Guest post: Moonbeam

Today’s post is by my Gardening Neighbour, David. He sent me this photo of one of his roses and I suggested he might want to blog about it. He kindly agreed. This has definitely risen to the top of my wish list. In Perth it is available from the Swiss Rose Nursery.

This is an old David Austin rose that I love called Moonbeam now classified as an English Rose, it reminds me of a clematis and hangs on the bush like large silk handkerchiefs. This was one of David Austin’s early hybrids bred in 1983 however the parentage is unknown. To me there seems to be more than a hint of Tea Rose in the flowers and foliage.

 

I am not sure why Moonbeam has not been featured more often as it is capable of producing the most achingly beautiful blooms and for anyone who is a fan of roses with a full boss of exposed stamens it is a must have.

  

The blooms open from long pointed buds that can be blushed a lovely shade of warm apricot pink depending on the season. The blooms open flat with a double layer of tissue paper like petals that are cream blushed through with a warm pink however as with the buds the blush will quickly disappear in warmer weather. The blooms are on longish stems and can have a tendency to droop under their own weight.

 My plant has only been in the ground for 12 months and has started to make a nice framework of branches. I would recommended this rose get some afternoon shade as the tissue paper petals will quickly burn in full afternoon summer sun. For 12 months I had it growing in its nursery pot in full shade and still got some blooms though I would not recommend it as a shade loving rose. The foliage is a lighter shade of green and is not too thorny. I have not seen Moonbeam as a fully grown bush in the ground so can’t be definitive as to final height and width however from the growth I have seen and the reference material listed by David Austin I would expect a bush of 1.2m x 1.2m.

 Moonbeam is a rose that can easily justify a place in any garden and would also look nice in a raised pot where the semi drooping flowers can be fully appreciated.