Tag: Garden Roses

‘General Galliéni’

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Some roses confound with their changeable colours. Ones that irritate with their habit of growing sideways, sometimes in preference to growing upwards. Those that prove unsatisfying to photograph as their blooms are untidy to the point of being misshapen. These are special roses, described to me by David Stone, former head gardener at Mottisfont, as ‘roses for the connoisseur’. They hate cold weather, preferring warm sun but will often turn their heads away or droop their necks. They thumb their noses, metaphorical ones, at fungal diseases. A reputation for fragility, but think more of a frail spinster aunt decked with lace who thought nothing of walking miles in vile weather. Secateurs will almost cause a faint though. Those sideways shoots always produce a cluster of blooms with every node below joining in for the burst of bloom. All are forgiven for their exotic, sensual perfume – the Tea Roses.

A huge number of Tea Roses were introduced in the fifty years or so before WWI. Many lost to cultivation now as their popularity waned and they were overshadowed by the new Hybrid Teas. ‘General Galliéni’ is one of the noble survivors, bred by Gilbert Nabonnand and introduced in 1899.

A mostly red rose with yellow petal bases, but ‘General Galliéni’ can be copper with orange tones, raspberry and cream, or peachy pink. Occasionally drifts to maroon, brown hued red or purple. No two blooms are ever quite the same hue. Nor the same shape. Often asymmetric with petals pinched up, the kind that makes you lower your camera thinking – next week they will be better. A perfect bloom with ruffled petals repays your wait, sometimes! This diversity creates a rose shrub of great charm. ‘General Galliéni’ demands your attention and rewards with a light but pervasive fragrance. Almost continuous in bloom with an early start and goes on to early winter.

His growth habits are no less untidy. Mine has a drunken lean despite my efforts to persuade him to stand up straight. These are roses that create their personal space which in turn means a gap between two or a friendly cuddle with a neighbour Tea. I have attempted some training with canes and ties, but he is a strong willed grower so I leave him to sprawl. Size? In the UK likely to be a metre in height and possibly wider. In Australia, 3m is more the norm.

Attractive light green foliage, a little sparse perhaps but zero fungal diseases. Occasional aphids perhaps but easily blitzed with soapy water. USDA zones 7-9 is the given range but Teas are happy in hot climates. Widely available.

Are you a rose connoisseur? Or does the untidiness of Tea roses not match your garden style? Worried about the hardiness? Growing the General in a container placed on wheels could help to place him in sheltered spots. I feel the Teas hate cold freezing rain rather than hard frosts. Maybe a brolly would be better?

And his namesake? Joseph Simon Galliéni (1849-1916) was both a French colonial administrator and a military commander.

His military career began in the Franco-Prussian war before he moved to the colonial service initially in Senegal before becoming governor of French Sudan. He developed the ‘tache d’huile’ method, the ‘oil spot’ technique still used in counterinsurgency today. Winning ‘hearts and minds’ instead of heavy firepower and bombardment. Promoted to General in 1896 and made Governor of Madagascar where he illegally deposed the Malagasy monarchy, exiling Queen Ranavalona to Reunion.

In 1905 he returned to France as Military Governor of Lyon and a position in the Superior War Council. He failed in his attempts to modernise the French Army in battle dress, they still wore the ‘pantalon rouge’, and in military tactics. He retired in early 1914 just before the death of his wife.

He was recalled in August 1914 with the outbreak of WWI and was appointed Governor of Paris. Here he encountered the war minister Adolphe Messimy, son of Madame Laurette Messimy. Her rose was featured on this blog on January 1st. He is credited with the victory of the First Battle of the Marne and in late 1915 took the post of Minister of War. Sadly, he served just a short term before dying of cancer in May 1916. Created Marshal of France in 1921.

If ever a man deserved a rose, it was this man.

Tea Roses are a cross between Rosa chinensis and Rosa gigantea. R. chinensis originates from the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan – Zones 8/9. R. gigantea is a little more tender coming from the Chinese provinces of Sikkim, Yunnan, the Indian province of Manipur and Burma – Zones 9/10 so a subtropical rose. R.chinensis is quite happy at Zone 7b but R.gigantea is not happy below 8b. However, I have found references for this rose growing in the UK in the late 19th and 20th centuries when the winters were much colder than today. These are the roses that brought repeat and continuous blooming genes into rose breeding in the late 19th century.

