Syn.'Auscat', 'White Mary Rose' Rosa Inglese a cespuglio, Gruppo Rosa Antica Ibrida, a portamento vigoroso ed eretto, compatto, ordinato. Fogliame sm/lucido, folto, verde intenso. Fiori grandi, bianchi con centro rosa pallido, forma old-fashioned, singoli o in mazzi. Fragranza deliziosa, di Rosa Antica, con note di miele e mandorla. Rifiorente, rustica. H.120cm L.120cm. (ROSACEAE) (David C.H.Austin, David Austin Roses Ltd., UK, 1988)
The blooms of Winchester Cathedral are beautiful and have a good fragrance. I'm always disappointed that the blooms start out a dingy pale pink (with a bit of yellow), then turn to white only a day or two before all the petals fall. The flowers only last a few days, although the rebloom is good. I get 3-4 flushes in a summer. It has been a very compact (less than 3 feet tall after 3 years) and disease-free plant in my no-spray garden.
A favourite white of mine, this rose. For one, its prolific, always sending out plenty of buds to make ever more blooms... Also, I like its growth habit... Bushy, well-foliated, somewhat upright without being lanky, rigid or HT-looking. It forms a lovely dense, shapely bush that holds its beautiful buds and blooms just above the foliage, really showing off the loveliness of the bloom construction which is cupped at first, with the classic Austin whorl of petals in the middle... Later relaxing to a more flat, open shape. The blooms have a light to moderate fragrance and hold up to the elements quite well without balling, etc. They last an only average time, but are produced in profusion, so its not an issue... And they drop cleanly without looking ragged and untidy in the final stages. The buds are usually tinged with pink, making for a striking effect with the pure white of the mature open blooms... Though this variety is reputed to throw the occasional pink or half-pink bloom of its Mary Rose parent... In my experience with two specimens, my blooms have all been only the most lovely pure white, except of course, in the bud stage where the pink effect is lovely. The foliage is generally quite clean and lush... Covering the bush from base to the leading ends of the canes. I have, on my plants only ever seen a very few black spots here and there, never causing problems or becoming at all rampant. I don't spray and in my garden, only good performers are allowed to grow. This rose is hardy and fairly vigorous, though it remains tidy in its appearance. One of my very best performers and roses overall!
David Austin describes it as honey with almonds and as odd as that sounds, the scent description is pretty accurate. It certainly is a distinct, unique, and crisp fragrance. It is a strong fragrance, although it may not seem so simply because of it's unique scent compared to typical strong tea and old rose scents.
