The posts below originally appeared on my Facebook blog ‘Rose of the Day’
Tuesday 1st January 2019
I admit to saving this rose for today with her most appropriate name for New Year’s Day. ‘Champagne Moment’ a German bred floribunda introduced in 2005 and had her champagne moment in 2006 when she was ‘Rose of the Year’.
Neat little buds of a rather bright orange appear in the dark glossy foliage. As these swell, the colour becomes less vibrant moving to a peachy pink. The clusters of full petalled blooms open to a pale cream pink with a warm peach lemon centre. Reliably repeat blooms all summer. I photographed this one in early September and she was full of buds. A light sweet fragrance, some reports of no fragrance
Not a large rose, only 90cm x 60cm. A good candidate for the front of the border, or a large container. I have seen her as a low hedge where she did look stunning.
She has a couple of alternative names. In Canada she is sold as ‘Lion’s Fairy Tale’ and in the US and it appears in the rest of the world she is known as ‘Lions-Rose’. This last name is her registered exhibition name, and the ICRA name is ‘KORvanaber’. ‘Champagne Moment’ seems to be reserved for the UK market.
Vigorous and with excellent disease resistance. Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b.
Wednesday 2 January 2019
A simple soul this morning, and one that is easily overlooked. The Revd Joseph Pemberton and his sister bred superb roses creating the Hybrid Musk group in the early 1900s. Sadly some are now no longer in commercial cultivation but the better known ones such as ‘Penelope’, ‘Felicia’ and ‘Moonlight’ are still popular. Rightly so with their delicious fragrance, attractive blooms and their extremely long blooming season. ‘Moonlight’ has a scattering of her small white blooms today. I digress; however, today’s rose is one of the lesser known Hybrid Musks, the cerise pink ‘Vanity’.
I wonder why she is not more widely grown? She is large around 2m high and a little narrower at 1.5m. An open growth habit, Graham Stuart Thomas recommends growing three together, so they can support each other. That’s fine if you have a lot of space but problematic in a smaller garden. Perhaps just one grown next to white or pale pink companions of a bushy habit would help. She is a vibrant cerise in early summer so not good next to yellows, or reds unless you like a wake-up call when you visit her. She mellows as the season progresses becoming a little softer, this photo was taken in mid September.
Large sprays of bloom are produced in flushes through the summer. Single petalled and these petals have a nice wavy shape adding to her charm. Good for the bees and other pollinators. She starts off blooming a bit late and then continues into autumn and early winter which is a useful attribute. As the blooms mature the vibrant cerise fades to bright pink, mauve and then a lilac grey so always something of interest there. Copious small orange hips follow so you will get a mixture of late bloom and early hips in the autumn. She isn’t as intensely fragranced as her sisters but still has that ‘musk’ fragrance which is detectable at some distance.
Hardy USDA zone 6b – 10b. Vigorous with good disease resistance.
If you have space, she is well worth considering. You could grow her as a bushy climber or at least against a wall or perhaps a small tree. ‘Vanity’ would be a better name I think for a very full petalled classic old rose rather than this simple quiet elegant rose.
Does ‘Vanity’ grow in your garden? Do you love her understated elegance?
Thursday 3rd January
This photograph reminds me of very over the top wallpaper, a real riot of colour to brighten your January morning. A Bourbon rose from the French breeder Laffay, introduced in 1852 ‘Sir Joseph Paxton’. Named in honour of the great English gardener, architect, MP, creator of the conservatory at Chatsworth House and the Crystal Palace, and instigator of the commercial cultivation of the world’s most widely grown banana the ‘Cavendish’ banana. I wonder what he did in his spare time. This rather extravagant rose seems to be appropriately named.
The large full petalled blooms are of a bright crimson with paler petal edges in a quartered structure. Sir Joseph looks a little like ‘Mme Isaac Pereire’ but he is somewhat paler in colour, and not quite as intensely scented. This is a great pity as from all other aspects he is a rose well worth including in your garden. Repeat blooms very well, almost continuous really. However, I happened to be looking at the David Austin website this afternoon and looked at their description. They say no repeat blooming. I wonder if this is an error as all the other authorities have him as a reliable repeat bloomer.
Medium height, around 1.2m but some reports that he can be taller in a hotter climate. A very soft grey green foliage, the perfect foil for the bright colour of the blooms. A slight tendency to black spot later in the season. Fairly thorny and prickly. Hardy USDA zone 5b-10b.
I don’t grow him, the photo was taken in mid June at Mottisfont Abbey. Does anyone have him in their garden, or know him? Would be interesting to hear others experience of growing this spectacular rose.
Friday 4th January
Today’s Friday Favourite is the Multiflora rambler ‘Ghislaine de Féligonde’. One of Angela Bokor’s five favourites, thank you Angela. The second photo was taken at Mottisfont Abbey this summer.
She is a rose once seen in full bloom never forgotten and deserving to be considered the best of the Multiflora ramblers. Not as vigorous as some in this class, she won’t take over your entire garden or house. Maximum predicted height of 3-4m or you can grow her as a bushy shrub where she will reach around 2m.
The buds are a creamy orange, however, this is a rose that does show considerable variation in petal colour so you may find the buds are more vibrant. The large semi double blooms open to a soft apricot and fade quickly through lemon and cream to white. Later in the season when the weather is cool she will have a distinctly pinker tone which lasts much longer. She produces clusters of bloom which get progressively larger towards autumn which is a pleasing feature. The flushes of bloom are long lasting as well. I will point out that some authorities don’t consider her as a reliable repeat flowering rose. Perhaps if you grow her you would like to comment on your experience of this? A delicious musk fragrance which carries across the garden.
Bright glossy foliage identical to her seed parent, the rambler ‘Goldfinch’. Thornless but the new growth has small bristles. I like thornless climbers from the pruning and training point of view!