I think the colour is related to the air temperature and humidity as he is much stronger in colour in the heat of summer and tends to have cooler colours as the temperature falls. But not always, he sometimes has a rather yellow bloom next to a red one. A little like Mutabilis except the blooms don’t change from yellow to red in the space of half a day.

I admit to an addiction to the Teas. I hope I can persuade more of you to try one or five. ‘General Galliéni’ is an excellent rose to start your collection.

‘Dainty Bess’ and her creator

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A look at a rose and her creator. Today we have ‘Dainty Bess’ and the Kent based rose breeder W.E.B. Archer & Daughter. Not so much seems to be known about William Archer and his daughter Muriel so I indulged in a bit of research, and uncovered a few long hidden facts. These rather forgotten rose breeders deserve attention.

Early Hybrid Tea roses have often drifted off to the big compost heap in the sky. Those that remain in commercial cultivation have qualities that make them worthy roses for any garden. I have a fondness for single roses and this rose is one of the better known – ‘Dainty Bess.’

Elegant, pointed carmine pink buds unfold into a large single bloom. Fluted and ruffled petals of pale pink with slightly darker backs. The crowning glory of this rose, probably the reason for her continuing popularity is her crown of unlevel reddish yellow filaments tipped with golden stamens surrounding a bright yellow stigma. Each bloom has a slightly different crown, which adds to her charm. Long stems carry these attractive blooms in clusters up above the foliage. Repeat blooms exceptionally well, she is almost continuously in bloom throughout the summer. Great fragrance as well, sweetly light.

A small rose, she is only just over 1m high. There is a climbing variety as well introduced in 1935, growing to around 3m but does not bloom quite as continuously as this bush variety. ‘Dainty Bess’ would be great in a large container, a pair on either side of your front door would be very special. Some reports of black spot late in the summer, but she is so lovely you can forgive these minor faults. USDA zone 4b-9b. Widely available.

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W.E.B. – William Edward Basil  Archer led me on a merry dance through the archives. Baptised William Edward Archer he added Basil later and at one point used Basil as his first name. Name changes always hinder research!

William was born in Horton, Bradford, Yorkshire in 1861. His father, also William, is listed as a cabinet maker in 1851, Later, according to the census of 1861, he was an upholsterer employing six boys. William Edward followed his father’s trade as he is described as a furniture designer in the 1901 census when he is living with his wife Bessie and daughter Muriel Gertrude in Finchley, Middlesex. I found him again in 1911 eventually under the name Basil Archer in Coulsdon, still listed as a furniture designer and living with Bessie, Muriel, and his sister Francis. William appears to have been a successful designer of furniture, this area of Surrey is affluent now, and it was the same in 1911. It would be good to find his employer but no luck yet.

Between 1915 and 1918 William and the family moved to The Gables, Monks Horton in Kent. Sadly in 1920, his wife Bessie dies. I guess that by this time William has retired from furniture design, and begins to dabble in rose breeding.

In June 1924 for the first time, William takes one of his roses to the National Rose Society summer show. A rose he has produced from crossing the hybrid tea ‘Ophelia’ with the red hybrid tea ‘Kitchener of Khartoum.’ This new rose proved to be an instant success in winning a gold medal, the first awarded to an amateur rose grower in ten years. The Westminster Gazette reports that an expert valued the rose at several hundred pounds. This rose was ‘Dainty Bess’ named for William’s wife.

William’s amateur rose breeding soon turned into a business – W.E.B. Archer and Daughter. Muriel undertook the secretarial duties for this business, I do not know to what extent she was involved with the actual hybridising. In 1927 they took the Daily Mail cup together with 250 guineas (equivalent to around £15,500 today) for the best new scented seedling rose. A red Hybrid Tea, again William used ‘Kitchener of Khartoum’ as the pollen parent, which went on to be named ‘The Daily Mail Scented Rose.’

