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Buy Rosa 'The Ancient Mariner' (English Shrub Rose) online from Jacksons Nurseries

Rose 'The Ancient Mariner' - David Austin Old English Rose

David Austin English Shrub Rose

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At a Glance

Rose ‘The Ancient Mariner’ – David Austin Old English Rose

Brimming with old-world charm and a generous flowering habit, Rose ‘The Ancient Mariner’ is a striking English shrub rose bred by David Austin. With large, many-petalled blooms in rich pink tones and a strong myrrh fragrance, this rose adds bold colour and romance to borders and beds. Named after the classic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, it brings literary beauty and horticultural excellence together in one outstanding plant.

 

At a Glance

  • Variety Type: Shrub Rose (David Austin Old English Rose)

  • Breeder: David Austin Roses, UK

  • Fragrance: Strong, warm myrrh scent

  • Colour: Mid to rich pink with paler outer petals

  • Bloom Form: Large, deeply cupped rosettes

  • Flowering: Repeat flowering from early summer to first frost

  • Growth Habit: Upright and bushy with arching stems

  • Eventual Height: 1.25m (4ft)

  • Eventual Spread: 1.25m (4ft)

  • Hardiness: RHS H6 – Hardy throughout most of the UK and northern Europe (–20°C to –15°C)

 

Striking Blooms in Romantic Pink

‘The Ancient Mariner’ is known for its exceptionally large, rosette-shaped flowers, each packed with layers of petals in a glowing mid-pink that softens at the edges. These impressive blooms are borne in abundance on arching stems, giving the plant a graceful, almost tumbling appearance as it matures. The sheer size and fullness of the flowers make it a true showpiece in any garden.

 

Rich and Memorable Fragrance

This variety is notable for its strong and heady myrrh fragrance, a classic scent among English roses. Warm and slightly spicy, the perfume fills the air around the plant and adds an extra layer of enjoyment, especially when planted near walkways or seating areas.

 

Robust, Healthy Growth

With its upright, bushy form and softly arching stems, ‘The Ancient Mariner’ develops into a well-structured shrub that is both eye-catching and easy to manage. It produces healthy, mid-green foliage with good disease resistance and maintains its shape well throughout the season. This makes it a great choice for gardeners who want reliable performance with minimal intervention.

 

Long Flowering Season

Expect a long season of flowering from early summer right through to the first frost. After the initial flush, the plant will continue to bloom in repeat waves, especially with regular deadheading and feeding. This ensures months of colour and fragrance in the garden.

 

Ideal for a Variety of Garden Settings

Versatile and impactful, ‘The Ancient Mariner’ can be used in many garden designs:

  • Mixed borders, where its strong colour stands out

  • Cottage gardens, where its romantic form suits informal planting

  • Formal rose beds, where it adds height and structure

  • Planted in groups, for a dramatic mass of colour

  • Large containers, if given adequate space and support

Its upright habit and rich colouring make it a striking focal point wherever it's placed.

 

Growing Tips and Care

  • Sunlight: Prefers full sun for best flowering; tolerates partial shade

  • Soil: Moist but well-drained, fertile soil

  • Watering: Water regularly during dry periods, especially when newly planted

  • Feeding: Use a balanced rose fertiliser in early spring and after the first flush

  • Pruning: Prune your roses in late winter or early spring, just before new growth begins. Focus on removing dead or diseased wood and shaping the plant for better air circulation.

  • Mulching: Apply mulch in spring to retain moisture and suppress weeds

 

Hardy and Dependable

Rated RHS H6, ‘The Ancient Mariner’ is fully hardy across the UK. It is suitable for exposed areas and adapts well to different soil types when properly prepared, making it a reliable choice for gardens throughout the country.

 

A Rose with Literary Elegance

Named in tribute to the famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, this rose reflects the drama and beauty of the verse it honours. With its bold blooms, rich scent and strong structure, it delivers a sense of theatre and romance to the garden.

