PlantFiles: English Rose, Austin Rose
Rosa 'Abraham Darby'

We grow a whole bunch of roses in our zone 6 garden, and 'Abraham Darby' has to be one of our favorites. Even my husband has made note of it several times and gardening isn't his thing. It has several flushes of blooms during the growing season (usually around 4). The canes tend to grow thickly so I prune out the center of the plant to allow more air circulation as black spot does trouble ours usually around late summer, but never enough to cause serious concern. The biggest thing I would recommend if you grow this rose is to plant it in a very large container as the canes are lax and the flowers droopy. In a container it forms a more pleasing fountain shape and is at just the right level for smelling the roses heavenly scent!

I live in Sonoma CA and am one of those who has a hard time with this rose. I love the blooms, which when they come successfully are heavenly, it's one of my favorites and I am very frustrated. After the initial spring bloom the blooms end up nodding, the leaves look terrible and tend to mostly fall off, suffer from rust etc, leaving a pitiful tangle of sickly looking stems. (it's almost bald now mid-July) I've moved it, from a shadier location to a sunnier location, amended the soil and occasionally feed (various organic fertilizers) and still have the same issues and results on the whole. Perhaps I need to amend and feed more.... maybe it's something about my soil which probably tends to include ample clay/adobe. (I seem to have poor luck with other roses as well but this one is the worst).
I'd love to learn any recipes for success. I have read several comments elsewhere that suggest many others have the same issues.

I love this rose very much! Its nice large blooms and the vivid color are exactly what I expected from an English rose. The flowers are first in peach tones and then turn to medium pink. This is its first year and the plant is very prolific. I indeed noticed the "drooping" problem people mentioned before. I just used a couple of U-shaped stalks to hold some stems.

This has been my favorite rose ever since I discovered it about ten years ago, but I'm having a terrible time with it. My first plant grew well in Salem, Oregon, where most roses do well, though I transplanted it and it never quite bloomed as well as on first planting. Now I live on the Oregon coast (I know, I know, we aren't supposed to be able to grow roses here) and though I get nice blooms, I have lots of trouble with black spot and weak stems. I keep trying though, because the flowers and scent are so lovely.

A wonderful old fashioned-looking rose. I have two that I grow as climbers. They are part of the backdrop for my cottage garden and never fail to please. Great smell, large, lush blooms. Yes, they're gangly which makes them good for climbers and the flower heads are heavy so they droop a bit. But they can't be beat for the soft apricot-pink color. Mine have been in almost tweny years and the yard has become shadier over time and they still thrive. Nevada Gardener is right, they're almost rampant here in northern Nevada. Highly recommend these.

I grew three Abraham Darby roses over a period of time, starting in 1995. I removed one after nine years and the other two a couple of years later because of their ungainly appearance. Their bloom was sporadic. Granted, I'm an organic gardener so they were never sprayed or coddled. The roses were also grown on their own roots in my Houston-area garden. I tried three different sun/shade locations. They were fed well twice a year. Nevertheless, they were, frankly, extremely ugly plants whose gorgeous blooms couldn't make up for their overall appearance. I really loved the blooms; but didn't like the plant. No amount of pruning could create a "bushier" plant. Perhaps the only way to enjoy them is as a climber with something planted to cover up the first four feet of the plant. I tried this in a flower bed, but still found the plant unattractive.
Leslie

This is the first of 11 rose bushes to bloom in my garden, all of which I planted last fall. It's getting big already, and the blossoms are a lovely pale pink with peach tones. It's got a moderate case of black spot, which is responding well to my ministrations with garlic spray and trimming infected leaves off the plant. The flowers are drooping to the ground because the stems are so thin and weak. I've learned that young Abraham Darby plants do have thin stems, and that if I'm patient, and stake it this year, it will have stronger stems in a year or two. I talked to a rosarian from the local rose society who said young roses sometimes need staking, and I found information on the David Austin website that mentioned that Abraham Darby is among the plants that have drooping blooms, but not so bad once it matures. I will wait to see how it develops before pronouncing it either a success or a failure.

