This was the first rose I bought when we bought our house 15 yrs. ago. I have 61 now , but I think Othello is still my favorite. Mine was...Read More destroyed when we had to have a new field line put in , but I have a new one ordered. It does get HUGE here in the south, the thorns are VICIOUS , It does get the dreaded Blackspot, but as everyone else has said , it is so worth it. It simply has the most beautiful flowers and the most exqusite scent. It is hard to find.
Technically classed as "crimson", David Austen's own publications describe this rose as "almost salmon pink" in the centre and "deepening...Read More to shades of purple and Mauve", but still a crimson rose. I have it next to a climbing "Blaze" (red) and the similarity in colour is there but Othello is clearly much more in the pinks with purplish overtones. It's hard to describe fully because it has so very many different subtle colours, and they change very much as each bloom ages.
This rose sat quietly for over two months after first planting and then in the last days of July it's grown like mad, and in the first days of August it's produced many big fat buds with large flowers. Of all the roses I've planted in my new garden this year, including 6 English roses, 2 teas, and 3 climbing teas, this one has been the most trouble-free from disease and pests.
Initially dismayed that it was not a true crimson, I am now fantastically pleased with the colours and scent this flower produces. It's lovely with initial ethereal colours on a meaty rose. It does turn a deep fuscia-purple as it ages. I've cut some for my bedside table.
It can be grown as a climber, but if pruned properly I do believe, as the literature states, that it will form a vigorous shrub. Mine was bought amid a selection of English roses, some of which, like "Othello", had special labels of endorsement by the Canadian Rose Society as being exceptional roses for my (Canadian) climate.
I have 5 of them in my garden and they proved to be extremely hardy and vigorous. They have huge thorns and wonderful flowers- peonie li...Read Moreke with a splendid strong smell.
I had to move some of them ( I moved one 3 times in a row, changing its place every second year ) and they were not bothered a all.
They are full of flowers , richer every year and they tend to grow like climbers more then as a bush rose.
Definitely , they are not suitable for small gardens or for cut flowers but they are great for landscaping
This plant has been a mixed bag for me. I was given a 6" rooted cutting one spring, by the second summer it was throwing 10' long canes....Read More Covered with lethal thorns nearly as long as a dog's fangs. And... I never had blackspot on my roses until I grew this one. It is regularly denuded, despite my best efforts. And the blooms are pretty poor cut flowers; they shatter in a day or so.
So why grow it at all? The flowers are absolutely glorious. Rich purpley-red, they look like double full peonies. And they have a fantastic, rich scent that really carries on a warm day. And considering how quickly they shatter in a vase, the flowers are pretty sturdy on the plant; the petals hung on fairly well during hail storms that stripped nearly every petal from my other roses. And (this is a very unqualified positive) the squirrels seem to leave the buds alone, while they are munching all the others. (Maybe they've seen other squirrels impaled on those thorns!)
If you have the room, and aren't afraid of blackspot, thise is a pretty romantic rose.
Quite hardy in Maine. Very thorny. When perfect it is really a joy. Unfortunately, that's not so often.
Editor's Note
Plant Patent number 7212 has expired
This was the first rose I bought when we bought our house 15 yrs. ago. I have 61 now , but I think Othello is still my favorite. Mine was...Read More
Technically classed as "crimson", David Austen's own publications describe this rose as "almost salmon pink" in the centre and "deepening...Read More
I have 5 of them in my garden and they proved to be extremely hardy and vigorous. They have huge thorns and wonderful flowers- peonie li...Read More
This is a rather nice Austin rose, the color is alive and pretty. I find it to be one of the more disease prone Austin's in my garden.
This plant has been a mixed bag for me. I was given a 6" rooted cutting one spring, by the second summer it was throwing 10' long canes....Read More