A French rose bred by Turbat and introduced in 1916. The naming story is very appealing. Turbat had heard a story from the WWI trenches. A young officer, the Comte de Féligonde, had been left to die of his wounds in No Man’s land. His wife Ghislaine was a Red Cross nurse and she ventured into the dangerous area. On finding her husband she dragged him back behind the lines and nurse him to health. Turbat was impressed by this heroic tale hence the name of the rose. A lovely story except it is not true. A French researcher looking at the de Féligonde family history discovered that Ghislaine was the daughter of the Comte Charles de Féligonde and his wife Odette and born in 1914! It is more likely that a friend of both the de Féligondes and Turbat suggested the rose should be named after the young daughter.
Widely available. Hardy USDA zone 5b
5th January 2019
I think every time a David Austin rose appears on this page we will remember his huge influence on modern rose breeding. Today we have the most attractive ‘Wisley 2008’ not to be confused with the earlier mid pink ‘Wisley’. ‘Wisley 2008’ supplanted the 2004 ‘Wisley’ when the disease problems became apparent. Named of course for the famous Royal Horticultural Society gardens in Surrey.
An elegant rose with the signature full petalled shallow bowl shape found in many DA roses. A very soft classic pink with paler outer petals, they are a bit pink spotted with rain here as this photo was taken in early September. The website description reports the bloom resembles ‘Konigin van Dänemark’, I don’t see the similarity as Konigin has a tight quartered rosette shape of darker pink.
Almost continually in bloom. Healthy and vigorous. Hardy as well. Widely available.
The fragrance? Well, all DA roses have good fragrance. This one is described as fruity with hints of raspberry and tea. Mmmm I will leave that one for you to decide.
6th January 2019
It’s all in the name as the cliché says and today, we have a rose for whom this is true. The glistening pure white ‘Frau Karl Druschki’. Classified as a Hybrid Perpetual some authorities consider her to be a Hybrid Tea, not least because her pollen parent is the famous HT ‘Caroline Testout’.
Bred in Germany by Peter Lambert, introduced in 1901 and named for the wife of Karl Druschki the president of the Germany Society of Rose Friends. The Druschki family lived in Görlitz on now what is the German – Poland border. The name is problematic for non German or Polish speakers, I speak some German and would say Drus-she but that might not be quite correct. It is believed that this pronunciation difficulty combined with the hatred of all things German in WWI lead to her alternative names. ‘Schneekonigin’ – ‘Snow Queen’ but still German so not so much of a change but she is sold under both aliases. The French ‘Reine des Neiges’ also translates to Snow Queen. ‘White American Beauty’ is the English version however, in the UK and Europe she is usually found as ‘Frau Karl Druschki’.
One, if not the purest white rose to be found. ‘Iceberg’ has a greenish tinge, but the Frau is really icy white although there is a slight lemon hue in the centre. Long stems with a perfect typical HT scrolled bloom which unfurls from a bright pink bud. The mature buds reveal golden stamens. She has always been a popular exhibition rose and invaluable to flower arrangers. Not a single scintilla of fragrance so you need to place her next to a fragrant neighbour. She will ‘ball’ in wet weather and will suffer pink ‘spotting’ when raindrops hit the open blooms.
Tall at 1.8m with large pale foliage and vicious scimitar like prickles, not to be planted where you brush past her. Vigorous and one for the secateurs every winter. Hardy USDA zone 4b but susceptible to mildew. Widely available.
One rarely finds named roses in paintings or literature, but this rose appears in Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness.
I am not so keen on these very white modern roses, but I can see they have their place but not with me. Does she brighten your garden, or do you curse her spotting and ‘balling?
Tuesday 8th January
I have a horse who sees Pokémons. These invisible visions cause him to rapidly perform a 180° degree turn and attempt to remove himself at some speed from the spooky apparition. I have some sympathies with him when looking at today’s rose. I love striped roses but this one, the Floribunda ‘Abracadabra’, is just a little over the top for me.
The unusual colour combination of a rich reddish brown and creamy lemon is an eye opener. Initially, the red is brighter with a vibrant lemon, both colours darkening as the bloom matures. The petals have a velvet like appearance looking all the world like an exotic creation from an exclusive chocolatier. Imagine snapping off a chocolate petal! The colouration is variable with some blooms of full red brown, a few with half full red brown and the remainder of the splashed flecked stripes. Some very splashed and freckled and others with a few faint streaks. A rose that would make you visit her daily to see her ever changing show.
Attractively shaped blooms, not so large and double petalled. A weak elusive fragrance with some reports of no fragrance at all. Repeat blooms in flushes. The rather matte foliage gives a pleasing contrast. Fairly small, around 80cm but she may be larger in hotter climes. A very heat tolerant rose as well.
Her name? She is a sport of ‘Hocus Pocus’ so what else could she be named? ‘Hocus Pocus’ is identical to her daughter but a miniature. ‘Hocus Pocus’ was bred by the German nursery Kordes and ‘Abracadabra’ was introduced by them in 2002. Her ICRA name is KORhocsel and the reason for giving you this information is a later, 2004, introduction by Kordes of another ‘Abracadabra’. This later one, also a striped, is a gentler carmine pink and cream with the ICRA name KORamsaro. One wonders why they couldn’t have been more imaginative as there must have been some confused buyers. A further warning that there is also a 1991 HT ‘Abracadabra’ that is pink but seems to be only available in the US.
A fascinating rose but I don’t think I have a place for her in my garden. Like my horse, I think I would shy away from her. Love her or loathe her? Do comment.
Wednesday 9th January
A quieter rose for you this morning but a rather lovely one. ‘Gardeners’ Gold’ named for the fiftieth anniversary of the BBC gardening programme Gardeners World. Gosh, fifty years must be a record for the BBC who frequently axe well loved programmes.