 

Why Choose a David Austin Old English Rose?

David Austin’s Old English Roses are treasured for their combination of historical character and modern performance. ‘The Ancient Mariner’ captures the spirit of classic roses—abundant blooms, enchanting fragrance and a strong garden presence—with the added benefits of disease resistance and repeat flowering.

 

Order Today and Enrich Your Garden with Romance and Colour

Whether you're planning a new planting scheme or adding depth to an existing space, Rose ‘The Ancient Mariner’ offers dependable beauty and sensory delight all season long.

Order now to enjoy this exceptional English rose and bring a touch of poetic charm to your garden.

Reasons to Buy Roses from Jacksons Nurseries

(1) ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot

Buy with confidence from the only online rose grower rated ‘Excellent’ 4.9* on Trustpilot. We have been a trusted supplier of roses for 3 generations. We take pride in growing our own roses in the field before potting them up, allowing for meticulous quality control to sale.

 

Trustpilot Excellent

 

(2) Best Prices Guaranteed – Direct from the Grower

Save £££s by buying direct from a grower you can trust. We’ve already price checked all of our roses against competitors so you don’t have to. We are so confident we offer the best value, if you find a rose of the same type and grade elsewhere, we’ll beat it by 10%.

 

Price Promise

(3) 12 Month Plants Guarantee

We offer a 12 month guarantee on every plant that you buy from us that we have classified as Fully Hardy. If a plant you've bought from us fails in the first year, we will either replace it or refund you. See our satisfaction guarantee page for more details and conditions.

 

Roses 12 Months Plants Guarantee

(4) Third generation family-owned nursery specialising in roses

Jackson’s Nurseries is a 3rd generation family owned business which has been growing roses for over 60 years. Roses have always been our specialty, as you can see from the colourful array of blooms in the background to the old family photo below. Today, we offer over 200 different varieties of floribundas, hybrid teas, patio, shrub and David Austin roses. Our roses are initially grown in the field before being potted up for website dispatch.

 

Third Generation Rose Growing

(5) Grown at altitude to produce strong, healthy plants

Our North Staffordshire nursery is situated at 250 metres above sea level, producing strong, hardy plants that will thrive in your garden. Our nursery sits on clay, so you can be sure our roses can handle heavy soil too.

 

Grown at Altitude Healthy Plants

(6) Help & Advice and Aftercare

We are help to help you with any help and advice you need in choosing, planting and growing your roses before, during and after your purchase from us. The help and advice section of our website has extensive information, see below some examples of articles you may find useful:

 

Help and Advice Aftercare

How our roses are supplied through the seasons

All our roses are cultivated in an open field and are carefully dug up when the weather is optimal, typically in October or November. While other nurseries supply roses bare root, once our field-grown roses have been potted up we supply them freshly potted. This better protects the roots and helps keep them moist in transit, ensuring your roses arrive as healthy as when they left our nursery. So don’t be alarmed if the compost comes away from the roots when you remove them from the pot.

 

Pointing at Graft of Rose after Removing from Pot

The roses can remain in their pots over the winter, as long as they are properly watered and fed, but it's best to plant them out as soon as possible. If you do plant them straight away make sure the planting mix is prepared first, hold the root close to the top of the hole as you tip the pot upside down and try to keep as much compost as possible from falling away. They will already be pruned, so no additional pruning is needed except for trimming any dead tips. Regular pruning can start in late winter, the year after planting.

 

Tying up a Climbing Rose

Rose Types

Hybrid Tea Roses (HT)

Hybrid Tea roses are probably the most popular group of roses, available in both bush and standard form they have long flower stems and shapely blooms. Blooms are typically medium to large in size, with many petals which form a distinct central cone.

Floribunda Roses (FL)

Floribunda roses bears its flowers in clusters or trusses, with several blooms open at time in each truss. A popular choice the Floribunda rose group is unrivalled for colour, reliability and longevity as a bedding display however the flower form in generally inferior to the Hybrid Tea.

