The Pilgrim is a hybrid English shrub and climbing rose bred by David Austin in 1991. It was named after the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It is Graham Thomas x ‘Yellow Button’. The vigorous bushy rose will grow quickly to a 4-foot shrub. In warmer climates, it can grow up to 12 feet as a climbing rose. Allow 3-5 feet between a group of The Pilgrim roses. Bare-root roses can be planted in November and April and take longer to establish than a grafted rose. Potted roses can be planted at any time when the ground is not frozen, waterlogged, or during a drought. It tolerates shade, but flowers best with full sun and fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soils. Deadhead the blooms to encourage more flowers. Fertilize in late winter and early summer. Prune last season’s growth by one-third and cut some older stems back to the base in late winter to encourage new growth every year. Cut vigorous new growth to maintain a shrub shape instead of a climber. For climbing roses, tie new shoots horizontally and prune flowered side shoots by two-thirds. The soft yellow blooms are showy and fragrant. The cup-shaped flowers gradually open to a large, flat rosette with 60 to 140 petals. The blooms usually grow in small clusters to use as cut flowers. The Pilgrim is disease-resistant and has continuous blooms with several flushes from summer to fall. As they grow tall, they still have flowers and leaves on the lower stems. It is hardy in cold and warm weather climates. It was awarded an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in England. Include this in a cutting, cottage, and pollinator garden. As a climber, it can cover walls, fences, and trellises to fill vertical spaces or provide a screen. Grow low-growing perennials its base if the leaves are too sparse. It can be pruned to grow in a container. Place it where you walk by to smell the fragrance. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: It is susceptible to mildew and chewing by deer. It has good disease resistance to the usual rose diseases. See pests of roses to the left. More information on Rosa .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Fills a similar nicheRosa 'City of York'Rosa 'Don Juan'Rosa 'Rhonda'
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
3 feet-6 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 4 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 5 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
6 - Vine (vertical)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Climbing; Erect; Multi-stemmed
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The green leaves are shiny, abundant, and has good disease resistance
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Fragrant; Good Cut; Long Bloom Season; Showy
Flower form
Corymb
Flower shape
Cup
Flower size
3-6 inches
Flower detail
Starting in June, the fragrant medium-sized buds open to 4" blooms with 60 to 170 overlapping petals. The yellow flowers are cup-shaped and flattens out to a rosette with white outer petals. The flowers can be solitary but are usually a cluster that are attractive as a cut flower. Repeat blooms through fall.
Bloom time
Fall; Summer
Stem detail
Stems with prickles
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Australia
Attracts
Bees
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Container; Patio; Rock Wall; Vertical Spaces
Landscape theme
Cottage Garden; Cutting Garden; English Garden; Pollinator Garden