Chelsea Flower Show 2005

NEW DAVID AUSTIN VARIETIES LAUNCHED AT CHELSEA 2005
David Austin introduced six new varieties of English Roses at Chelsea which formed the centrepiece of his gold medal winning stand. As is often the case with David Austin’s new varieties, they show great diversity in form and colour. ‘Alan Titchmarsh’, ‘Gentle Hermione’ and ‘The Shepherdess’ could be described as fairly mainstream English Roses in appearance. Many visitors at Chelsea marvelled at the flowers of ‘Gentle Hermione’ which reveal a delicate, almost pearlescent effect on the outer petals. Alan Titchmarsh joined us on the stand to launch his namesake rose which was displayed in the show garden. Rosa 'Alan Titchmarsh' also featured in two trug arrangements, created by our in-house cut flower stylist, Jane Williams, which appeared on BBC Chelsea Flower Show TV highlights and GMTV respectively.

‘Lady Emma Hamilton’ and ‘Summer Song’ are more unusually coloured new English Rose varieties in shades of orange. Both of these varieties created a stir at the Chelsea show, the first for its intense fragrance as much as for its colour. 'Summer Song' stole the show for many visitors who were amazed by the sophisticated but bold colour. Finally we have a rugosa hybrid that is much more wild in appearance and by name: ‘Wild Edric’. This beautiful new rose is extremely vigorous and, so far as we are aware, entirely disease-free.

For the first time at Chelsea 2005 we displayed our wonderful English Cut Roses which are available by post. Visitors to the show were charmed by their delightful fragrances as well as their abundant forms. English Cut Roses have proved so popular since their launch that we are planning to introduce them throughout Europe and eventually to the USA. New UK cut rose arrangements and new cut rose varieties will be launched during the season, so please keep visiting the cut flower pages of our website for the latest information.