English Roses, a trendy flower in Angers region

The Mary Rose (Credit Wiki)

One of the most typical English flowers, under a famous English brand, was on sale - at very interesting price because spring is coming - in the plants department of a Western France superstores chain Hyper U. The flower? Roses! The brand? David Austin Roses. David Austin is a rose breeder and writer. He breeds roses with the character and fragrance of Old Garden Roses like Gallicas and Alba roses but with the repeat-flowering ability and wide colour range of modern roses (Hybrid Teas and Floribundas). Such flowers, currently sold at 14 € were priced at less than 7. 

Though Austin's roses are not officially recognised as a separate class of roses by, for instance, the Royal National Rose Society, they are nonetheless commonly referred to by rosarians, at nurseries, and in horticultural literature as 'English Roses' (the term he uses) or 'Austin Roses'.

Future beds of roses

Since its founding in 1969, the David Austin Roses firm has introduced over 190 rose cultivars which have been named in honour of geographical landmarks in Britain, historical events, and British writers, like Shakespeare. For instance, roses have honoured such diverse entities as the rosarian and artist Graham Thomas (a yellow climbing rose-bush) and King Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose (both on sale in Angers). Badly displayed and watered, the roses are nevertheless very hardy and will exhale their English touch in the weeks to come in a Loire Valley garden beloved to Ronsard.