Poor ‘Charlotte’

Last year my new David Austin rose ‘Charlotte’ was attacked by both Japanese beetles and rabbits before it could really do its thing.

This year I put a chicken wire cage around ‘Charlotte’ to protect it from the bunnies. And with our unusually warm spring the roses got a nice head start on the beetles, so I was able to enjoy at least a few weeks of beautiful blooms before the carnage began in earnest.

‘Charlotte’ grows 3 feet tall with fragrant, light-yellow flowers. I grow ‘Charlotte’ in partial shade and it blooms like crazy, but it needs some staking because the flowers are so heavy.