PlantFiles: English Rose, Austin Rose
Rosa 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

ABSOLUTELY amazing!!!! last June was the first blossoms - the entire plant was a cascade of bright magenta pink!

According to David Austin's 2009 Handbook of Roses, they named this rose after the character from Thomas Hardy's novel.

Tess Of the d'Urbervilles is my only Austin. I purchased it for my zone 5a garden from White Flower Farm last year. It is amazing. It was problem free from the time I put it in, which was April of 2004. The growth on it is definitely robust. When Austin states in his catalog that it is 4 feet by 3.5 feet or 6 to 8 feet as a climber, he should really emphasize the latter. One stem is over 8 feet, several are about 4 feet, and smaller stems are coming from the base, at least three feet in front of the main stems. I had to install a small trellis to restrain the tall stem. The smaller, as well as the larger stems have flowers appearing in small clusters at the end of the stems, and all of the stems, of whatever weight, bend forward and therefore require discreet staking.

The disease resistance is remarkable. Last year, a really awful year for blackspot and mildew, it got none, whereas Rose de Rescht got quite bit of blackspot, and Dublin Bay got a bit of mildew on the ends of stems where flowers were
forming (but bloomed nicely anyway). It also does not attract japanese beetles, which seemed to prefer Morden Blush flowers (puzzling, since the scent is mild) and the leaves of Rose de Rescht. The leaves are shiny and new growth is reddish. It is lovely without bloom, but at present, I have well over 50 huge buds all over the plant. It is elegant and refined. I would happily purchase it again - but it's BIG! P.S. I looks great with gentian sage, aliums and digitalis mertonensis.