David Austin Roses has unveiled its newest rose at the Chelsea Flower Show. 'The King’s Rose' was created as a tribute to His Majesty King Charles III.
The rose produces masses of semi-double papery petals which have stripes in shades of fuchsia pink and white, creating an almost hand-painted look reminiscent of old Gallica roses. It has a light-medium musk fragrance with hints of fresh apple and rosewater and cloves. The repeat-flowering shrub rose reaches 90cm to 1.2m tall and produces at least 20 buds per stem. It has a vase-shaped growth habit and heart-shaped leaves, and the vibrant yellow stamens are attractive to pollinators.
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It is the first time David Austin has bred a bicolour rose and is therefore completely unique in the David Austin list. Carl Bennett, head of breeding at David Austin explained: "It may be Marmite: but many people love striped roses. This one is a wonderful shrub. It's very healthy and disease resistant.
"It’s a great addition, and one that will look great in the middle of a border, or taller as a special shrub at the back," he added.
When asked why David Austin Roses hadn't bred a striped rose before, Carl explained: "I worked with David Austin senior for 30 years, and he did the breeding and bicolour wasn't really on the agenda. He wasn't particularly interested in striped roses. But when I took over the breeding entirely I thought we could do with striped roses, which can be very beautiful."
"We have had requests for bicolour roses on Instagram and elsewhere. I think it's going to be popular. We don't breed semi doubles, but this year we have this one variety that is semi double, not multi petaled, and it's a bicolour, which I think is very exciting."
Proceeds from The King’s Rose will support The King’s Foundation and its work building sustainable communities.
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David J.C. Austin, Chairman at David Austin Roses, commented: "'The King’s Rose’ is particularly special – it’s our first striped rose, created in collaboration with The King’s Foundation. The rose is a tribute to the enduring values of His Majesty King Charles III through the work of the foundation, investing in education, sustainable practices, and the revitalisation of heritage. It only feels right to unveil such a distinguished rose on a stage as respected as Chelsea.”
“Walking through the trial fields and watching this rose perform better and better was incredibly exciting,” he adds. “But what truly made it special was the unexpected connection it sparked
— memories of the first time I met King Charles at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the early ’90s. We
had a display of ‘Ferdinand Pichard,’ a beautiful striped rose originally bred in France in the early 20th century, and he told me it was the very first rose he’d ever grown. I couldn’t believe it — because it was the first rose that I'd grown, too. That shared moment has stayed with me ever since, and when I saw this new bloom in the fields — striped, distinctive, and full of charm and character — I knew it had to be the one. It felt like a sign. This had to be our rose.”
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As with all new varieties bred by David Austin, The King’s Rose has undergone an exceptionally thorough 12-year breeding process, led by Carl Bennett. Each year, over 40,000 seedlings are carefully nurtured, evaluated and gradually shortlisted until there is just one final rose that meets the highest standards of beauty, fragrance and resilience.
Carl told us: "We’ve been working on it for years. You have an idea of what you want, and you cross pollinate and germinate the seeds, then they go through a selection process, first under glass, then they go outside to the trial fields, where they spend most of their time. We don’t spray anything on the roses in the trial fields, so that they are subjected to many seasons and many diseases."
"We start out with 30,000-35,000 crosses, hand pollinated, and maybe 150,000 seeds, and then we geminate those, which will probably give around 50,000 to 60,000 seedlings. Which we prick out into benches on the glass. And from those seedlings , I will go through, seven days a week, for a few months selecting out the seedlings that I want to keep. Those get taken out and grafted onto root stocks in the trial fields. Which is which is year two."
The rose has been carefully nurtured by His Majesty's team of gardeners in his private gardens at Highgrove for the past three years. There, it has been flourishing in pots on the royal patio, and also forms part of the newly installed crown sculpture at Highgrove by willow artist Emma Stothard.
The new rose is the focal point of the immersive secret garden-themed stand. ‘The King’s Rose’ will also be on display at the Highgrove Shop on Eastern Avenue.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has also had a rose created in her honour by Harkness Roses. Read about the new coral-pink rose.
