Whether you employ pointed, fuchsia buds to bring sweetness and charm to a formal garden, or delve deeply into an English cottage garden’s luxurious layers of blushing blooms, pink roses add a romantic feel to the garden. These favourite varieties, from the poetic to the picturesque, will transform your plantings into welcoming and whimsical spaces to while away the hours with someone special, or keep the enchantment of them all for yourself.
Eden
This rose is so fantastical that one immediately thinks of Romeo passing it on his way up to Juliet’s balcony. It has large, old-fashioned, cupped blooms that flush from cerise to creamy white, opening from light green buds, creating a dreamy mix of complimentary pinks and greens. Eden is part of the Renaissance Collection, introduced by Marie-Louise Meilland in 1985, and has the alternate name Pierre de Ronsard. De Ronsard was one of the most famous poets of France who wrote sonnets of love, glorifying nature, and the ephemeral essence of youth. He often used roses as metaphors for beauty and passion in his sonnets, which will be immediately understood by gardeners everywhere when they sit next to an Eden shrub in full bloom.
Liv Tyler
Originally called Rosa Comtesse de Provence as part of the Romantica series by Meilland in 2001, this stunning Hybrid Tea was renamed Liv Tyler in 2006. Perfectly suited to cut flowers and arrangements, its long, strong stems raise single, perfectly-formed roses skyward. The blooms are a sophisticated, medium cool pink. The fragrance, prized by the Givenchy fashion house as the base note of its Very Irresistible perfume collection, has the strong, sweet aroma of ripe apricots and peaches, tinged with the sharpness of tea.
Blushing Lucy
Demurely embracing pergolas and arbours, Blushing Lucy cascades flamingo coloured roses down from above, and coyly peeps them from around corners. In his own testament to teasing devotion, breeder Dr. A.H. Williams named this climber after his wife Lucy, known for blushing shyly during conversations with dinner guests. Reaching up to 20 feet, the rose has particularly healthy, disease resistant foliage, enjoying full sun to part shade. This versatility continues with its habit, as it can be grown as a free-standing shrub, or trained along walls and structures to pendulously dip with the breeze, reaching out to visitors as they pass by.
Paul Shirville
This rose is known for its vibrant salmon colour, and bewitching, sweet rose fragrance that will fill your space with the aroma of romance. Paul Shirville was recognized by the Royal National Rose Society with its Edland Fragrance Medal. The fully double, high-centered blooms are of an exquisitely elegant form, and flush repeatedly throughout the season. They have a bushy, glossy foliage, which acts as a beautiful contrast to the lovely warm pink of the roses.
Spectabilis
Though graceful and delicate, this rose lives up to its name – Spectabilis, meaning remarkable, or a spectacle in Latin. This charming rambler is a hybrid Sempervirens with double, cupped, hanging clusters of white to lilac pink blooms. The dark buds are arranged in a spray around the full blossoms, dangling on elegantly thin stems, creating tiny arrangements to delight passers-by. They have almost no fragrance, but charm with their dainty petals, on medium to small flowers. The flexible shrubs have wonderful movement and the hushed sound of their bows and curtsies make them feel animated and alive.
Sharifa Asma
This mysteriously named rose adds a bit of drama and intrigue to the garden. At the request of her family, Sharifa Asma was named for an Omani princess about whom there is no more public information. It is thrilling to imagine all manner of stories about who could have inspired such a gloriously sumptuous rose. It has delicate, frilled petals that are a dense, shell pink in the centre, and fade to sweet marshmallow white at the outer edges. They are as elegant and exquisite as their fragrance – a strong and distinctive aroma of white grapes and mulberries.
Belinda’s Dream
This relatively recent shrub rose was introduced in 1992 by Dr. Robert Basye, and was the first to be given Earth-Kind® designation for its ability to thrive with little care in variable conditions. It is far more disease and heat resistant than its refined appearance would suggest. Belinda’s Dream is unapologetically pink, and gives off a fruity, raspberry fragrance all season long. Its elegant form makes it perfect for the most romantic roses of all – bouquets of declarations of love, as well as bridal arrangements. It can be planted in large pots, as hedges, in cutting gardens, and in lush cottage garden plantings reaching 5 feet high and wide when given their way.
Peach Blossom
Unlike many David Austin roses, with layers packed so densely the centre is merely a rumour, this rose, introduced in 1990, is delicate, ephemeral, and wildly romantic. With just 6-16 petals, each semi-double bloom appears to have floated in from the orchard, and the next gust of wind could have the blush curls cascading to the ground. Though they have the airy charm of a wild flower, the blooms are long lasting, and abundant in their repeat blooming, as we’ve come to expect with a David Austin shrub. The arching stems add movement with even a light breeze, as do the occasional quivering quilled petal. These tender roses remind us to appreciate subtlety in our plantings, although the clusters put on a display that will not go unnoticed.
Secret
Rosa Secret, or Hilaroma, is a Hybrid Tea of striking beauty and remarkable fragrance. This high-centered, fully double bloom has nearly perfect proportions, making it seem as if it tumbled from the pages of a faerie tale. It has a creamy centre that fades to soft pink, then blushes to a cool, medium flamingo at the edges of each petal. They appear singularly, on long, elegant, thornless stems with deep mahogany growth. It is a prolific bloomer, from Summer through to Autumn, which will fill the garden with a notably strong, sweet & spicy aroma. So reliable and well formed is it, that it was used as a parent plant when creating the roses Pope John Paul II and Karen Ann.
Yolande D’Aragon
This gorgeous old world rose is like stepping back in time. Yolande D’Aragon is a hybrid Gallica and Portland rose with dark fuchsia centres that give way to cool pinks and purples at the edges. A lighter, icy mauve reverse makes it delightful from any angle. It has one major flush of blooms in late Spring or early Summer, and then scattered flowering throughout the rest of the season, perhaps giving it the added enticement of having to enjoy its glory whilst it happens. With an exceptionally strong, old rose scent it can send you into nostalgic raptures. Eponymously named for a noble woman of the 14th century, who combined being a skilled diplomat in her own right with a happy and productive marriage to Louis II of Anjou, it has a romantic story, indeed. Together they orchestrated a resurgence of the house of Valois, and were early and fervent supporters of Jeanne D’Arc.
Any of these perfect pinks will help create a romantic rose garden, full of personality and charm. Planted together, in layers of shrub, long stems, and climbers, as well as with accent perennials like foxgloves, delphiniums, and lavender, they will create an enchanted floral tapestry you can enjoy all summer long.