William and Muriel produced twenty eight roses between 1924 and 1940. The elegant ‘Dainty Bess’ and her refined daughter ‘Ellen Willmott’, together with ‘The Daily Mail Scented Rose’ and the climbing sport of this rose, and ‘Bonnie Jean’ remain in commercial cultivation. All of William and Muriel’s roses were introduced to Australia by Hazlewood Brothers. There may be some of the other varieties remaining there in cultivation, or at least growing in someone’s garden. Alas, all too many good roses fall out of fashion and fade to extinction.

It seems that the demands of growing food rather than flowers in WWII closed the business, although William was by this time 80 years old. He died in 1950 followed by Muriel, who had never married, two years later. In the short space of sixteen years, they produced roses of timeless beauty. One is left to consider what William could have done if he had been born into a nursery business rather than the furniture trade. I wonder if his furniture was as good as his roses?

This article first appeared on my Facebook blog on 19th February 2022.

‘Madame Knorr’

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Today’s rose ‘Madame Knorr’ is one of the ‘Portland’ class. Portlands are a small class of roses with obscure origins, perhaps the best known being ‘Comte de Chambord’. The original ‘Portland’ arrived in France via England with the name ‘Rosa portlandica’ and became known as the ‘Duchess of Portland’ It was believed that a Duchess of Portland imported this rose at the time of introduction, 1809. This date places the rose in the lifetime of the third Duchess of Portland who had little interest in gardening. However, the second Duchess Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785) was a patron of gardening and grew the rose that later bore her name, pushing the introduction date into France to 1775.

‘Duchess of Portland’ was originally believed to be a Damask x China. DNA analysis disproves ‘Slater’s Crimson China’ as one of the parents, and instead suggests a Gallica/Autumn Damask lineage. The Portland repeat blooming comes from the Autumn Damasks. However, not every Portland gives good repeat blooms

‘Madame Knorr’ was bred by Victor Verdier in Paris and was introduced in 1855 at a time when the Portland roses were sliding out of fashion as their descendants the Hybrid Perpetuals became popular.  Although photographed on a wet June day last summer she was a handsome rose. Small bright buds unfurl to a large silvery pink bloom. Short necked so the blooms nestle into the foliage. A darker centre with pale backed petals always gives such an attractive picture. Very fragrant even in cool damp conditions. She blooms once with a big flush in June with scattered blooms later.

Who was Madame Knorr? The invaluable website Helpmefind (www.helpmefind.com) has a comment that this rose is possibly named for Henriette Knorr (1828-?) née Ziegenmayer first wife of Carl Heinrich Knorr 1800 -1875, Amalie Henriette Caroline Seyffardt 1806-1867. Carl set up the food company Knorr, now part of the Unilever group.

Excellent disease resistant matt grey green foliage. Makes a small bushy 1m high shrub. The Portlands are tough roses, coping with the cold and intense heat. ‘Madame Knorr’ isn’t listed in the inestimable ‘Growing Roses in Cold Climates,’ (see below re availability). The authors recommend protection for these roses should you grow them to protect as much of the stems as possible. Most authorities give a USDA zone of 6b-9b. If any of you grow her in cooler zones please comment.

‘Madame Knorr’ appears to be widely available in Europe, also Australia, and New Zealand. She appears to be grown in the States but quite how widely I am not sure. Do comment on this point. There are references to her being identical to ‘Comte de Chambord’ aka ‘Madame Boll,’ or rather sold under the wrong name. Comments again are helpful.

An interesting rose, perhaps if I were collecting Portlands I would add her to my garden, but I am just a bit obsessed with my Teas, Chinas, and Pembertons now. Too many roses and too little time!

Initially published on 5th February 2022 on my Facebook blog Rose of the Day.

‘Autumn Delight’ delights in the summer as well.

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A two part post today. First, we will look at a rose, and secondly a cultivation method.

The rose is another attractive Hybrid Musk (HM) ‘Autumn Delight’. Bred by John Bentall, Joseph Pemberton’s assistant, and introduced in 1933. The parentage is unknown, but she has all of the hallmarks of the earlier HM roses bred by Joseph himself.