Bred by the Hertfordshire nursery of Harkness and introduced in 2017. In common with most other rose breeders Harkness are now breeding roses that are both easy to grow and with excellent disease resistance. During the trial period of seven years, this rose was never treated with any fungicide. Being a picky scientist, I could read that thinking it may have had some fungal infection which was never treated as the rose is a very strong vigorous one that could shrug off a spot of black spot. That is just me being cynical!
Charming clusters of semi double blooms of bright yellow, this photo was taken late in the season, so he is a bit more lemon in hue. Very free flowering according to the Harkness website and with a light fruity fragrance.
Not a large climber which is very useful, maximum predicted height and width of 2m. Many modern houses don’t have too much wall space and are easily swamped by the older climbers with their 3-4m height and similar breadth. This is a rose that will be happily gracing the rather bland frontages of new homes owned by busy people out at work all day. He could grow in a large container. I mean a really large container. I see endless photos on FB of roses in tiny containers with requests ‘What is wrong with my rose?’. The simple answer is ‘Its shoes are too tight!’. Roughly the size above the ground is repeated below the ground. Of course, that would be such a large container but get the largest one you can. I use old water troughs or large plastic horse water containers as large containers in garden centres are rather pricy.
I digress from this lovely climber though. He looks to tick a lot of boxes so if you have been looking for a small yellow climber, he will fit the bill.
Thursday 10th January
A species hybrid rose that suits my rather wild garden ‘Californica Plena’. She is a very tall shrub as you can see from the photo around 2m and she produces a small number of suckers. I usually dig these up and replant them in other wild areas or donate them to friends. You will end up with a small thicket if you leave her to do her thing.
She blooms just once fairly early in the season, starting in May but continuing for around a month. A mass of small pink buds appears which open into semi double blooms. The petals are deep lilac pink in the centre, paler on the edges and often with white streaks. Her coronet of yellow stamens attracts bees and other pollinators. Sweet light fragrance. These attractive medium size blooms sit in pleasing grey green foliage with reddish stems. Produces a large crop of large red hips in the autumn, much appreciated by the garden birds.
Slightly mysterious past with some confusion about being the original ‘Californica Plena’ introduced in 1894 by the Hungarian grower Geschwind or another one of his species hybrids ‘Theano’. Doubts also about her parent being Rosa Californica with some authorities considering her to be a Rosa nutkana hybrid. I will leave that argument for the taxonomists to decide. Sold widely as Californica Plena but you may also find her listed as Rosa californica ‘Plena’.
Very hardy, vigorous and disease free. Tolerant of shade, poor soil and drought conditions, she is a tough lady. She won’t suit a small garden but if you have a woodland or landscape garden, she is absolutely ideal. She manages to look attractive even when she has finished blooming which is rather rare for a rose.
Friday 11th January
A David Austin rose today ‘Lichfield Angel’. Perhaps I should have kept this one back to post next Tuesday as the UK seems to need an angel at the moment but let’s think of roses rather than politics!
I haven’t planted any DA roses for some time, but I saw this rose last summer and admit to being a little tempted. Introduced in 2006, this is a pearl of a rose. Clusters of plump creamy apricot buds unfurl to large full petalled blooms. Beginning a soft subtle apricot before fading to a creamy white with warm honey petal bases giving a lovely glow to the bloom. I much prefer these creamy white roses to the rather hard glistening whites, a calmer more natural appearance that fits into any garden colour scheme.
Practically thornless she forms a nice rounded shaped bush with a maximum height of 1.5m. Good glossy foliage and excellent disease resistance was reported. Reliable repeat blooming throughout the summer and into early autumn. Fragrance? Well, this is a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. Just a light musk fragrance but rather elusive.
Her name comes from a remarkable medieval stone panel now known as the Lichfield Angel, discovered in 2003 when archaeological work was undertaken in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral. Believed to have formed part of the shrine of St Chad this panel retains traces of pigment, the body is red with white wings with red tips.
My husband and I spend a lot of time remodelling our garden and we recently demolished a sad shed on the outskirts of the garden. This has given us a large area in a neglected area. As my gardener (sounds grand but only four hours a week) said “I guess that will mean more roses then!”. ‘Lichfield Angel’ is a definite possibility.
Saturday 12 January
An interesting rose today bred by an amateur breeder the American Roy Shepherd, from unusual parents, the fabulous ‘Golden Wings’.
‘Soeur Thérèse’ a yellow Hybrid Tea is the seed parent, the pollen parent being an unnamed Rosa spinosissima var. altaica x ‘Ormiston Roy’ a Hybrid Spinosissima seedling. Unnamed seedlings are frequently used in rose breeders, these have good qualities but the second generation cross will be better. When Roy Shepherd wasn’t breeding roses he was writing, the classic 1954 ‘History of the Rose’ was an exceptional book in its time. This book has been surpassed by the increase in knowledge from recent research on the rose genome. Consequently, this book is relegated to dusty shelves and book collectors.
His rose ‘Golden Wings’ remains however a popular rose. Often the first rose in bloom and the last one before the winter frosts. She has a fragile beauty, but the species attributes have ensured she is a tough, vigorous and disease resistant rose. Tolerant of drought and poor soil, and very weatherproof as well. Thrives in heat and doesn’t mind shade. Long pointed buds open as lemon yellow cupped semi double blooms which flatten whilst fading to ivory white with lemon petal bases. A glowing corona of stamens in the centre. These are large blooms at least 12cm with a rich fruit like fragrance.
Not a small garden rose as she can easily reach 2m in height forming a tidy shrub. Rather Hybrid Tea like foliage but it is matt rather than shiny, this shows off the blooms very well. Hardy USDA zone 4b and warmer.
There is a similar American bred rose ‘White Wings’ but unrelated to ‘Golden Wings’. ‘White Wings’ is a pure white single rose with reddish brown stamens.