Absolutely stunning! My plants are covered in huge fragrant blossoms and the perfume drifts all over the yard. Strong plants and no evidence of any of the rose diseases that seem to plague this hot humid climate. I'm thrilled with this plant and am enjoying everything about it.

Our favorite from David Austin!!!!! Gorgeous blooms continuously until the frost. This one got us hooked on English roses.

According to David Austin's 2009 Handbook of Roses, they named this rose after Abraham Darby of Shropshire, and was one of the founding figures of the Industrial Revolution.

This is my favorite rose in my garden, Florida 9b. It's only 1 year old and I get 8-10 roses each week from it, perfect for a vase full and the vase lasts about 5 days. It does get all sprawly on me but that's because I"m not too sure how to prune it other than cutting blooms off. I have two tomato cages holding up the frame's at the base which it has already outgrown, but this helps. It does get a little bit of blackspot and had the dreaded Chilli Thrips this season, but after I fixed that, it is throwing out blooms each week. Wonderful bush, I think I will replace a few of my other failing roses with this.

I love this rose, and I'm glad I've move it to an area where I frequent - - - along the walk way. A single bloom fills the room with its fragrance. It's not at all overpowering.

I grow four of them!

I absolutely love everything about this rose!

The color is fabulous...peachy apricot and pink, with really bright yellow highlights.

The fragrance is really strong, and really nice and fruity.

The form is awesome. It starts out a beautiful classic tea shape, and then turns to a gorgeous cupped, cabbagey, old fashioned shape, which frequently nods.

The flower size is huge! This flower is about twice the size of most of my others.

The health and vigor of this rose is excellant. The foliage is always dark green and there is always lots of it.

One of the BEST of the David Austins Roses, Intoxicatingly fragrant,majorly being a fan of the many petaled Roses, multi-pastel coloured,non stop blooming for me here in Texas...A Must have that only gets better with age.

I have had this rose for five years now. Three and one half years ago it was moved to our current home (end of July!) and is still surviving. It has more blooms every year, and the stems seem to get stonger also.

I love the fragrance of this rose, and the blooms are very pretty. It needs some winter protection in zone 5. It gets a little black spot late in the season.

The fragrance, the color, the petals, the shape - all are exhilarating on this flower. True, the flower is a bit large for its slender stems, but that makes it all the more tempting to cut and bring inside. The leaves are deep green and healthy except for occasional rust.

Blooms repeatedly and then profusely from April to December. Wow.

This is a great rose, with a rampant habit in my climate. The flowers are large and fragrant.

This grows in a rose garden with many other roses, yet it is one of two I am considering tearing out. The limbs are far too weak to support the flower, which droops terribly.

My favorite of the 6 David Austin roses I have grown. Blooms are so full it would be very hard to count all the petals.
Fragrance is fruity, but not over-powering. My only wish is that it made a longer lasting cut flower.

I agree with the others that have previously posted...it's my favorite rose! The form, color, and scent are marvelous to MY senses! I don't spray at all, and it's doing beautifully. This is it's fourth year for me, and it's the rose that hooked me on roses when I saw it blooming in the local rose garden. Yes, a little blackspot..but nothing outrageous. I don't exhibit, so who cares?! It lasts well in a vase (or an informal fruit jar!), and I keep a little bouquet by my kitchen sink, so I can enjoy this wonderful rose ALOT!

This is my absolute favorite rose (planted it as a memorium to my beloved Great Dane Higgins). A robust, rebloomer that rarely suffers from black spot or other typical rose problems. The first season I had 6 blooms....the second season about 20...and this past season, as I was taking water out of my goldfish aquarium to freshen their water, I started to dump this goldfish water on the rose and I was blessed with over 60 blooms......amazingly lovely scent that is as described, fruity and soft. And the blooms are rich thickly petaled, tea cups of soft pinky/peach color. A perfect Rose......I want a whole yard of them.

Beautiful David Austin Rose, actually my favorite. I has a very rich and fruity fragrance. The flowers large and deeply cupped that bloom in early summer and continue through the season is deadheaded. The blooms are pink, apricot and yellow. Hardy and healthy, my plant has been easy to prune into a beautiful bush shape.