Bathsheba Rose Review | David Austin 2016
Bathsheba climbing rose
£24.50
Pros
- Extremely vigorous
- Very healthy
- Large bloom size: (3.5 – 5’’ or 9 – 12.5 cm)
- Delicious fragrance
- Not a thorny beast
Cons
- Fragrance: only medium-strong
- Ideally, full sunlight. But, she can also do reasonably well in some shade.
- Looks quite similar to Crown Princess Margareta and Teasing Georgia
BATHSHEBA ROSE REVIEW | THE RIGHT ROSES
‘Auschimbley’
English Climbing Rose bred by David Austin
David Austin
Apricot-yellow buds open to shallowly cupped, many petalled rosettes. They are a beautiful blend of subtle apricot-pink and soft yellow, giving the overall impression of apricot, with creamy outer petals. There is a superb floral myrrh fragrance, with hints of honey and Tea. It forms a short, vigorous climber. The name was inspired by the heroine of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd. DavidﾠAustin, 2016.
The Right Roses: RightRoses.com
David Austin introduced Bathsheba for the UK in 2016. He named this rose after the independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene in Far From the Madding Crowd. It is the first major literary success of Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928). David Austin has named many recent introductions after the characters in Thomas Hardy’s novels, such as Gabriel Oak (2019), Eustacia Vye (2019).
David Austin has introduced quite a few climbing roses. And, most of them are just incredible. However, recently Bathsheba is quickly becoming one of the highest rated David Austin climbing roses.
“Recently Bathsheba is quickly becoming one of the highest rated David Austin climbing roses”
The Right Roses | RightRoses.com
Bathsheba rose: The pros
- Best for 6 ft walls & fences
- Best for around a doorway
- Best for Obelisk or pillar
Bathsheba has five main strengths.
First, Bathsheba rose produces an exceptionally delicious fragrance which is to die for. It is sweet and very warm with notes of honey and myrrh. This is not particularly surprising as it is one of the two biggest challenges for David Austin for the last several decades: breeding roses with an abundance of grace and fragrance.
Broadly speaking, David Austin roses produce four main types of fragrance: fruity (e.g., Lady Emma Hamilton, Jubilee Celebration), old rose (e.g., Emily Bronte, Gertrude Jekyll, Desdemona), tea (e.g., Graham Thomas), and Myrrh (e.g., Gentle Hermione, Claire Austin). Of course, it is all about personal preferences when we talk about roses. However, according to our experience, many gardeners find it easier to enjoy roses with fruity, tea, and old-rose fragrance. Myrrh is a beautiful fragrance. Nonetheless, you should make sure that it is your thing.
Second, Bathsheba is such a vigorous climbing rose. It would not take her a lot of time to take off in your garden at all. From the first couple of months in your garden, she throws out an amazing number of shoots and growths. You will have a lot of canes. That also means you will have a mass of blooms during the summer. She is not at all lanky like Souvenir du Docteur Jamain.
Third, she looks very attractive even during the winter, when she does not have any blooms. This is one of the best-selling points to me as everyone know how climbing roses look like during the winter with only bare stems and canes on the wall. It is absolutely different with Bathsheba. She is probably the last rose in the garden to defoliate! In those warmer regions, such as in the South of England or California, she can even be a (semi) evergreen.
Fourth, Bathsheba has an excellent disease resistance. She hardly has any black spots if you plant her in full sunlight.
And fifth, she is not a thorny beast like Gertrude Jekyll. This fabulous characteristic would make our lives a lot better when we prune her every February.
Bathsheba rose: The cons
Bathsheba has only two main weaknesses.
First, although she produces a very tasty fragrance, her fragrance strength only ranges between “medium-strong”. Therefore, those who love roses with a strong fragrance may have to trade that for other positive traits of hers.
Second, ideally, we should plant her where she gets full sunlight. However, as far as we know, some gardeners have very good experience with Bathsheba even though they planted her in the less ideal condition (partial sunlight, 4 – 5 hours of sun).
Bathsheba rose in different climates
| Gardener | Country | Zone | Experience |
| Tracee Tuck | USA, Alabama | 7b | Fantastic. Beautiful blooms. Healthy. |
Bathsheba rose: The similarities
Bathsheba resembles two other David Austin roses: Crown Princess Margareta and Teasing Georgia. In our experience, Bathsheba is very similar (in a good way) to Crown Princess Margareta. Both Bathsheba and Crown Princess Margareta are magnificent roses. However, Bathsheba repeats better than Crown Princess Margareta. In particular, in the warmer climates, Bathsheba seems to be more floriferous than Crown Princess Margareta. On the other hand, Crown Princess Margareta has a stronger fragrance and tolerates shade better than Bathsheba. According to The Right Roses, what really separates Bathsheba and Crown Princess Margareta is their fragrance notes. Bathsheba has a medium – strong notes of myrrh, while Crown Princess Margareta has a strong fruity fragrance. Many gardeners love the fruity fragrance more than myrrh. Therefore, if you are considering these two varieties, the winner should go to the type of fragrance you like. If you like a strong fruity fragrance, you should go for Crown Princess Margareta.
Among three varieties, Teasing Georgia is the most floriferous. It also can tolerate shade and produces a strong fragrance.
Bathsheba rose: The details
| Height & Spread: Up to 10ft (3m) | Color: Apricot | Fragrance: Medium-strong |
| Fragrance notes: Myrrh | Flowering: Repeat | Suitable for containers: No |
| Sun exposure: Full sunlight | Bloom size: Large (3.5 – 5’’ or 9 – 12.5 cm) | Disease resistance: Excellent |
Photo credit: DavidAustinRoses.com
I am not very impressed with Bathsheba DA rose, either. However, does it have better disease resistance than Princess Margareta DA rose?
Thank you Chris for your comments and review. For the last few years, David Austin has released very disease-resistant roses. Bathsheba is among those excellent roses. She is pretty much a worry-free rose in terms of disease resistance. David Austin rated her disease resistance as “excellent”.
CROWN PRINCESS MARGARETA is also an excellent rose. David Austin only rated her disease resistance as “good”. However, I have never seen any black spot or rust on her bush in the UK. Therefore, I think both of them are very reliable roses in terms of disease resistance.
I was very disappointed with this rose, and ended up expelling her from my garden (which is not large, and under-performers are not well-tolerated). Her blooms were not large, and their colour was not apricot at all, but a washed-out white that looked like it had got some brown dirt on it. Her fragrance was medium strength at best. Not a pretty sight, though she climbed well. Alas.
Dear Chris,
Thank you for sharing with us!
This is exactly what The Right Roses is about. We share our rose experiences with each others. By rose experiences, we meant both ‘positive’ and ‘negative’. We really hope that gardeners have a very clear understanding of what they are buying. And, that would certainly enhance everyone’s rose experience.
We look foward to hearing more from you.
Best regards,
The Right Roses