William Shakespeare Rose

William Shakespeare is one of my favourite playwrights. But the David Austin English rose that bears his name has been unspectacular in my garden - until this summer.

At the risk of sounding foolish, I wonder if my earlier William Shakespeares (two of them) just weren't on the 'right' rootstock. Their growth was spindly and weak, the flowers tried their best, but nothing really happened! Last birthday a friend gave me a William Shakespeare rose. Another one! Aargh! How nice...

But this William has definitely done the business. And oddly its flowers are lighter than my other hopeless ones. Perhaps a labelling problem as well as a rootstock one? Who knows - the form of the blooms are exactly the same (tiny buds encircle the main flower like little rosy satellites).

Anyway, I'd like to welcome my third-time-lucky William Shakespeare to the Moosey Garden.

'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet'...