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Austin was interested in developing new rose cultivars that would look and smell like old fashioned roses. One of his early successes was crossing the Gallica rose, ''Rosa'' ‘Belle Isis’, and the floribunda, ''Rosa'' ‘Dainty Maid’. Among the resulting seedlings was a strong, sweet smelling rose with large pink flowers. Austin showed the new cultivar to his friend and legendary horticulturalist,

Graham Thomas Graham Stuart Thomas (3 April 1909 – 17 April 2003), was an English horticulturist, who is likely best known for his work with garden roses, his restoration and stewardship of over 100 National Trust gardens and for writing 19 books on garde ...

, who showed the rose to Hillings Nursery. The nursery introduced the new cultivar in 1961. 'Constance Spry' is considered the first of the modern “English Roses.” Developed at a time when the

hybrid tea rose Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous Hybrid Perpetuals with the tall, elegant Tea roses. ...

was the most common style marketed to gardeners, the success of 'Constance Spry' renewed the popularity of a more old fashioned type of rose. The rose is named after gardening educator, author, and florist

Constance Spry Constance Spry (née Fletcher, previously Marr; 5 December 1886 – 3 January 1960) was a British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century. Life Constance Fletcher was born in Derby in 1886, eldest child and only daughter of Geor ...

. Spry collected old roses from the 1930s and 1940s, and traveled extensively through Britain during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, giving talks to women's groups on gardening and flower arranging. She was a talented flower arranger and wrote many popular books on the subject. Despite its only once a year flowering, the charm of 'Constance Spry's old fashioned appearance proved popular enough to prove there was a market for "reproduction" style roses. Austin continued his breeding program with 'Constance Spry' was further crossed with both modern and older roses, resulting in the fully remontant ''Rosa'' 'Wife of Bath' (1969), ''Rosa'' 'The Yeoman', 1969 and ''Rosa'' 'Chaucer' (1970), from which many of his later roses descended. 'Constance Spry' was awarded the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

in 1993.

Gallery

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References

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