Airy, uplifting, and full of natural charm, Rose ‘The Lark Ascending’ is one of David Austin’s most graceful and poetic English shrub roses. Inspired by the musical masterpiece by Ralph Vaughan Williams, this rose captures a sense of movement and lightness in both appearance and fragrance. With its semi-double, apricot-toned blooms, The Lark Ascending offers a naturalistic elegance perfect for informal gardens and mixed borders.
Type: English Shrub Rose
Breeder: David Austin, UK
Fragrance: Light to medium, tea-like with hints of myrrh
Colour: Light amber to soft apricot with golden highlights
Bloom Form: Semi-double, open and lightly ruffled
Flowering: Repeat blooming from late spring to the first frost
Growth Habit: Tall, airy, and graceful
Height: 1.5m (5ft)
Spread: 1.5m (5ft)
Hardiness: RHS H6 – Hardy throughout the UK
The flowers of The Lark Ascending are particularly enchanting: semi-double, lightly ruffled petals in a glowing blend of apricot, peach, and soft amber, creating a luminous effect in the garden. Each bloom opens to reveal golden stamens, adding a lively, almost sunlit quality. The airy nature of the flowers allows them to move gently in the breeze, adding a dynamic, ethereal presence to the landscape.
Unlike more formal or structured varieties, The Lark Ascending has a light, informal habit, growing into a tall, bushy shrub with arching canes and open, natural spacing. It’s ideal for informal borders, wildlife-friendly gardens, or anyone seeking a rose that offers beauty without formality. Its flowing form mimics the movement of music and birdsong, making it a true visual symphony.
The Lark Ascending is a reliable performer, producing repeat flushes of blooms from late Spring to early Winter. Its semi-double flowers appear in large, airy clusters, offering excellent garden presence without becoming overbearing. Even late in the season, this rose continues to flower generously with minimal encouragement.
The fragrance is gentle and refined—a light tea scent with subtle myrrh undertones. It’s ideal for those who prefer a delicate, unobtrusive perfume, and it pairs beautifully with the rose’s airy aesthetic. Perfect for paths, terraces, or areas where a soft background scent is appreciated.
Thanks to its open, semi-double blooms and accessible stamens, The Lark Ascending is a magnet for bees and other pollinators. This makes it an excellent addition to wildlife-friendly or eco-conscious gardens, helping to support biodiversity while adding natural elegance.
The Lark Ascending shines in many garden settings:
Informal or cottage-style borders
Wildlife and pollinator gardens
Mixed plantings with grasses or perennials
Layered beds for height and softness
Romantic or naturalistic garden designs
Its tall, loose structure also allows it to be trained lightly as a short climber over fences or arches if desired.
Position: Prefers full sun; tolerates partial shade
Soil: Fertile, well-drained, enriched with organic matter
Watering: Regular deep watering, especially in dry periods
Feeding: Apply rose feed in early spring and again in midsummer
Pruning: 1/3 of their size in late winter or early spring to shape and rejuvenate
Spacing: Allow 1.2–1.5 metres between plants for air flow
Bred for the British climate, The Lark Ascending is fully hardy and disease resistant. It maintains a healthy, green canopy through the growing season and responds well to minimal intervention—perfect for busy gardeners who still want lasting beauty.
Named after one of England’s most beloved orchestral pieces, this rose makes a beautiful gift for music lovers, gardeners, or those seeking a meaningful tribute. It symbolises hope, lightness, and the joy of nature, making it ideal for:
Birthdays and anniversaries
Sympathy or remembrance gardens
Celebrations of creativity or new beginnings
Light, natural beauty inspired by English music
Free-flowering with long-lasting impact
Bee-friendly, open blooms
Elegant structure for informal and wildlife gardens
Soft fragrance and low maintenance
Bring elegance, movement, and gentle fragrance to your garden with Rose ‘The Lark Ascending’—a poetic, free-spirited rose that dances with the seasons.
Order today and experience the natural harmony of this timeless David Austin variety.
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.

(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%.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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:

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.

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.

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.

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’.

Buying our Roses
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.

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.

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