Is this Radio Times?

Do you think this is David Austins Radio Times? It has a really sprawling habit - pretty much along the ground.

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Here is a picture of the bush. It is more sprawling than the photo shows.

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Personally I don't think so , if anything it looks more like Abraham Darby to me but I may be wrong.
My Radio Times has never shown any inclination to sprawl whereas A.D does and eventually grows up to be a sprawling arching shrub .
I'll try and dig out some photo's tomoorow if you like.

cheers. Rosalie

Strange... my AD doesn't look like it wants to sprawl...

I've just been out and had a look at mine here , these A.D's are only young and haven't made much of a move this year yet after pruning , Radio Times is a bit older but likewise is not fully leafed up either .
The A.D's I had in my old garden were the most beautiful shrubs around the 5' mark and the branches used to be long and arched and get weighed down by the flowers.

Radio Times leaves are a bit lighter green than A.D and the flowers are more pink.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Abraham Darby is shades of pink and apricot .[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Fragrance might be an indicator too, R.T's has the real "old rose" perfume whilst A.D tends to more fruity tones .

Your plant only looks young pfm so it may be as it matures the branches have more strength and it gains a more upright position.
My Lady of Megginch is doing a pretty good impersonation of a groundcover atm

I have just been reading on HMF that R.T is described as an arching spreading shrub so you may be in luck ; either way they are both beautiful roses.

cheers. Rosalie

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Thanks Rosalie. I put the rose in 3 years ago along with 4 other austins. 2 years ago our dog was a young puppy and dug the pruned roses up. As a result I have no idea which ones went back where and they were all chewed quite a bit!

I am not really happy with the way it is sprawling. It just isn't right in that spot. I have standard white icebergs with various david austins in between but I am going to replace all the austins next year with duchesse de Brabant .

It will be interesting to see if the rose in the picture does head upwards as it ages. It does smell quite strongly and I would have said it was a real 'rosey' smell but I am only a beginner so that probably means nothing! I will keep an eye on the colour as it opens out more - you can really see the difference between RT and AD in your photos.

Thnaks for your help!
Fiona