The Ancient Mariner Rose Review | David Austin 2015
The Ancient Mariner
£24.50
Pros
- Extremely vigorous
- Extremely healthy
- One of largest blooms with 160 petals
- Upright habit
- Extremely well shade tolerant
- Tolerance of rain damages
Cons
- Not suitable for pots and containers
THE ANCIENT MARINER ROSE REVIEW | THE RIGHT ROSES
‘Ausoutcry’
English Shrub Rose bred by David Austin
David Austin
An impressive variety, bearing masses of large, many petalled blooms on a bushy, quite upright shrub. The blooms are a lovely glowing mid pink at the centre, paling towards the edges. Over time, they each reveal a cluster of golden stamens. There is a medium-strong myrrh fragrance. The name of this rose was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. David Austin, 2015.
The Right Roses: RightRoses.com
David Austin introduced The Ancient Mariner for the UK in 2015. He named this rose after Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was written between 1797–1798, and published in 1798. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner played as a major role in the British literature history. Its presence signaled a prominent shift to modern poetry in Britain and the start of British romantic literature. Many argued that the poem was inspired by the second voyage of Captain James Cook between 1772 – 1775, exploring the South Seas.
The Ancient Mariner is an exquisitely charming rose. Many of his traits closely resemble the personality of the mariner in the famous poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: strong, healthy, and particularly resistant to rain damages.
“The Ancient Mariner is an exquisitely charming rose. Many of his traits closely resembles the personality of the mariner in the famous poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: strong, healthy, and particularly resistant to rain damages“.
The Right Roses | RightRoses.com
The Ancient Mariner rose: The pros
The Ancient Mariner rose produces a very delicious medium – strong fragrance with notes of Myrrh and honey. In the first couple of years in your garden, he is only lightly scented. However, by the third years, his particularly delighted, warm and sweet fragrance can be clearly detectable. The moment you dip you nose into his bloom is when you know he will be your favorite one forever.
In addition to his fragrance, The Ancient Mariner rose rewards you with masses of mid pink blooms. It is just too hard to describe his incredibly gorgeous color. It is mid pink in the middle, but gradually pales toward the edges of the petals. Personally, I love the mid pink roses more than those with the lighter pink colors. They give me the warm and freshness, while the light pink roses just me the freshness (or even blandness according to many gardeners).
The Ancient Mariner rose can really brighten up your garden with masses of particularly large blooms (3.5 – 5’’ or 9 – 12.5 cm). His bloom size usually gets closer to 5’’ if you give him sometime to get established in your garden.
Now, I will give you a little fact about this fabulous rose. Desdemona blooms usually have about 26 – 40 petals. Many gardeners love Princess Alexandra of Kent rose and Golden Celebration rose because they produce large blooms. Probably, among David Austin roses, they produce the largest blooms. However, Princess Alexandra of Kent blooms only have 130 petals. And, Golden Celebration blooms have about 55 – 75 petals. And, guess how many petals there are in each The Ancient Mariner bloom. In general, The Ancient Mariner blooms could have staggeringly 160 petals! Therefore, his blooms are very full of charm and grace.
The Ancient Mariner blooms are also quite upright. Therefore, they will make great cut flowers for your pretty house.
Furthermore, The Ancient Mariner is an extremely vigorous rose. He will make a full and bushy shrub in no time in your garden. I planted him as a potted rose in my garden in the UK in November (early winter). After 5 months in April (early Spring), he got to 2 ft tall and 2ft wide. David Austin suggests that he will eventually be a 4ft x 4ft bush in the UK. But, in my opinion, he can be slightly bigger, i.e., 5ft x 5ft or 6ft x 6 ft, by the third year. Therefore, it could be a good idea to plant him at the back of your garden.
And, The Ancient Mariner is a very healthy rose with “excellent” disease resistance, according to David Austin. This is not particularly surprising, is it? At the end of the day, he is named after the mariner in the famous poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. His foliage is very healthy without any sight of black spot.
One more trait that makes him resemble to the mariner is that he can tolerate the rain extremely well. However, in the rain, you might want to stake him in the first two years. His blooms are huge. So, they can be quite weighty in the rain. After a few years, you probably don’t need to stake him anymore.
Finally, The Ancient Mariner rose can tolerate the shade extremely well. He can thrive in your garden with only about 3 hours of sun.