‘Golden Wings’ is a back of the border, landscape or woodland garden rose rather than a choice rose for the small garden. I can think of many untidy public areas that this rose would grace. Our local town tries hard with herbaceous plants on the roundabout islands, but I feel roses would be an easier solution. Imagine a traffic island filled with this rose or would she distract the passing drivers?
Sunday 13 January
A cold windy morning in Suffolk so I revisited the photographs taken in mid June at Mottisfont Abbey. Difficult to think it was so hot we were driven out of the rose garden to lie in the shade of the trees outside. Roses are sun and heat lovers but some, particularly, the older varieties, flag quickly with the blooms fading and falling before your eyes. This rose is an example so not easy to photograph. A pity as this is one of the loveliest of the Gallicas ‘Gloire de France’.
Rather renowned for fading quickly in bright sunshine she is a classic clear mid pink. The petal edges fade quickly to a lilac mauve leaving a brighter pink bloom centre. Huge globular blooms that flatten on opening. Muddled quartered swirl of petals gives charm to this rose. Exquisite heavy fragrance. Everything an old fashioned rose should be.
These superb blooms sit in foliage of a soft matt grey green. She forms a large arching shrub, around 1m high and spreads much wider. All good things, such as summer, come to an end and this rose has just a single tremendous burst of bloom before retiring for the remainder of the summer. When planning your garden try to ensure that you have good repeat or continuous blooming roses around these single bloom period ones as they can look unexciting for the remainder of the summer. You prune them after blooming, that is the correct time for these, and then you are free to depart on holiday.
A tough vigorous rose, relatively disease resistant. Always a caveat with the older ones as they can be fine for years and then have a bad black spot attack.
Dates to around 1828 and is believed to have been discovered by Julien-Alexandre Hardy, head gardener of the Royal Luxembourg gardens. ‘Mme Hardy’ is probably his most well known rose from the two hundred or so that he introduced. If you find a rose with ‘du Luxembourg’ in the name it will be one of Hardy’s roses. There is a slight query as the Botanica’s Roses book cites an unnamed amateur rose breeder from Angers but I can’t trace any details of this. If you know a little more, please let me know.
A superb rose for your old rose collection and very useful as she isn’t so high. Some nurseries recommend her for a container, but I feel she would struggle as she wants to spread sideways to achieve her full Glory of France.
Tuesday 15 January
When I am planning the roses to feature on this page, I have a rough scheme. I try to include a wide range of different classes, for example, a climber, a modern shrub where I try to have a small one if I have already had a large variety, an older pre-1900, a patio, an HT. Then I bumble around my photo files picking suitable candidates. Sometimes the name is appropriate to the day, ‘Champagne Moment’ for New Year’s Day for example. I admit to being rather depressed by the gloomy news today concerning tomorrow’s parliamentary vote, so I was searching for a rose to perk us up. Found one, result! Not just a beautiful rose but a fairly appropriate name for the day, ‘The Churchill Rose’.
Named for the 50th anniversary (2011) of Churchill College, Cambridge which is in turn a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill. I wonder what he would have thought about the current political debacle in which we find ourselves ensnared?
This is a rose bred by Peter Beales, so I doubt sadly whether he is available outside the UK. The Peter Beales website states that this is a perfect alternative to ‘Perdita’, a David Austin rose, that they no longer stock. Certainly, there are some similarities but this one doesn’t have the pink tones of ‘Perdita’. Instead ‘The Churchill Rose’ is a very subtle soft apricot. Semi double blooms with a striking lemon glowing centre. Repeat flowers and very free flowering as well. Superb fragrance completes the picture!
Healthy glossy foliage with attractive reddish edges to young foliage. Neat habit and quite small at 1.2m in height and width.
Such a pity this fabulous rose isn’t more widely available. If you come across him outside Britain do let me know.
Wednesday 16 January
Today a rose that originates in Australia rather than Europe or the US for a change. She is a real sport as well, sorry that’s a poor joke, the Floribunda ‘Burgundy Ice’. Her mutant parent, sports are natural mutations occurring on a parent bush, is ‘Brilliant Pink Iceberg’ (1995). In turn, she was a sport of ‘Pink Iceberg’ (1995), these last two were also found in Australia. ‘Pink Iceberg’ as her name suggests is a sport of the well known ‘Iceberg’ (1958).
‘Burgundy Ice’ was discovered in 1998 and introduced somewhat later in 2003. The lineage seems to have an unstable genome where environmental pressure, for example, drought, extreme heat or cold, tweaks the genetic switches for petal colour. You can see in this photograph, in Peter Beales garden in Norfolk, one of the blooms has experienced a ‘tweak’ resulting in a bi-coloured bloom. There was evidence of others in the bed, some almost pure white others burgundy with a streak or two. The white blooms in the background are another variety.
Abundant clusters of elegant purple pointed buds appear in flushes throughout the season. Opening to these large deep coloured blooms, the velvety petals have somewhat paler backs which accentuate the strong wine purple hue. Opens to show a coronet of dark burgundy stamens although the bi coloured rose here shows golden stamens. She has a light fragrance with some reports of nothing or strong, perhaps she needs sun and heat to release the scent.
Not a large rose at a maximum height of 90cm and a little wider. Tidy domed shape with good glossy foliage and good disease resistance. Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b. I have seen her as an informal hedge and also in large containers. Despite her strong colour she seems to me to have a fragile charm.
Available worldwide under both names ‘Burgundy Ice’ and ‘Burgundy Iceberg’. I rather like her propensity to revert down the generations to the glistening white ‘Iceberg’ and I am tempted to smuggle her past my husband into the garden. Appropriate for this morning in Britain, a split of colour.