Long pointed buttery yellow apricot buds streaked with strong pink appear in clusters.  Opening to a large creamy single bloom that fades to white whilst retaining a glowing lemon petal base. The lemon glow enhances the long golden stamens, a delight certainly for all bees and pollinating insects. A long lasting bloom as well. She has the signature ‘musk’ perfume that lifts from the blooms to drift across the garden. As with the other HM roses, she gets better and better as the summer turns to autumn, becoming a real autumn delight with large clusters of bloom. No hips though which is a bit of a disappointment.

Exceptionally healthy with good dark foliage, ‘Autumn Delight’ will suit a no spray garden. Having visited Pemberton’s house at Havering-atte-Bower in Essex, sandy soil on a chalk ridge, I think you could grow his HM roses on brick rubble. They are tough girls! Around 1.20-1.50m tall and a little wider. You can prune her or just leave her alone. I leave all my HM roses alone other than the removal of an old stem or two in the winter. Hardy USDA zones 6b-10b. The American Rose Society gives her just a miserly 7.1 –‘an average rose’. I feel she is way better than that but perhaps she doesn’t perform well in the States. Comments are welcome on this point.

For me ‘Autumn Delight’ is a rose with more plus points than minus ones. Since writing this post I am happy to say that ‘Autumn Delight’ is part of the National Collection – Rosa (Hybrid Musk intro by Pemberton and Bentall 1912-1939) held here in my garden.

Part two of this post looks at cultivation. The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed in the photo that ‘Autumn Delight’ appears to be growing in a rock garden. In the first lockdown, I ripped out a carpet of that devilish ornamental nettle Lamium. Yes, it is pretty but invasive. I laid weed matting and created a ‘Zen’ garden of stones with a small birdbath. Initially, I collected large flints from the fields beside the house and carefully arranged them.

Now you would think that a layer of stones is a barren environment. Not a bit of it. There are always small birds on the stones hunting insects. When I move the stones spiders and beetles are everywhere plus a fair number of toads. They have shelter, warmth, and it is damp as well. A perfect habitat for invertebrates and toads. There are also grass snakes here and I see them sunbathing on the stones. Plus of course no damn weeds!

I extended the ‘Zen’ garden last summer to include ‘Autumn Delight’. A fair number of my roses have weed mat with a wood chip mulch around them. This does keep the weeds down but I find weeds will grow happily in wood chip mulch as it degrades. I have now put a ‘stone’ mulch around several roses, and it is easier to strim and clear around these stone mulches. I now buy what is called ‘reject stone’ from aggregate merchants rather than stone picking the fields. Better for my back!

Perhaps not for a small, neat garden but in my rather wild garden these stone mulches work well in that they cut down the workload whilst providing a home for ‘critters’.

This post first appeared on my Facebook blog Rose of the Day on 3rd February 2022

The petite ‘De Meaux’

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A move today from the heat loving Tea and Chinas to a small cold hardy rose, the Centifolia ‘De Meaux.’ A rose that looks fragile but actually is as tough as old boots.

Highly suitable for a small garden or large container ‘De Meaux’ will reach around a metre in height on tiptoes. I had to rescue mine as she was swamped by her taller neighbours. She now grows on the edge of a bed with smaller companions although I see that ‘Nozomi’ is stretching new stems towards her. I will confess I moved ‘De Meaux’ last summer immediately after blooming in June. She was only a second season rose with a small root system and we had the wettest June for years, so she happily grew away.

Small fat pink balls wrapped in feathery sepals are the best way to describe the buds of ‘De Meaux.’ These open to a pompom like bloom, mid pink to begin with before fading to pale pink. The tightly packed petals are slightly frilly adding to her charm. These blooms arrive in early summer in clusters, and she gives a lot of bloom. Sweet fragrance typical of the Centifolia group. She is a summer blooming rose, just one glorious flush.

Grey green foliage with red bristly stems. High disease resistance, again typical of the Centifolia group, Most, if not all, of the once blooming roses have excellent disease resistance. They predate the introduction of ‘Rosa foetida’ into rose breeding, a rose that brought the much sought yellow to modern roses but with the penalty of susceptibility to fungal infection. Being a small rose pruning can be restricted to the removal of an old stem or two immediately after blooming in the summer, or you can leave her alone. Should you grow her on her own roots she will spread by throwing up suckers. I have seen her grown as a low hedge as well.

