English Rose, Shrub Rose 'William Shakespeare 2000'

This rose has been delightful! It is very similar to my favorite David Austin rose, Munstead Wood. William Shakespeare 2000 is significan...Read Moretly taller than Munstead Wood and has more petals. I adore the crimson color, strong fragrance, and good disease resistance. I would definitely recommend this rose for the Pacific NW.

This is my only David Austin rose, and it has been a disappointment. Yes, in its favor, it has survived the intense heat and drought we'v...Read Moree had these past two years in northeastern Louisiana. And yes, the blooms are beautiful (although relatively small) and intensely fragrant. But it is wimpy! I doubt it has grown even a foot in the 5 years since I planted it. It has a tendency towards black spot. And worst of all, the stems are not sturdy enough to hold up the blooms. The flowers tend to end up facing downward on a limp stem, sometimes even on the ground. The Rio Samba hybrid tea planted very close to Wm. Shakespeare is flourishing, so I doubt the problems are environmental... unless it just doesn't like the Louisiana heat and humidity.

prolific plant with continuous blooms from March- December or first frost.

This is not a complete review, but I wanted to remark upon the following phenomenon!.

I purchased this shrub potted up f...Read Morerom a reputable nursery in spring 2010 (grower was "Star Plants"; I write this in spring 2011).

I never planted it in 2010 (sheepish). I never watered it. It was in dappled shade under a tree the whole summer....and fall....and into our - barely! - zone 6 winter, SE exposure in all but sun the whole time....

Bottom line: it survived, I planted it, and it had, funnily enough, the first blossom of all of my six David Austins. It's struggling now (big surprise) but it is pretty amazing that it withstood that kind of abuse. Tough rose.

P.S. With the bloom fresh in my mind...gorgeous double old-rose flowers, deeply whorled center. about 3-3.5" in diameter. Color is not a true red (in the color-wheel sense), but rather a deep, not-bright magenta. The fragrance is very nice, traditional rose/a hint of hybid tea, but very soft, and tempered by an under-note of...myrrh? My three-year-old said, "it smells like raspberries!" Like wine...the initial scent gives way to a distinct under-note. Nice.