Thursday 17 January
When I was at school teaching by rote occurred in almost every class. We chanted multiplication tables, and small ditties about shutting doors and hanging up coats. In the playground, we played skipping games to the accompaniment of an appropriate rhyme. We learnt poetry, realms of it, by heart. This learning system is deeply unfashionable today although I blessed it when I had to learn chemical equations and biochemical processes. One of the poems I learnt as a ten year old, too young to understand the veiled meaning, was Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott. Today we have the David Austin rose Lady of Shalott named for the tragic heroine.
An evocative name and highly applicable to English roses. Named to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the birth, in 2009, of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
If I remember correctly the Lady of Shalott was very beautiful and her rose is certainly that. Vibrant orange red buds open to a loose bowl shaped bloom of loosely arranged orangey pink petals. The outer petals are a salmon pink giving a nice contrast to the paler lemon lustrous centre. She is a rose of considerable colour variation. On the DA website, she is mostly orange pink, but other growers have photos of roses with tones of apricot pinks, soft pink, lemon pink and creamy pink.
Fragrance? Reported to be excellent but some variable reports on this. The DA website has a lyrical Tea fragrance with hints of spiced apple and clove. I will leave that to you to decide.
Reliably repeat blooms through the summer. Foliage is typical DA medium size glossy leaves. Neat bushy habit and reaches around 1.10m high. Said to have good disease resistance but I find the DAs a little hit and miss on this. In some places they are healthy and other growers report heavy black spot infection.
Tends to ‘ball’ in wet weather and she is a bit of a head hanger sadly.
Widely available of course. Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b (that’s the default for all roses really).
Is she one of your favourites?
Friday 18th January
A Friday Favourite this morning and a rose that I have not seen before. A French rose from the prolific nursery of Meilland, introduced in 2006, the Floribunda ‘Astronomia’. A rose that has impressed the rose world as she has a slew of European awards and medals.
She has a few aliases’ ‘The Charlatan’ being her exhibition name and I believe she is sold in the US as this. A curious name choice but Meilland also have ‘The Imposter’ so a bit of a theme there. ‘Sweet Pretty’ and ‘Pink Sakurina’ are also listed with MEIguimov as the ICRA name. The seed parent is the lovely ‘Bonica’.
I love single roses and this one is a stunner. Sprays of elegant pink tipped rosebuds are freely produced continuously throughout the summer. Opening to medium size single blooms of pale pink with a large glorious crown of red stamens. The petals have a tissue like quality with faint darker pink streaks and pale towards the base. Fading to white before a clean drop. Elusive on the fragrance front, some growers reporting a light fragrance and others no fragrance. She may well like a lot of warmth to release fragrance perhaps.
Size reports vary as well, again this will be climate related. She seems to be a ‘large’ 90cm as recommended as a pillar rose or a short climber. Very disease resistant but a few mentions of a touch of late black spot.
Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b. Available in Europe and the States. I cannot, alas, find a stockist in Britain although she appears on the RHS list and has been photographed in a few British gardens. If you know of a stockist do let me know. Does anyone grow her?
Saturday 19th January
I am not too great a fan of red roses, I prefer almost any other colour, but I know a lot of you love red ones, so today’s rose is for you. A rather old fashioned Hybrid Tea, she was introduced in 1963 so she has survived a lot of changes in fashion. German bred from the Tantau nursery this is ‘Fragrant Cloud’. A rose of memories for me as my mother grew this rose in two of our family homes. To be honest I think everyone grew this rose as it was tremendously popular and you could buy it in Woolworths.
Small clusters of typical long elegant buds open to these spectacular blooms, they can be 12cm in diameter. Very full petalled with the characteristic high centre of the Hybrid Teas. Rather orange coral hue when young and matures to a darker red with rather purple touches. With the name ‘Fragrant Cloud’ you can guess the fragrance is excellent, spicy and fruity. Repeat blooms all summer.
A vigorous grower with large glossy leaves with a hint of bronze on the young leaves. She can reach 1.5m in height but she is narrow in habit. The fashion in the sixties was for bedding roses so tall and narrow was popular. Disease resistance? Well pretty poor to be honest, susceptible to both black spot and mildew. A lot of these mid-century Hybrid Teas had poor disease resistance. It was expected then if you grew roses then you had to spray them. Now good disease resistance is as important as good colour and bloom shape, the ability to flower freely and excellent fragrance.
Widely available. Hardy USDA zone 7b-10b. Is she a well loved favourite of yours? Or do you share my red rose allergy?
20th January
Rose names are generally a giveaway. ‘Scent from Heaven’ and ‘Fragrant Cloud’ are deliciously scented. ‘Iceberg’ is a glistening icy white. ‘Amber Flower Carpet’ is well she is an amber coloured carpet. Sometimes the name seems to be not so appropriate. Today we have just such a rose with an ambiguous name ‘Little Rambler’. Described as a miniature rambler, or a miniature climber or by some authorities as a patio rambler. Don’t be misled by these terms and plant her in a corner of your small town patio. The only thing ‘little’ about this rose are the blooms and the foliage. She can easily reach 2.5 high and reports of 3.5m with a similar spread.
A product of the prolific amateur rose breeder Christopher Warner, the Persica Hybrids such as ‘For your Eyes Only’ are just one of his one hundred and sixty four roses. He began with an aim to breed very disease resistant climbers using ‘Rosa sinowilsonii ‘ x ‘Marjorie Fair’. Using seedlings from this lineage he developed miniature ramblers/climbers.
A class of very healthy and hardy roses with excellent blooms. Perfect for gardeners who prefer not to use fungicide. ‘Little Rambler’ produces sprays of mini pink tipped buds. Initially, a mid pink on opening these semi double blooms fade gracefully to pale pink and white. The petals are small and have a pleasing loose muddled arrangement. Eyecatching bright yellow stamen corona. Excellent fragrance which drifts in the air. Repeat blooms in flushes but these flushes are so close she really is almost continuously in bloom through the summer. She has ‘Cecile Brunner’ in her lineage so this continuous blooming may well come from the lovely Cecile.
