Rosa Coniston - English Shrub Rose

The English rose Coniston, also known as Count of Champagne, is a very healthy variety with a generous and fragrant flowering in shades of yellow. Its flowers emerge in an intense yellow colour and then open, fading to form perfect cups that reveal a heart of yellow ocher stamens. All these shades can be found on this bushy shrub, which is as wide as it is tall.

The habit of this rose is low, wide, and bushy, with a tendency to spread. It forms a bush about 1 m (3 feet) in all directions, producing very flexible thin and arching stems. A delightful fragrance of honey and musk adorns its charming flowering perfectly. Its cup-shaped, semi-double flowers, are of medium size, measuring from 6 to 7 cm (2 to 3in) in diameter, and change colour quite quickly over time, and at a certain point, a whole palette of assorted shades can be found on a vibrant and healthy green foliage: apricot, peach, orange, copper, yellow.

'Count of Champagne' is an excellent rose for a mixed border, as its graceful simplicity pairs well with perennial plants or flowering shrubs such as Abelia, Nandina, or Caryopteris for example. It is a good companion for phlox and tall gypsophila. It also forms wonderful combinations with botanical roses such as Rosa alba suaveolens, Rosa californica, Rosa chinensis mutabilis, or even Rosa foetida bicolor.

Bred by David Austin in 2001.