Patio Roses (PATIO)

Patio roses were introduced in the 1980’s and the group now contains several popular varieties. Generally low-growing roses that were once grouped with the Floribuna group but have now been put in their own group of compact versions. Usually growing about 50cm high they make excellent plants for patio containers or at the front of borders.

Climbing Roses (CLM)

Climbing roses as the name suggests are the perfect choice for covering a wall or screen. Often grouped together with Ramblers, Climbers tend to have stiffer stems, larger flowers but smaller trusses than Ramblers.

Rambling Roses (RAM)

Rambling roses are often grouped with Climbing Roses but the ramblers tend to have a more pliable stems that can be used to run along the soil to use as groundcover or can be used to make weeping standards.

Miniature Roses (MINI)

Miniature roses have increased in popularity in recent years due to their versatility, even grown indoors as temporary pot plants that grow to a maximum height of 40cm. An ideal choice for planting in tubs, edging beds and rockeries.

English Roses (ENG)

Often referred to as Austin or David Austin Roses, English roses are hybrids of old English roses and more modern varieties bread by David Austin to provide the best of both, mixing old rose shapes and scents with more modern colour range, compact habits and repeat flowering.

Diagram of different types of roses

Planting Advice

Roses like a generous root space, so dig a deep hole approximately twice as wide as the current root system, preferably adding composted organic matter to the soil. Never plant into frozen soil – in winter, await a frost-free period. Carefully remove the pot and gently tease the roots apart to spread them around the hole. Position the plant so that the ‘bud point’ (the place where the shoots emerge from, where the cultivated rose was grafted onto the rootstock) is at soil level. Replace the soil, firming it down gently, then water copiously. Ideally, a general purpose fertiliser should be applied to the surrounding soil as a top dressing. We also highly recommend the use of Rose Rootgrow, which provides a friendly fungus that prevents ‘rose replant syndrome’.

 

Digging Ground for Roses

 

Buying our Roses

Pot Size

Most of our roses are supplied in a 4 litre pot although this may vary slightly depending on rose variety. If the size of pot differes significatly from 4 litres then we will make this clear somewhere on the product page.

Seasonality

Our roses are grown outdoors and as such are subject to seasonal changes. As we sell potted stock throughout the year your rose may not arrive and look like you expect it to. If you are uncertain how your rose will arrive (especially if buying for a gift) then we suggest you contact us prior to making a purchase. 

Freshly Potted

Each year a new batch of roses is potted up ready for the following season. Once potted (usually November/December time) they go on sale as 'Freshly Potted'. If you purchase a freshly potted rose and plant it soon after you will find that when removing the rose from the pot there will be a lot of loose soil as the roots will not have had time to grow and bind the compost.

 

Rose Raised Ready to be Planted

 

Pruned/Cut Back

In autumn the majority of our roses have finished flowering and begin to look untidy, at this point we prune them quite hard in preparation for the following season. We continue to sell roses throughout the year, when a rose has been pruned in such a way we will identify it has being so. If you are not sure what to expect then please ask prior to making a purchase. Some garden centres/supermarkets sell stock that has been grown abroad or in poly-tunnels so they look 'picture perfect' out of season, while this is ideal for a gift they are short lived once planted.

Aftercare

Water regularly until established. In spring, apply a specialised rose fertiliser along with manure mulch, taking care to avoid direct contact of the mulch with the stems. In winter remove all branches which are dead, diseased or damaged along with any older stems as necessary to avoid overcrowding at the centre. Cut back new growth by about a quarter and prune side-shoots to within three buds of the main stem to encourage vigour. Prompt removal of ‘dead-heads’ will encourage further flowering.
 
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Buy Rosa 'The Ancient Mariner' (English Shrub Rose) online from Jacksons Nurseries 3-4 Litre pot
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