Widely available but you may find her under the name ‘Baby Rambler’. USDA zone 5b and warmer.
This is a rose well worth considering if you have a bit of space. The stems are very pliable so easily bent into position, easily trained would fit her description! Of course, you can prune her to keep her within bounds in a small garden. If you grow her please comment.
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Tuesday 22nd January
A blast from the past today with a rose that I remember well as a great friend grew it a fair few years ago. A David Austin rose was introduced in 1984 but no longer in their catalogue, ‘Belle Story’.
Described as a rather angular shrub ‘Belle Story’ has bright pink buds which open to large mid pink loosely petalled semi double blooms with a beautiful large stamen crown. Not a typical David Austin rose or at least not what we think of when thinking of the later DA roses. Good fragrance. Repeat blooming seems a bit dubious , some authorities reporting just a single flush with some later blooms. Others report that she repeat blooms well. Perhaps she is a picky lady when it comes to soil, and climate..
Interesting breeding in that these older DA have a named lineage whereas the later ones just give unnamed seedling for the seed and pollen parent. Seed parent was a ‘Chaucer’ (DA) x ‘Parade’ a modern climber seedling. Pollen parent ‘The Prioress’ (DA) x ‘Iceberg’ seedling.
Some reports that ‘Belle Story’ wasn’t too keen on cold weather. Also, not great on the disease resistance front with some susceptibility to rust and mildew. I assume this is why she has been removed from the DA catalogue. She doesn’t appear to be stocked by anyone in the UK but clearly, she is much loved in Australia and the US also. Predicted height is 1.20m but I bet she is taller in the heat!
A little conundrum over her name. According to David Austin’s English Roses (1993) Belle Story was one of the first of three nursing sisters to serve in the Royal Navy in 1884. Before this date all the nurses were male. I thought I would dig around a little more for information on Belle Story. There is a fair amount on the web about these early nurses in what became Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service in 1902 but Belle Story is absent from the lists of nursing sisters. The National Archive list is muddled but a researcher has sorted all the records but no Belle. I searched Ancestry for both Belle, Bella, Isabelle and Isabella as a first and a second name. No luck there either. I am sure that David Austin would have researched this lady. A mystery but if you have the time and inclination to search somewhat more thoroughly than myself, I would be interested to hear what you find. I do sometimes have to remind myself that it’s the rose I am writing about not the namesake!
I wonder if anyone still grows ‘Belle Story’? Do let me know and post your comments and photos.
Wednesday 23 January
Today’s rose is a beautiful Tea ‘Madame de Watteville’ bred by the French grower Jean-Batiste André Guillot and introduced in 1883.
She produces large elegant blooms of lemon petals edged in pink on long stems. These are said to look like tulips when first opening, that must be a very special sight. Very fragrant as are all Tea roses. Blooms throughout the summer and into autumn. A very thorny lady with dense dark foliage. Height around 1m. A sun lover and she is rather more tender than most of the Teas, so needs winter protection. Good for a container as she could luxuriate outside in the summer sun and be wheeled into a conservatory for the winter.
Named for a remarkable Swiss lady Katharina von Wattenwyl (1645-1714) described as the Sun King’s spy. Strong willed and capable, following an argument with a lady in the French court Katharina challenged her to a midnight duel on horseback. Highly unconventional she shocked Swiss society and her family. Forcibly married to Abraham Le Clerc who died early in the marriage. Her second marriage was to a court clerk in Bern and she began to spy for the French Ambassador to Switzerland. Caught with secret messages she was imprisoned and condemned to death. Her family intervened so the sentence was reduced to exile to Valangin Castle where she wrote her memoirs for Louis XIV.
My reason for posting today’s rose? I have a friend Celeste who is a descendant of Katharina von Wattenwyl and has inherited many of the strong willed unconventional traits of Katharina! She would very much like to grow ‘Madame de Watteville’, but we can’t find anyone who stocks her in the UK. Peter Beales did stock her, they had an excellent collection of Tea roses but no longer. If anyone knows of a nursery that stocks, her or someone who grows her and would donate some cuttings??
Thursday 24 January
I have a spreadsheet of all the posts from this page to track which rose was posted and on what date. The photos are all filed accordingly but I often find a photo that slips into the posted file when it should have remained in the not yet posted file. Today’s rose is a victim of my poor filing. A Harkness shrub rose introduced in 1978, ‘Marjorie Fair’. Named for a good friend of Jack Harkness.
Her seed parent is the white Hybrid Musk ‘Ballerina’ (featured on 12th August) and her pollen parent is a small dark mauve Polyantha ‘Baby Faurax’. Think of the superb white ‘Ballerina’ and then imagine her as deep cerise reddish pink and you have ‘Marjorie Fair’.
Forms a slightly smaller shrub than Ballerina, around 1.2m in height and rather narrower approximately 90cm. Small dense light green glossy leaved foliage sets off her large clusters of bloom. These clusters can be large indeed, dozens of mini bright pink buds appear. Popping open to small five petalled blooms of deep cerise pink verging on crimson with strongly contrasting white petal bases. Nice little accent of a yellow stamen crown in the middle. These fragile little blooms just last and last. While they are blooming their hearts out another stem is popping out another mega cluster. Described as flowering ‘tirelessly’ which is pretty accurate. However, one cannot have it all, her fragrance is well pretty poor, to be honest.
Her strong colour means she needs careful placing in your garden unless you are fond of strong contrasts. Pick a fragrant neighbour for her and pretend she has a great scent. Very disease resistant and hardy USDA zone 5b and warmer. Gained an RHS (Royal Horticultural Society UK) Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 2001 in recognition of her excellent garden attributes. Very widely available across the world.
