I was convinced that this rose had a rich red color, today mine bloomed for the first time and it's pink. Anybody has any idea why? could be the cold temperature?
The color looks about right for Gertrude Jekyll. What is the growth habit? 'Othello' is known for its' many branched, very thorny growth habit, which I, BTW, found very attractive. GJ, OTOH, grows straight upward like a gigantic hybrid tea. If your bush doesn't have large and numerous thorns it is not 'Othello'. The color of 'Othello" was for me a dark purplish red.
Yes, it does have a lot of thorns, growing habits are a bit weird because this spring was the coldest in over 60 years. I live in central italy, so I placed the rose on a sort of "partial shade" in order to not fry the flower during peeks hours. I'm guessing the color is this pale because it has been abnormaly cold and rainy in the las month, but yeah, I expected too a purplish/crimson red.
I think 'Othello' inherits some genetics from the China roses, so maybe it needs sunshine to deepen the color. First flowers of newly planted bushes are often a little odd.
I believe it is being sold by Long Ago Roses. It may be being sold under its breeder code name, 'Auslo'. I highly recommend Long Ago Roses for superb customer service and for keeping rare roses in commerce at extremely reasonable prices.
I would describe Othello's fragrance as rather like a sweet red wine. The colour is an attractive red shade when the flowers bloom, but soon ages to a dull purple, which I find a little disappointing.
This was one of the first English roses I grew, and I still have a fondness for it, thorny, awkward growth and all. I think it would do very well as part of a hedge, if one happened to want to discourage trespassing. The foliage is somewhat prone to mildew, but the plant is so amazingly vigorous, that it just grows back if you prune out the mildewed leaves. The flowers are magnificent, large, bautifully shaped, powerfully fragrant of an indescribable dark pink, dark red color overlayed with purple tones. Mine is in partial shade, so I can't say if it burns in full sun. Like nearly all English roses, it does need lots of water.
