Bonica is one of the most popular modern shrub roses in the world today.  It is a firm favourite due to the extraordinary lavishness of its flowers and the health of the bush.  If you only have room for one rose, Bonica may just be it.  Botanica assertively states: Every garden should have this delightful rose. 

If we are talking my favourite rose, Bonica it may just be.  The only thing that it is lacking, which most David Austins have, is fragrance.  The books say it has a slight fragrance but don’t believe them.

Bonica starts flowering after most other roses but continues well into winter when others are already hibernating.  I have noticed that it flowers longer the warmer the climate.  My Bonica in the south has stopped flowering but in Perth, they still look beautiful.

The books claim that it is never without a flower from spring to winter but I find that it does have two distinct, and very substantial, flushes during which it looks particularly magnificent – one in late spring and the other in autumn.  There is no doubt, however, that it is extremely free flowering.

Bonica bears large clusters of double blooms of soft clear pink, with a darker centre and frilled petals.  The flowers are full of small petals and are cupped in form.

The bush has strong, arching growth with good glossy foliage. Its constitution and health are excellent.  If there is one fault with the bush, it is that, in autumn, it tends to throw out long canes in all directions so if you have, as I do, standards along a driveway, your car is at risk of being scratched.

The foliage is bright green and most attractive.  Bonica is a low grower making it ideal for a standard, mass plantings or as a low hedge.

Bonica is extremely easy to grow and disease resistant.

Bonica is a Floribunda rose, bred by Meilland of France and introduced in 1981.  It has won many awards for its vigour and the lavishness of its blooms.