An easy rose to grow and suitable for those who prefer not to use fungicides. Makes a good informal hedge, great in a border and as a landscape rose. I have seen her in neat roadside plantings in The Netherlands where she is a distinct improvement on the UK litter bedecked unkempt grass. Find a space for her and you won’t be disappointed.
Friday 25th January
Friday Favourite and today this climbing rose is one of my favourites, the fabulous Noisette ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’. I have a fair few plants as she is a dream to root from cuttings. The original grows beside my front door where she is a little too vigorous and occasionally attacks the postman. I have another in the hedge beside my indoor riding arena, several by the stables and a lot more donated to friends.
Originated in France in 1879 from the nursery of Joseph Schwartz. ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’ along with his ‘Reine Victoria’ are two of his most well known roses. Joseph’s wife Marie-Louise was also involved in rose breeding but that’s a tale outside of this rose. Alfred Carrière was the editor of the prestigious journal ‘Revue Horticole’ and a great rose lover. I have been unable to discover whether Alfred purchased the naming rights or if Joseph himself named the rose for Alfred’s wife. Was Alfred’s wife as beautiful as her rose?
This rose blooms continuously all year, not a great deal of bloom in the winter but there are always at least three or four blooms and more buds coming along. Very long elegant buds on long stems as well, deep cream with pink touches. They unfurl into large full blooms of delicate shell pink which fade to white. They remind me of swansdown powder puffs. Good for cutting and her strong fragrance will fill your house.
Practically evergreen soft green foliage but she can suffer from mildew at times, so you need to keep an eye on her in the summer. Tolerant of shade and will also grow happily on a north wall. She will grow as a large shrub as she has very strong stems. As a climber, she can happily reach 5m but is rather shorter when grown as a shrub. Said to dislike pruning but I prune her fairly hard otherwise she would take over the entire house. Leave a window open for several days and she will have poked several stems into the room!
This is a rose that I would not be without really. I look at her from my kitchen window, her fragrance drifts through open windows and she is the first rose I see as I come down our drive. I forgive her slight mildew problem as she has so many good attributes. If you grow her you won’t be disappointed.
Saturday 26th January
I remember attending dull post grad faculty social events, it was felt someone from the department really should be there and no one else was keen. Stifling a yawn, I listened whilst an overseas student with not such great English enthusiastically explained his research into depressive symbolism in 19th century English poetry. The symbolism was over my head, but I had at least heard of his primary subject John Clare.
Today’s rose is named for that rather troubled poet or rather for The John Clare Society, formed to promote a better understanding of his poetry. This pretty rose was said at the time of introduction, 1994, to be one of the most floriferous of the David Austin roses. No longer in their current British catalogue but appears in the US version. Unable to find a British stockist but several in Europe and the Antipodeans.
Long elegant feathery buds open to full petalled deep raspberry pink cup shaped blooms. Repeat blooming but a little unreliable in cooler weather. Fragrance is unusually not the signature strong English rose of David Austin. Light and ethereal, vanishingly light really. This attribute together with often poor repeat blooming may have caused his removal from the catalogue. Still popular in warmer climes so he appreciates better weather than British summers or perhaps I should say our traditional summers as we seem to have been enjoying hot dry continental summers for a few years now.
Semi glossy foliage which forms an attractive arching shrub. Maximum height prediction is 90-150cm with similar width. I guess he is larger in warmer climates.
John Clare frequently mentions roses in his poetry. An extract from the poem entitled ‘Roses’ –
‘Making thyself a living rose
In blossom all the year.
It is a sweet and favorite flower
To grace a maidens brow’
An appealing rose and always sad when they fade from popularity.
Sunday 27 January
Norfolk winters are not mild, suffering from a lazy east wind. Why lazy? It doesn’t go around you but straight through you! Coupled with a sharp frost this combination can be the death of slightly tender plants. Tea roses are not usually renowned for their hardiness, USDA zone 7 with a low of 0° C is fine but lower than that and you may lose the plant. Often these roses are grown in containers so they can enjoy the summer before being wheeled into the conservatory for the winter. Today’s rose is a rather hardy lady as I photographed her growing in an outside bed at Peter Beales Norfolk nursery in September, the fabulous ‘Bon Silène’.
Dating from 1834 there is a slight debate over her breeder. A lot of authorities have her as a product of Alexander Hardy, as an incorrect attribution in 1882 gave Hardy as the breeder. It is now believed the breeder was Modeste Guérin from Angers, as there are earlier references to him from 1836. Checking primary sources rather than using secondary ones is drummed into science students but other disciplines are not so fussy hence the errors that litter books and the modern press.
‘Bon Silène’ was one of the first Tea roses to be bred outside China. The characteristic long elegant Tea buds unfurl into large double dark pink blooms with a rather muddled petal arrangement, again a Tea trait. As she matures the petals reflex and the colour fades to a mid pink often with these pale streaks. Intense luxurious ‘Tea’ fragrance. She produces a lot of bloom almost continuously through the summer.
Not a small lady, she can reach 2.5m. Rather small twiggy stems but she is a vigorous grower. Crimson hued leaves when young turning mid green as they mature. Very resistant to blackspot but there are a few reports of her suffering from mildew so you may just have to watch her carefully for this. If you zap mildew the moment you see it all will be well. Leave it and within a few days the leaves will be grey and dying.
A rose who doesn’t mind neglect. She has been found happily growing in abandoned gardens and cemeteries in the US, she clearly didn’t suffer any mildew attacks here. She does like the sun though and would appreciate a sheltered spot. In the Peter Beales garden she looked very happy and healthy although this is a rather open windswept garden. Her hardiness rating is given as USDA zone 5b-10b
This is a superb rose and certainly well worth considering. She has a delicate graceful appearance which is very eye catching.