A sport of the prolific ‘Rosa centifolia’, and believed to date from the seventeenth century. From her name, I assume she originated in the town of Meaux, just outside Paris. You will find her listed in most nurseries as ‘De Meaux’ but like a lot of very old roses, she has several aliases. The word pompom occurs in a fair number of them. Widely available. Hardly USDA zones 4b-9b. Listed in the excellent book ‘Growing Roses in Cold Climates’ as hardy to minus 32C (-25F) but some winter protection is advised. The stems are thin so they could be vulnerable in hard frosts.

An undemanding pretty little rose who will charm everyone with her pink pompoms in the attractive grey green foliage.

This post first appeared in my Facebook blog on 26th January 2022

One of the big four:

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Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China

There are four ‘stud’ roses; Slater’s Crimson China, Old Blush, Park’s Yellow Tea- Scented China, and Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China. It was likely that many more were imported from China in the early nineteenth century. European plant collectors fell in love with their fragile fabulously fragranced blooms which appeared repeatedly throughout the year. These roses played a vital role in the development of our modern roses.

Today’s rose is ‘Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China’, not a name that trips easily from my typing fingers so she is known in my garden as ‘HBTSC.’ Also known as ‘Spice,’ a name she acquired on the island of Bermuda where she can be found growing wild. to complicate the story she is also known as ‘Rosa odorata var. odorata’. Just a small caveat here though. The rose, or roses sold today as ‘HBTSC’ may not be the original introduction. There is disagreement over her identity, to put it mildly.

Introduced by Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, of Wormleybury, Hertfordshire in 1809. Sir Abraham’s family was heavily involved in the building of ships principally for the East India Company. Sir Abraham had many interests, collecting paintings, diamonds, and plants. ‘HBTSC’ was one of the plants collected by the East India Company’s inspector for Tea in Canton John Reeves for Sir Abraham and brought back to Britain.  Indeed, John Reeves sent back azaleas, camellias, chrysanthemums as well as roses to Britain on the East India Company’s ships. We are in his debt for the many plants that now grow in our gardens.

This rose is reputed to be one of the roses allowed through the Naval blockade of the Napoleonic wars to travel to the garden of Empress Josephine at Malmaison in 1811. (I am in the middle of the exasperating post Brexit business of importing roses from France to the UK. I wonder if Josephine had any tips I can use to smooth their passage?)

‘HBTSC’ does indeed blush. Her buds are a strong pink, increasingly streaked white as they open to a large pale pink bloom. In strong sunlight, the blooms quickly blanch to white whilst retaining a ‘blush’ at the petal bases. A strong perfume that improves with direct sunlight and heat. This is a rose that doesn’t sleep in Zone 8. She has copious continuous blooms in the summer. Slows a little in the winter but always a bloom or five somewhere in the winter.

Rather sprawling in growth habit and not too large around a metre high but often much wider. Mine is against a warm sheltered wall where she lolls gracefully.  Foliage is typically a little sparse, with attractive red tinted new growth. Some thorns and prickles. Very disease resistant, no black spot or downy mildew. Hardy USDA zone 7b and warmer. Widely available.

I think ‘Hume’s Blush Tea-Scented China’ is a rose that should be more widely grown. Not just for her importance as a progenitor of the modern rose, she is completely undemanding and very easy to grow. Needs very little pruning, Chinas don’t like it. Ideal for those with a busy lifestyle. Grow her as she will give you a bloom almost every day of the year. What more can you ask of a rose?

This post first appeared in my Facebook blog on 22nd January 2022

Florence Oakley Fisher and her rose

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This post consists of two parts: the rose ‘Mrs Oakley-Fisher’ and a brief biography of Florence Oakley Fisher.

One of my favourite roses that grows just inside the garden gate is the 1921 Hybrid Tea ‘Mrs Oakley-Fisher’. A rose full of grace and charm with eye catching looks. She is as popular today as she was when first introduced.

The buds are a creamy orange streaked with carmine. Opens to a yellowy copper single bloom and then matures to an appealing yellow/apricot/amber/parchment before turning white. The petals have a silky appearance so the colour varies as the light changes. Long golden stamens make ‘Mrs Oakley-Fisher’ attractive to pollinators. Strong perfume that is a little unrose like, more an earthy ‘Tea’ than sweet. Repeat blooms consistently.

