In recent years, the David Austin roses have become increasingly popular. Now, there's a book about these. “The English Roses-Classic Favorites and New Selections” by David Austin was published by Timber Press. David Austin has revolutionized the world of roses through his breeding program.

As he explains in this book, his roses have come to be known as David Austin roses, although he prefers to call them English roses. While preserving the best features that the classic old roses have to offer, these are truly improvements. Austin’s introductions have emphasized favorable traits, such as fragrance, disease resistance, and repeat blooming.

In this title, readers will learn about how these varieties came into being as well as how to grow and use them in the garden. Readers are introduced to each of the varieties. For each one, there is a full page color photo, and a complete description of the plant and its features. There are also details on how each one received its name, the date of its introduction, and its US patent number.

Austin emphasizes the use of roses in the garden, and provides the cultural information gardeners will need. This section features chapters on rose garden design with inspiring examples from historical gardens along with information on using them in different areas of the landscape, such as the different kinds of borders, as accent and specimen plants, container plants, and as hedges. One whole chapter deals with climbing roses and their role in the landscape.

What I particularly like about this book is that the author devotes particular attention to roses as cut flowers. In this section, he presents the cut rose varieties he has bred for the cut flower industry. He also devotes an entire chapter to using roses as cut flowers in the home with step-by-step instructions on cutting and treating the stems. There are numerous examples of the different kinds of arrangements one can make with roses.

In one of the last chapters, he provides insight into the future direction that his breeding program may take.