Rosa 'Comtes de Champagne'

'Comtes de Champagne' is a medium-tall, bushy shrub rose, 3 to 4 ft (0.91–1.22 m) in height, with a 4 to 5 ft (1.2–1.5 m) spread. The rose has a sweet honey like fragrance. Its flowers are 3 to 4 in (76–102 mm) in diameter, with a semi-double (8-15 petals) cupped bloom form. Yellow buds open to a yellow cupped flower, which fades to a pale apricot as the bloom ages. Flowers are carried in clusters. Leaves are medium in size, semi-glossy and dark green. 'Comtes de Champagne' blooms in flushes throughout the growing season.^[1][2]

David C. H. Austin (1926–2018) was an award-winning rose breeder, nursery owner and writer from Shropshire, England. When he was young, he was attracted to the beauty of old garden roses, especially the Gallicas, the Centifolias and the Damasks, which were popular in nineteenth century France. Austin began breeding roses in the 1950s with the goal of creating new shrub rose varieties that would possess the best qualities of old garden roses while incorporating the long flowering characteristics of hybrid tea roses and floribundas.^[3]

His first commercially successful rose cultivar was 'Constance Spry', which he introduced in 1961.^[4] He created a new, informal class of roses in the 1960s, which he named "English Roses". Austin's roses are generally known today as "David Austin Roses". Austin attained international commercial success with his new rose varieties. Some of his most popular roses include 'Wife of Bath' (1969), 'Graham Thomas' (1983), 'Abraham Darby' (1985) and 'Gertrude Jekyll' (1986).^[5]

Austin developed the new cultivar in 1992, by crossing apricot shrub rose, 'Tamora' with an unnamed seedling. The rose was introduced into the UK by David Austin Roses Limited (UK) in 2001.^[1] The rose was named for the champagne, Comtes de Champagne, produced by the legendary French winery, Taittinger.^[1][2]