It’s official: David Austin’s rose ‘Graham Thomas’ is the World’s
Favorite Rose, according to the rose aficionados in the 41 member
countries that make up the World Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS,
http://www.worldrose.org/ ). Rosa ‘Graham Thomas’ (Ausmas) becomes
only the 14th rose in 33 years to win the triennial accolade –
considered by many to be the rose world’s highest honor. The award,
announced at the 2009 World Rose Convention in Vancouver in June, marks
WFRS’s induction of R. ‘Graham Thomas’ into its highly-selective Rose
Hall of Fame. Each Hall of Fame inductee wears the crown of World’s
Favorite Rose for a three year reign. The first World’s Favorite Rose
winner was the famed Peace rose (Rosa ‘Peace’), the 1976 inductee to
the Rose Hall of Fame.
The scope of the award is truly international. Founded in 1968, the
WFRS represents more than 100,000 rose lovers in 41 member countries.
To be named World’s Favorite Rose and win induction into the Hall of
Fame, a rose must progress through a nomination and voting process that
involves all of the 41 national chapters.
English rose hybridizer David Austin is internationally-known for his
introduction of new types of fragrant, full-bodied English Roses that
have the plump form and heavy perfume of Old Roses combined with the
broad color range and repeat-flowering of modern roses. David Austin
breeds roses for rose lovers. Year after year, gardeners worldwide
enjoy long seasons of pleasure from his fragrant English Roses by
enriching the soil at planting and selecting the best varieties for
their local growing conditions. (As the top pick of 41 countries, Rosa
‘Graham Thomas’ would seem vetted as a top variety for a very wide
range of local growing conditions!)
R. ‘Graham Thomas’, introduced in 1983, was the first David Austin
hybrid to fully-realize its hybridizer’s vision for new Fragrant
English Roses. The cup-shaped blooms have a strong, fresh tea rose
fragrance with a cool violet character. Their color is an unusually
rich, pure yellow, which is not found in the Old Roses and is rare even
among modern roses.
Mr. Austin named the rose for one of the leading horticulturalists of
the 20th century, the late British horticulturalist, artist and garden
writer Graham Thomas (1909 – 2003). Mr. Thomas was an enthusiastic
collector of Old Roses and a frequent visitor to David Austin’s nursery
in Albrighton in the West Midlands region of England.
R. ‘Graham Thomas’ forms a bushy shrub sized five feet high by four
feet wide. Its upright habit makes it well suited to planting in tight
groups of three in the garden, which can then be pruned to form a
single shrub shape. R. ‘Graham Thomas’ is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
and has proved a good performer in areas where summer heat and humidity
can be problematic. Summer pruning encourages repeat bloom. The rose
can also be trained as a spectacular climbing rose, particularly in
warmer climates where it can reach 10 to 12 feet and thus is ideal for
climbing a wall, rose pillar, obelisk or fence. It enjoys full sun but
will also perform surprisingly well in partial shade, provided it is
not planted directly underneath the canopy of trees.
Other honors awarded to R. ‘Graham Thomas’ include the Henry Edland
Medal for the Best Scented Rose at England’s Royal National Rose
Society.
‘Graham Thomas’, more than any other David Austin variety, has become
synonymous with the look and stature of David Austin English Roses. The
new award reflects its position as one of the most widely grown and
best loved roses in the world.
David Austin Roses of Albrighton, Wolverhampton, England offers more
than 800 rose varieties, including their signature Fragrant English
Roses plus select shrub roses, climbers and ramblers. Its USA
Collection features nearly 200 rose varieties specially selected for
American growing conditions and climate zones, with all USA-sold roses
grown and shipped within the USA.
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