The Ancient Mariner rose: The cons
When you decide to go with The Ancient Mariner rose, there are 4 little things you should keep in mind. They are not the cons of this incredible David Austin rose. But they are something you may want to do to make him very comfortable in your garden.
First, The Ancient Mariner rose will form a large bush. His blooms are particularly big and gorgeous. Therefore, you should provide him with enough nutrients, such as Rose Food, Fish Blood and Bone meal, or manure, at least twice a year. In February (March) and June (July). Personally, I would feed him and all my roses every few weeks during their growing season (between February and September). I just love my roses too much not to. They are really like my kids!
Second, The Ancient Mariner rose needs enough water in the summer to thrive. Probably, this applies to all David Austin roses. They are quite thirsty roses.
Third, again, his blooms are very big. Therefore, he is not particularly productive or floriferous when he tries to get established in your garden. But, make sure to give him a little bit of time. He will reward your patience with masses of gorgeous blooms.
Fourth, The Ancient Mariner is not a particularly good choice for pots and containers. He makes a large bush. So, you may want to plant him in your garden.
The Ancient Mariner rose: The similarities
Well, no roses look the same! In other words, there is always something unique to each rose. This point gives me the very much needed indulgence to buy as many rose varieties as my little sized garden could afford. Personally, The Ancient Mariner reminds me of James Galway and Olivia Rose Austin. Both are also popular among gardeners. James Galway (2000) is a gorgeous light-pink climbing rose. He can tolerate shade well and produce light-medium fragrance. Olivia Rose Austin (2014) is also a terrific, relatively new David Austin shrub rose. She produces mid pink blooms with a light-medium fragrance. She can tolerate shade and poor soil very well.
The Ancient Mariner rose: The details
| Height & Spread: 4ft x 4ft | Color: Mid pink | Fragrance: Medium-strong |
| Fragrance notes: Myrrh | Flowering: Repeat flower | Suitable for containers: Yes |
| Sun exposure: Partial sunlight | Bloom size: Large (3.5 – 5’’ or 9 – 12.5 cm) | Disease resistance: Excellent |
Photo credit: The Right Roses | RightRoses.com and DavidAustinRoses.com
I love the colour of Ancient Mariner, but I only have a little space left in my garden, about 1.5m2. Do you think it is enough? Thanks
Thank you Laura for your question. The Ancient Mariner is a fabulous rose. 1.5 m2 is just about right for him. He can also tolerate shade very well.
I have a bed along the back side of my house here in North Carolina that I’m going to extend out by a few feet. I would like to install a row of three roses against the house. I can’t figure out which rose- Ancient Mariner or Princess Alexandra of Kent would look best? I’m looking for a tidy, upright shrub that can handle a bit of shade, establish quickly and give me lot of blooms! Thanks for your advice.
Dear Elizabeth. Thank you for your question. It is very exciting to hear that you can accomodate a few more roses. Both of them (The Ancient Marier and Princess Alexandra of Kent) are great roses. In our garden, The Ancient Mariner is more healthy. His blooms look great for 2 – 3 days, then we may want to deadhead them right away. The Ancient Mariner can tolerate shade better. Both of them produce large blooms. However, clearly they have different bloom forms. Therefore, you may see that Princess Alexandra of Kent produce larger blooms (mainly because of their bloom forms).… Read more »
Thank you so much for the insight. Can you give any more info on the overall look of the shrubs and which is more pleasing? I recently planted a Lady of Shallot and came to realize that she likes to be a bit messy looking in terms of the actual shrub. Don’t get me wrong, I love her, but I am looking for a shrub against my house that has a compact, rounded look.
Dear Elizabeth. In terms of the overall look of the shrub, The Ancient Mariner forms a more bushy and rounded shrub in our garden. It is very hard to choose, isn’t it? We firmly believe that they are both great roses. You may want to start thinking about further extending your garden somewhere. There are better and better roses being introduced to the market. See, how lucky we are as gardeners. I always think we are just so blessed. Endless joy!!!
We are very blessed indeed. I had my sights set on the Eustacia Vye only to find out it won’t be introduced to the US market until 2021! My heart is broken. I’ll make room for her come 2021. thank you so much for your feedback!
You are most welcome, Elizabeth! And, that sounds like a great plan.
