Rosa The Lady of Shalott, is a truly spectacular rose. If I were to choose a favourite, this would be it. Its rich, vivid peach to orange colouring glows in sunlight and contrasts nicely with the bright green foliage. This remarkable and gorgeous rose was developed by David Austin in 2009.

The lady of Shallot is such a stunning rose that if one tries to evoke the colour in words, they will never do it justice. The blooms open from unique plump buds to chalice-shaped roses filled with loosely arranged peach to orange petals. The outer petals are salmon-pink with gold undersides, and it has a tea rose scent reminiscent of spiced apples.

This beautiful David Austin Rose was named to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lord Alfred Tennyson and his lyrical ballad inspired by Arthurian legends in 1842 called “The Lady of Shallot”. The Lady of Shallot Rose is from the English Rose Collection, registration name – AUSnyson, and will grow to 110 cm.

The ballad tells the haunting story of magic, unrequited love and art, where a mysterious woman lives alone on the island of Shallot near King Arthur’s court at Camelot. She is cursed and hidden in a tower, unable to see the world, then she looks into a magic mirror that shows her images of the world and begins to weave exquisite tapestries representing what she sees. As in all fairy tales, the rules exist only to be broken. The poem can be interpreted as a metaphor for the solitary nature of the artist’s creative life.

The Lady of Shallot Rose will grow quickly into an arching elegant shrub with mid-green foliage which has attractive, slightly bronzed tones when young. This rose will repeat flower all season if deadheaded, and is happy in a dappled shade position or full sun.

The Lady Of Shallot Rose is vigorous hardy, disease resistant and a reliable and can also be trained as a climber, or as a pillar rose on a structure. The Lady of Shallot roses I’ve grown have had few problems other than spider mites in hot dry weather, and some blackspot in summer. Both issues are easily treated.

This year I’m planting several standard versions of The Lady Of Shallot in the garden, and just this week I’m transplanting the existing shrubs out of the garden into the courtyard. I planted them initially when the garden began last year, but, I found them too far back to view the stunning blooms that are luminous in the sunlight.

Previously, I had always grown The Lady of Shallot roses in large terracotta pots as they do well in containers . I placed the pots to sit at the front doorway or by a window as this is one rose you want to be able to view easily. The new standard roses will be grown in the ground and the existing shrubs in extra large terracotta pots. They will require repotting after some time, and regular watering especially in summer.

The Lady of Shallot rose has won several International awards including;

Best climber at the Hamilton Rose Trials  NZ in 2018, Silver Medal at the Glasgow Rose Trials UK 2011,    RHS / RNRS  Award of Garden Merit UK  2011,  ARS  All American Garden Rose Fragrance USA  2017, SNdHF  Premier Prix  Grand Prix de la Rose  France  2015.

The Lady of Shallot Rose is available from Treloars Roses and Wagners Roses in Australia or David Austin.

Content and all images Di Baker 2019- 2025