Today a rose that I grow mainly for its historic value, but she is enchanting and remains popular, the Tea rose – ‘Safrano.’
A very early Tea, dating from 1839 and bred by an amateur grower Mons de Beauregard in Anger France. He bred just two roses, ‘Joseph’ now lost to cultivation and ‘Safrano.’ I hope he made some money from his ‘Safrano.’ In the late nineteenth century entire fields of ‘Safrano’ were grown in the South of France, and the buds and blooms were dispatched across Europe. Today the fashion for buttonholes has disappeared and florists want strong stemmed tough long lasting bright blooms, ‘Safrano’ doesn’t fulfil these modern demands.
A curious little soul, ‘Safrano’ hates the rain but can ‘bolt’ on very hot days running from her exquisite, furled bud to a spent bloom in under a day. A challenge to photograph I promise, when the bloom is perfect just run for your camera. Colours range from a bright salmony pink streaked with yellow fading to a buff parchment and finally white. She is highly variable and can disappoint with a pale insipid bloom but return a delicious bloom a few days later. Unusual in her petal count as this also changes a lot according to temperature and humidity. Fragrance is not too strong but ‘Tea’ like, earthy and captivating.
Here in the UK, she will probably only achieve a metre in height but considerably larger in hotter climates. Slightly fragile twiggy growth but I notice she gets stronger with age. Likewise, the bloom necks initially were weak, so she hung her head, but this too has improved over time. Although noted for being relatively hardy for a Tea a warm sunny sheltered spot would delight her. Ideal for a large container. Of course, being a Tea, she is disease resistant. Hardy USDA zones 7b-9b. Widely available. Said to grow wild in the South of France!
One reads that ‘Safrano’ is an early hand pollinated rose, ‘Park’s Yellow Tea-Scented China’ the seed parent and ‘Desprez à Fleur Jaune’ the pollen parent. However, this seems to have been a guess around a hundred years after her creation. Park’s Yellow certainly but the pollen parent isn’t known. This was natural pollination, with no little hogs’ hair brush involved. ‘Safrano’ has huge historic value as her genes are a major contributor to today’s modern roses, with just under 20,000 descendants.
Maybe not a rose for everyone and every garden situation. Tuck her in a sunny corner, enjoy her blooms, and relate her history to garden visitors over a glass of Sauvignon.
Originally published on my Facebook blog Rose of the Day 6th January 2022
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