''Rosa'' 'Charles Austin' (aka AUSfather) is an

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

shrub rose

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

bred and introduced by David Austin in England in 1973. The rose was hybridised by crossing the English rose 'Chaucer' (Austin, 1970) with the pink Hybrid Tea 'Aloha' (Boerner 1949) and is named after the breeder's father. It was one of the early English roses.

Description

Double, flat or slightly cupped flowers with a strong, fruity fragrance, and an average diameter of 10 cm (4 inches) appear in small cluster of 3 to 5 in flushes throughout the season.Their colour is an apricot blend, with stronger colours at the petal base, fading to cream at the edges. The flowers have about 70 petals arranged in a quartered bloom form, with the outer ones lighter than the inner ones, and are well suited as

cut flower Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flowers for con ...

s. The tall and bushy shrub can grow well in excess of 200 cm, especially in warmer climates and is somewhat slow to rebloom, especially if not drastically pruned after the first flush. The cultivar has large leaves and fine, red prickles, is winter hardy up to −20 °C (

USDA zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

5b – 10b), but susceptible to black spot and

mildew Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mold, largely by its colour: molds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consisti ...

. Due to its size, it can be grown as a freestanding shrub, pegged or trained as a small climber.

History

David Austin roses

David C. H. Austin (1926 – 2018) was an award-winning rose breeder, nursery owner and writer from

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He began breeding roses in the 1950s with the goal of creating new shrub rose varieties that would possess the best qualities of old-fashioned roses while incorporating the long flowering characteristics of

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 Garden roses#Hybrid perpetual, hybrid perpetuals with ...

s and floribundas. His first commercially successful rose cultivar was 'Constance Spry', which he introduced in 1961. He created a new, informal class of roses in the 1960s, which he named "English Roses". Austin's roses are generally known today as "David Austin Roses". Austin attained international commercial success with his new rose varieties. Some of his most popular roses include 'Wife of Bath' (1969), 'Canterbury' (1969), and 'Abraham Darby' (1985)

'Charles Austin'

This rose was bred by Austin in 1973 and named for his father, Charles Austin. The rose was hybridised by crossing the English rose 'Chaucer' (Austin, 1970) with the pink Hybrid Tea 'Aloha' (Boerner 1949). It was one of the early English roses. 'Charles Austin' was further used by Austin as a parent rose and fathered ten cultivars, including 'Leander' (1982), 'Graham Thomas' (1983), 'Swan' (1987), 'Brother Cadfael' (1990), 'Golden Celebration' (1992), 'Tradescant' (1993), 'Teasing Georgia' (1998) and 'Benjamin Britten' (2001). In 1981, Austin introduced a

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

(mutation) – 'Yellow Charles Austin' – with lemon to golden yellow colours, that fade to cream. Charles Austin (Ausfather) is one of a number of varieties which has been 'retired' by the David Austin Roses company in favour of other more modern and healthy varieties.

Description

History

David Austin roses

'Charles Austin'

References

Further reading