There is no record of the namesake of this rose the good Silène. Was she a wife, sister, child, or aunt of Modeste Guérin? A good customer maybe or perhaps one he wished to flatter? Lost in the mists of time but her lovely namesake rose survives. I am interested to see who grows her and where you live. Do please comment and post any photos if you have them.
Tuesday 29th January
Roses from the French nursery of Delbard are renowned for exceptional fragrance and good disease resistance. Today we have their 2004 Hybrid Tea ‘Soeur Emmanuelle’. Named for Sister Emmanuelle a nun with French and Belgian parentage. She lived and worked amongst the rubbish collectors, the poorest of poor people, in Cairo for twenty two years. On her return to France in 1993 she become a popular guest on TV talk shows and radio programmes.
Clusters of carmine pink buds unscroll into large full petalled cupped blooms. ‘Soeur Emmanuelle’ is a pleasing mid pink with paler pink inner petals. She fades to a soft lilac as she ages. Rich spicy fragrance likened by some to aniseed and others as lavender. You will have to decide when you breathe her perfume! Reliable repeat blooms through the summer into autumn.
Not too large around 1m high and narrow at 60cm wide. In warmer climes, though she can be much larger. Rather large leathery foliage characteristic of Hybrid Tea roses. A few reports from Australia that she does suffer a touch of black spot. Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b.
A rose of quite a few names. She was introduced into the US as ‘Sister Emmanuelle’ in 2018. Other aliases are ‘Chant Rose Misato’, (Japan?), Dieter Muller in Northern Europe, and Towering Rose Magic. The ICRA appellation is DELamo if you need to check. Widely available.
A classic rose to grace your garden.
Wednesday 30 January
I have a fondness for old fashioned Christian names, preferring ‘Colette’ for example over ‘Chelsea’. Of course, these names reappear and disappear as fashions change. Today’s rose has a delightful name ‘Clotilde Soupert’.
Originating from the Luxembourg nursery of Soupert & Notting. now that sounds very avant-garde, a rather upmarket and trendy interior designer perhaps??? Pierre Notting became friends with Jean Soupert around 1855 and they set up their rose nursery together. Jean married Pierre’s sister Anne Marie in 1857 so Soupert & Notting became a real family business. They produced two hundred and thirty one roses, no mean feat! A plethora of Madame’s, Grand Dukes, Duchesses and Princesses appear in their list but sadly a fair number of these have slipped into oblivion. Perhaps their most well known rose today is the Centifolia, ‘Tour de Malakoff’.
The fair ‘Clotilde Soupert’ dates from 1888, she is classed as a Polyantha. Seed parent ‘Mignonette’ is a Rosa polyantha x China rose with a Tea rose ‘Madame Damaizin’. These small Polyanthas were enormously popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but over time these have drifted out of favour.
Plump spherical white, with a hint of pink, buds are produced in large clusters. Opening to very full petalled delicate blooms, they have a fragile pompom appearance. The petals are white with pink backs but so translucent that the bloom looks pink. She fades to white but retains the pink inner petals. Very free flowering almost continuous with a strong sweet fragrance.
A small rose, almost miniature at a height of 80cm with a narrower spread. Practically thornless with dark green foliage. She sounds heavenly but there is a large ‘but’ certainly for those in cooler damper climates.
She doesn’t like damp weather her blooms ‘ball’ very easily. Susceptible to mildew and in cool weather she doesn’t bloom so freely. One can see how she fell out of favour in Northern Europe. Grow her in dry hot climates, this photo was taken in Florida, she is a delight flowering all year. In the chilly damper countries, she is sometimes grown as a rather large house plant. These little Polyanthas are the precursor of today’s Patio and Miniature roses.
I can’t find a British stockist but some French nurseries hold stocks. Freely available in the southern states of the US. Not sure about Australia and New Zealand, if you grow her there please comment.
A very pretty rose, reminding one of the hot summer days.
Thursday 31 January
Tastes in roses change over time, the Victorians were fond of roses and other plants that cause us to pull a face. Lovers of innovation and the ‘new’ they were enamoured with the ‘Moss’ roses. These are Centifolias that underwent a mutation causing the flower sepals to develop a moss like texture with a strong balsam fragrance. Initially appearing around the 1720s most of the Moss roses in catalogues today date from that Victorian period. Today’s rose was introduced in 1852 from the fruitful nursery of Laffay in France and is reputed to be one of the finest – ‘Gloire des Mousseux’.
Very well mossed buds said to be the origin of the name, open to large full blooms of a clear pink. Charming muddled central small petals hold their colour as the outer silky petals fade to pale pink. Reflexing and flattening as they mature, very long lasting as well. A classic French rose in appearance. Sweet and strong fragrance, if you hold the bloom to your nose your fingers will touch the moss releasing an extra spicy note. I love this combination. Usually, large clusters but the odd single bloom does appear. Mainly blooms in a glorious flush in June but sometimes she obliges later in the season, particularly in hot summers.
One of the largest Moss roses at 1.5m but can often reach 2m. The foliage is abundant, fresh soft green which frames the superb blooms well. Good disease resistance. Hardy USDA zone 6b-9b. Available worldwide.
A little dispute that ‘Gloire des Mousseux’ may be identical to a rose sold as ‘Mme. Louis Léveque’. In the days of poor record keeping combined with the random breeding techniques in the nineteenth century one does find roses that are remarkably similar, practically identical. Either that or the same rose with several names.
An excellent rose for a classic rose garden if you have a bit of space for her and you remain at home in June or whenever the main rose blooming season is for you. Apologies that I write from a British seasonal perspective. I sit in a slightly chilly office this morning in Suffolk looking out at the hoar frost on the trees whilst Australia melts in extreme heat.
If any grows this rose and/or ‘Mme. Louis Léveque’ perhaps you could post some photographs so we could do a little detective work.
Rose of the Day 