Introducing ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’ David Austin Rose
Meet ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’, a deep pink beauty growing happily in our container garden. When this rose was in her full flush last June, every day I oohed and awed and how lovely (and huge!) the blossoms were and was quite pleased with it’s disease resistance–not a speck on those leaves. But then midgegate happened, and one day I had to prune all the new growing tips and buds off of Princes Alexandra and I think that’s the one that moved me most to tears, to be truthful. All those beautiful buds! When the pruning was done, I think it went into some kind of shock because almost overnight the leaves became very blackspot ridden and dropped off completely so all that was left were sad little canes. Yet, as I type this in mid-August, the leaves are returning, look very healthy, and there are a couple of new buds on there that the midge missed–I hope to have a few more blossoms this autumn. A beautiful rose!
I am so happy to see that your beautiful roses are returning. This is a lovely one!
Thanks Mom! Some I don’t think I’ll ever see flowers on–it’s funny how you take that for granted–now I’m so grateful if I get just one little blossom!
So beautiful! Actually, when I saw the color and the name of this one, I instantly thought Oh! the name of my 2 rings I’m planning! I have two pink stones – rhodocrosite? rhodondite? I forget, but they each have a pink “rose” formation in them.
I hope these bloom for you this autumn!
Hahaha! Oh my gosh Erin that made me chuckle. And then of course I was trying to remember the name of that stone too–why is it such a tricky one–but I know which one you mean and it really does have a pretty color. Can’t wait to see what you make with it!
What a beauty princess Alexandra is! Most roses in my garden developed a decease in summer. I didn’t know it helped pruning them back. I will try next time!
Happy weekend!
Madelief x
Thank you Madelief! In this case, I was pruning off the buds and new foliage that were infested with rose midge larvae. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for diseases, although in some cases that may be necessary. Better to give the roses good soil, sunlight, lots of air, clean up the dropped leaves, yadda yadda yadda–and of course the roses we choose comes into play with some being more disease resistant than others. OK, enough with the big speech! Thank you for your comment, it’s always such a delight when you drop by! 🙂
Hello, hope this message finds you even after a year! This question is more about your container rose gardening. Did you purchase the bare root and plant your roses, or were they already potted plants?
Hi Kendra, most of my David Austin roses were purchased as bare-roots and all of my roses I potted up myself. You can read more about my container rose gardening, as well as some tips, by clicking on this post HERE. Thanks for visiting!
Hi! Hedgerow rose,
I want to grow a pink rose in my garden for next year but can’t decide which one to grow and I am looking for scented one.This Alexandra of Kent looks to me the colour I m looking for but can you tell me, are they a bush or a hybrid tea rose? Thanks.Btw! All of your roses a georgeus looking and you,ve done a great job in looking after them.
Thank you! Princess Alexandra of Kent is classified as a “shrub” rose. You can read more about it, and see additional photos from other gardeners HERE. 🙂
Thanks very much for your reply.Yes I had a look at your web and been a great help 🙂