The Poet’s Wife is an English shrub rose from David Austin, introduced in 2014. Its large blooms open rich yellow and pale gradually over time. Each one has a neat outer ring of petals around a looser, informal centre, with about 77 petals in all. The fragrance is the reason to grow it: strong and wonderfully rich, fruity with a hint of lemon, and it grows sweeter and stronger as the flower ages. It repeats in flushes from late spring into fall, and the blooms are good for cutting. The shrub is bushy and rounded, with arching branches and fairly shiny foliage, about 120 cm tall and wide. It suits borders and large containers. It’s adaptable, growing in full sun or partial shade, in any aspect and in all soil types, and it’s rated hardy to zone 5.

A rich yellow David Austin rose with one of the strongest fragrances in the collection.