Fairly tall, around 1.25m. Healthy disease resistant foliage so she is suitable for a no spray garden. An easy rose to grow. Hardy USDA zones 7b and warmer. An 8.2 score from the American Rose Society – ‘a solid to very good rose, its good features easily outweigh any problems. Well above average.’ I cannot think of problems with ‘Mrs Oakley-Fisher’ but please comment if you have experienced issues with her.

Bred by Benjamin R. Cant & Sons but of unknown lineage. Rose shows were the main form of advertising rose varieties at the time and Cants were immensely successful exhibitors. Perhaps naming their latest rose after a new member of the RNRS council was a tactical move but Florence could well also have been a good friend of the family.

A rose that I would always grow in my garden. Cheerful is the best way I can describe her.

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Florence Oakley Fisher together with Dora Darlington, wife of Hayward Radcliffe Darlington, a past President of the National Rose Society (NRS); and Lilian Courtney Page, wife of the Editor of the NRS Annual, John Courtney Page; became the first female members of the NRS council in 1921. (The NRS later gained a Royal prefix, the RNRS folded in 2017.) From the British Newspaper Archive, I discovered a small piece on this election. The NRS President Mr H. J. Holland stated that ‘he hoped they would find their duties more congenial than did the women who were now embarking on a certain new sphere of service.’ Make of that what you will! The photograph shows these three redoubtable ladies. Florence looks like a rather strong character. All three ladies had a rose named for them, but ‘Mrs Courtney Page’ is no longer commercially available. (A small note here that the official registered rose name has a hyphen, but Florence did not have this).

I am strangely fond of research and enjoy harvesting information from unlikely sources. My initial foray into the life of Florence Oakley Fisher turned up an article revealing she lived in Sudbury, Suffolk. I picked around this information fruitlessly until an Ancestry search through Electoral rolls found Florence living in ‘Egremont House,’ Sudbury, near Harrow in Middlesex with her husband George and their son Lionel Robert D’Arcy Fisher.

Florence was born in 1868 in Fairford, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Henry Dancy a draper, and his wife Henrietta. Educated at a ladies’ seminary in Oxford, now Pusey House. Florence married George Oakley Fisher, a widowed surveyor, and auctioneer in 1892. In 1901 they were living in Great Missenden and moved to their final home at Egremont House between 1901 and 1911.

The joy of searching through the British Newspaper Archives are the trivial details. Florence is advertising in 1926 for a cook and a housemaid. The advertisement states ‘good house, good wages, and outings, two in the family, good references required.’ I wonder if she was successful in her quest. This was a time when it was becoming difficult to get domestic staff.

Florence was a keen horticulturist, growing prize winning vegetables along with sweet peas and roses. From browsing back copies of the Rose Annual she appears regularly as a winner in the ladies’ classes, cut roses and rose arrangements, at the NRS rose shows. Back delving in the British Newspaper Archives, I find Florence having success at the Wembley Rose Show in June 1907. In the section for those who employ a gardener, she took second place in the twelve roses class where we learn her gardener is a W. Botten. Florence goes on to achieve a first in the three hybrid roses class, second in the three teas, third in two bunches -cluster, and finishing with a first in the basket of roses (ladies only). Later Florence was awarded second place for a ‘rather heavy’ arrangement of pink roses in the table decoration class.

The variety of rose is not always mentioned but in 1910 Florence has Madame Abel Chatenay and Prince of Wales Malmaison winning for her. In 1919 she exhibits rambler roses, but no variety was mentioned.

Towards the end of her life, Florence was to be found judging the ladies’ classes at these large horticultural shows, often with Lilian Courtney Page.

Dora Darlington and Lilian Courtney Page were frequent contributors to the Rose Annual. Florence didn’t pick up her pen, but she did pick up her baton. In 1912 she conducted an orchestra she trained herself in a performance of Romberg’s Toy Symphony. According to the report under her able baton, the orchestra gave a much enjoyed performance.

