English Rose were created by David Austin. They are basically an attempt to meld modern rose's constant bloom with the old rose flower form and scent. Basically he has succeeded but often at the expense of hardiness and disease resistance. They aren't 'plant and forget' roses. They have a slight edge on the modern roses in the ease of culture department but not anywhere near that of old and species roses as many people think. Their scent, color range and repeat bloom are excellent. Others have also begun to produce roses that are similar to those bred by David Austin. Some come close to his standard of excellence such as Heirloom but others(at least to me) fail utterly. In this category I place the Romantica Roses. To me they are utterly deviod of charm and soul. Their huge leathery leaves and grossly upright stems seem monstrous to me.
Overall the english roses(excluding the Romanticas) these are a very lovely group of roses. I find that I like them a lot. I wish the disease resistance and hardiness were there but perhaps that is a job left to budding geneticists- - like me :).
