New for 2024, the Emma Bridgewater™ English Shrub rose, currently being admired by RHS Chelsea Flower Show visitors is a pink rosette, which opens up to varying colours ranging from apricot and coral to mauve and lilac.
The new launch celebrates the union of two heritage British brands, with a flower that can grow and thrive in gardens but also lasts when cut, for indoors. The launch of the Emma Bridgewater rose follows an earlier collaboration, where the two co-designed a charitable mug depicting the golden yellow David Austin® Bring Me Sunshine® rose in aid of the National Garden Scheme.
David J. C. Austin said: “Emma Bridgewater’s works are amongst the most collectable of our time, so it feels fitting to have created an English rose of such endless appeal in her honour. In the tradition of our English roses, we have meticulously bred, tested, and trialled the Emma Bridgewater variety over 12 years to ensure it is both beautiful and born to endure. Admiring the rose in full bloom at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show will be a very special moment, just as it was for me to visit the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent and see our collaborative mug being crafted.”
In return, Emma Bridgewater said: “I am delighted by our collaboration with David Austin Roses, a British brand with a real crossover of vision and ideas. Visiting the David Austin nursery and witnessing the rose creation process was thrilling and incredibly inspiring. I have been surrounded and loved David Austin Roses for as long as I remember as both my mum and granny were keen gardeners and loved them. Much like a well-loved piece of pottery, roses can be like old friends, with a personal connection for people. The Emma Bridgewater rose is wonderful, and not least because it is full of surprises, as it displays several distinctly different colours as the buds appear, open and then develop – giving three different hues in one rose. It has also been rewarding to take this beautiful rose and translate it into pottery with an illustrative mug as well as a range of vases made especially for displaying roses in all of their glory.”
