The Rose

David Austin has an international following as a rose grower with an intimate knowledge of his chosen flower. In this wide-ranging book, he examines the historical development of the rose and discusses its place in the garden scene. He then selects and describes the best and most beautiful roses for today's gardens in chapters on Old Roses, Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, Small Roses, Species Roses, Shrub Roses, Climbing Roses and Rambling Roses.

The English Roses that he has developed over fifty years of painstaking hybridisation are discussed in an especially highly illustrated chapter that includes the best roses bred by him up to the present day. The English Roses, which combine the charm, form of flower and gorgeous fragrance of the Old Roses with the disease resistance and the free and continuous flowering of Modern Roses, have influenced the way roses are used in gardens worldwide. Chapters on roses in the garden scene and on cultivation complete the book's comprehensive coverage.

The opinions and recommendations of a leading rose grower, plantsman and gardener are combined with sumptuous photographs of roses in gardens and close up to make The Rose irresistible for rose lovers and a must-have book for every rosarian. In this, the new edition of this authoritative book, the chapter on English Roses has been expanded to include details and colour photographs of 18 additional roses which have been bred in recent years.

Among these new plants are the William and Catherine, a musk rose named to celebrate the Royal Wedding in April 2011; the Fighting Temeraire, a Leander rose with rich apricot petals, named for the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Kent; and the Princess Anne, 'Best New Plant Variety' at the Grower of the Year Awards 2011, and named after Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal.

David Austin is uniquely equipped to write a book on the rose. As a commercial rose grower, he is in continual contact with gardeners and as a hybridiser he is in touch with agents who sell and propagate his English Roses worldwide - from Japan, Australia and New Zealand to the USA and Canada. His garden at Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, contains one of the finest collections of roses in the world, containing more than 800 varieties. He is the author of David Austin's English Roses. He was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2003 and the Dean Hole Medal by the Royal National Rose Society.