I’m currently going back and forth between the Ancient Mariner and the Olivia Rose Austin, I can’t decide! Out of the two, which is your favorite? I live in the Seattle area and this will live in a shadier afternoon spot. Thank you!
Dear Sarah, We understand your problem very well. In fact, it is the problem many gardeners have: choosing the right rose among a few equally great roses. In our opinion, both of them are fantastic roses. To choose one, it depends on how much space you have at the moment. The Ancient Mariner would become a bigger rose. His shrub is attractive: bushy and upright. Olivia Rose Austin is more compact and more floriferous. However, she would fade more badly. We have both of them in our garden. We love both. If we must select only one, we would go… Read more »
I also have both Olivia Rose Austin and The Ancient Mariner. In my garden in Vancouver BC they are both large shrubs, easily passing 5 feet in height. Both are also shapely upright shrubs, not flopping about and needing staking. They both have huge and spectacular first flushes, with Olivia repeating more quickly. But the Mariner’ blooms are just that much more awesome. The shade is not a problem for either one. I love having both, but if I could have only one, it would likely be the Mariner. But really, you can’t go wrong with this choice. Best,
Chris
Dear Chris, That is wonderful to here. It seems to us that The Ancient Mariner has been quite underrated. It is truly a pity for such a great rose. Would you please share with us more about The Ancient Mariner? E.g., growth habit, hardiness, productivity, disease resistance, etc. We would like to publish your experience in the ‘My Favorite Roses’ Series at The Right Roses. Millions of gardeners would highly appreciate your generousity. And, please share with us a few photos of his (the more the better) when he looks best and not really good as well. Everything will be… Read more »
Thank you for this wonderful and well written review. The Rose is stunning, and reminds me in some ways of a favorite of mine; Maiden’s Blush. The video is delightful and brightened my day. Thank you so much for this.
Louis
Dear Louis,
Thank you very much for your kind words. They truly mean the world to us!
We look forward to your further support.
Sincerely yours,
The Right Roses
I bought a bare roots ancient mariner this spring and it’s been growing very well. It appears lately there’s some insects trying to attack him but I’ve caught it early and will be treating his leaves. I put him in a large 16 gal. Pot because I’m in college and for his first year or two will need to bring him back and forth between school and home probably, but I plan to put him in the ground when he’s older. He’s also in the shade of my parents backyard under a few trees but I don’t think this will… Read more »
Dear Justice, First of all, many many congratulations on your first rose. It is more than just a rose. It is a fantastic lifestyle that you have chosen. We believe that, from this point, if you do it right, you will enjoy endless happiness that not many other things can bring. We at The Right Roses would like to make your first rose experience a very positive one. You made the first right decision that you planted him in a 16 gal pot, which is quite decent. You forgot to mention the zone you are in. However, probably you are… Read more »
Thank you for the encouragement ! I live in zone 6. So far he hasn’t bloomed but I’m expecting them this summer and will act accordingly. I have fed him twice so far since he started growing because I want to give him all the help he can get but I’m trying to not over feed either. I will try to get him better sunlight as best I can and will maybe write something after he’s fully grown and bloomed.
Sounds great Justice. We will look forward to hearing your rose experience.
Best wishes,
The Right Roses
You say that this rose isn’t suitable for pot planting as the main con of this rose; however, David Austin in his website includes this variety in the list of varieties particularly suited for pots and containers. Do you think that a 50l pot will be enough for this plant as a bare root? I’m planning to keep it in this pot for at least 4 or 5 years
Dear Jac, At The Right Roses, providing our visitors with the most POSITIVE ROSE EXPERIENCE is very important to us. Certainly, you can plant him in a big pot. We recommend a minimum pot size of 60cm x 60cm. With a lot of care, it may work for 3 – 4 years or so. However, at the same time, please understand that he is a (very) huge rose. Therefore, it also takes a lot of care for him to perform to the best of his potential in a pot. His blooms are incredibly gorgeous. They also smell great (like Lotus… Read more »
My Ancient Mariner is very large and I think would not be happy in a pot. It is still in bloom at the end of October on the west coast of Canada. Interestingly, the David Austin USA website and handbook of roses for 2020 do not list the Mariner as suitable for pots. But they do list some others as suitable that I find surprising, including The Poet’s Wife, which in my garden has formed a vast shrub that would be most upset if confined to a pot. But there is never harm in trying! Lots of food and water… Read more »