Like many of you, I went from zero to one hundred obsessed with David Austin roses — literally overnight. I never planned to buy Young Lycidas. By the time my rose garden obsession began, bare root season was already over, so I was left hunting for whatever I could still find locally here in New Jersey. I finally stumbled upon a handful of remaining varieties. Young Lycidas was there — so into my cart it went.

That accidental purchase turned out to be my absolute favorite rose in the entire garden. And I want to tell you exactly why, including the famous “octopus canes” everyone keeps asking about in Facebook groups.

Let's start with the flowers

These stunning rosettes are a rich magenta pink, romantic and simply perfect. They look beautiful at every stage — from the small, elegant bud to the fully open bloom. They handle rain surprisingly well too. After two days of constant rain, these rosettes looked completely unbothered, holding their shape far better than many other roses.

Young Lycidas is also the earliest David Austin rose to bloom in my garden, often flowering before many of the others even wake up. Even better, it keeps blooming well into November here in New Jersey (Zone 7A), making it one of the longest-performing roses in my garden.

Young Lycidas, November Bloom, Zone 7A

But what truly makes this rose magical for me happens in the evening. At twilight, the petals seem to glow with an almost translucent magenta color that is genuinely hard to capture in photos.

The octopus canes — and what to actually do with them

Here's what nobody tells you about David Austin shrub roses: many of them don't want to be the tidy upright shrubs you might expect. Young Lycidas in particular throws out these long, flexible, almost floppy canes — especially in the second half of the season.

My first two years I kept trimming it back, trying to keep it tidy. That was a mistake.

In year three I stopped fighting it and instead bent those canes — essentially training it as a small climber. And that's when everything changed. The moment you bend a cane rather than cutting it, it erupts in side shoots absolutely covered in blooms. That's what this rose wants to do. Work with it, not against it.

Here you can see the canes are thin and flexible, making it quite easy to wrap around an obelisk. Also, they are not very thorny so this is a really easy task!

The result: A perfect small climber!

My advice: don't trim Young Lycidas aggressively, especially in the first few years. Let it grow, then bend and shape those long canes rather than cutting them back. You'll be rewarded with exponentially more flowers.

How it handles New Jersey weather

Zone 7A means humidity, torrential summer rains, and unpredictable springs. Young Lycidas handles all of it.

I shot my review video (see at the end of this post) right after two days of heavy rain — the kind that soaks every bloom and makes most roses ball up and turn brown. Young Lycidas was quite unbothered. The flowers were vibrant, fully open, completely undamaged. That disease and rain resistance in our climate is genuinely impressive.

We also had a really bad cold snap late spring. Many of my roses were affected. I found 2 or 3 buds on Young Lycidas that was also not looking best. The rest gave me the blooms you see in the photos.

Is it right for Zone 7A New Jersey?

After three years — yes, completely. It's healthy, vigorous, disease resistant, and puts on a show from early May through late autumn. If you're in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast and have been hesitant about David Austin roses because of our climate, Young Lycidas is the one I'd start with.

It was an accidental buy. It's now my benchmark for every other rose I consider adding.

Where to buy Young Lycidas

It's not easily found in local nurseries so if you don't find it, order online.

Young Lycidas is available on David Austin website. It's best to order bare roots in the fall because this rose is often not available during spring and summer.

You can get Young Lycidas at Plant Addicts (10% off with this link):
https://tidd.ly/3PNCkSz

Plant Addicts (10% off with this link): https://tidd.ly/3PNCkSz

You can watch my entire review of this rose here:

Happy gardening! 🌹