PlantFiles: English Rose, Austin Rose
Rosa 'Lady Emma Hamilton'

I wish there was a rating above "positive" for this rose. I planted it in my new Z 8b garden as a compact replacement for Pat Austin, which I no longer have room for. It has been all that the catalog claimed it to be. I have it at the edge of my patio where it forms a sturdy, well behaved bush about 2 1/2 feet high by 3 feet wide. The foliage is healthy, requiring only moderate spraying, and the dark coloring of the foliage, tinted with bronze and red, is a perfect foil for the copper flowers. The fragrace is heavenly. Blooms nearly non-stop and performs very well in our heat and humidity. Nearly evergreen here. Flowers bloom in clusters, like a floribunda, so not the best for cutting. Place this one near an outdoor seating area so you can enjoy the flowers and fragrance up close. Flowers seem to glow in the evening. Only moderate thorns and no wild grasping canes on this one. Also available as a standard, which I may have to find room for.

According to David Austin's 2009 Handbook of Roses, they named this rose for Horatio Nelson's lover. Horatio Nelson was an 18th century British naval hero.