Florence remained on the NRS council until she died in 1930. I have not been able to find an obituary for her, not even in the NRS Rose Annuals. She lives on through her beautiful rose delighting everyone that sees her.

‘La Belle Sultane’

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I am sure everyone wants to grow a rose that not only looks stunning but provides sustenance for pollinating insects. Today’s rose does both beautifully, the Gallica rose – ‘La Belle Sultane.’

This is a rose that stops you in your tracks. The colour, those dark purple, violet, crimson, and maroon tones highlighted by the white petal base and crowned with vivid golden yellow stamens. A velvet like texture, silk velvet of course, to the petals. I am fond of Tuscany Superb, but I think ‘La Belle Sultane’ has the edge. Fat little buds with feathery sepals open to this semi double beautiful queen rose, an apt name if ever there was one. Strong perfume as well, typical of the Gallica family. She blooms just once in June with a flood of blooms.

Tall arching stems, around 1.5 m and about the same in width. Can be larger in warm climates. Stems covered in red bristles but still prickly. A crop of round red hips will appear in the autumn. Exceptional disease resistance, falling into the 0-5% category in the 1998 Montreal Botanic Garden survey on rose disease. Easy to grow and tolerant of poor cultivation. Hardy USDA zones 4b-8b. Scoring an 8.4 in the American Rose Society 2022 handbook, – ‘A very good to excellent rose, one recommended without hesitation.’

Believed to originate from the Netherlands in the 1700s but was introduced by Dupont around 1811. She does have several names – ‘Gallica Meheca,’ ‘Aigle Rouge,’ and ‘Violacea.’ Some debate whether ‘Violacea’ is a different rose. However, you are likely to find her as ‘La Belle Sultane’ rather than her alternatives. Widely available.

Bees and other insects dependent on pollen will flock to this rose, likewise your friends when they visit you on those long hot June days.

First published 12th January 2022 on my Facebook blog Rose of the Day

The hot pink ‘Nur Mahál’

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A recent addition to my Pemberton and Bentall Hybrid Musk collection is the shocking pink ‘Nur Mahál.’ Not a colour for everyone but she makes one smile.

Introduced in 1923 ‘Nur Mahál’ was a departure from Joseph Pemberton’s pale subtle coloured roses. The name, also a departure from his classical inspiration. Initially presented under a seedling number her name was proposed by a lady of the Raj who had lived in India for many years. Perhaps the hot pink colour spoke of India to her? The colour of ‘Nur Mahál’ comes from her seed parent ‘Château de Clos Vougeot’, a glorious dark red Hybrid Tea.

Nur Mahál, also known as Nur Jahan, deserves to be more widely known. Very much a woman who changed the world but has faded into obscurity. A favoured wife of the fourth Mughal Emperor Jahangir she became the real power behind the throne. Married in 1611, the twentieth wife of the Emperor, she was given the title Nur Mahál – Light of the Palace. She gradually assumed control of the empire from her opium and alcohol addicted husband. A highly capable ruler, she was also responsible for the great cultural and artistic achievements of Jahangir’s reign. In a time when most women lived in purdah, she championed the emancipation of women. The gardens of Kashmir and Agra were created under her patronage. Allegedly she discovered ‘Attar of Roses.’ A busy lady! Five years after her marriage she was granted the title of Nur Jahan – Light of the World. On Jahangir’s death, there was the usual power struggle between the many sons, and she was exiled to Lahore. If you are inspired to read more try ‘Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan’ by Ruby Lal was published last year.

As with all the Hybrid Musks, clusters of bloom are produced, and these get better and better as the summer progresses. Splashed with white as you can see in the photo, enhancing the bright pink. A lighter perfume than most of the other Musks though. Practically thornless with dark foliage ‘Nur Mahál’ will reach around 1.75m, taller in warmer climes, and rather wider. Disease free and easy to grow, these Hybrid Musks can be just left to grow and delight everyone who sees them. Hardy USDA zones 6b-10b and widely available.

‘Nur Mahál’ performed well for a first season rose in last summer’s chilly rain and dry autumn. I am looking forward to many summers of her glowing pink.

First published on my Facebook blog Rose of the Day 9th January 2022

An early Tea rose – ‘Safrano’

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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