Each rose seems to have its own personality, its own quirks and its own ideas on how things should be in the garden. In my garden, such a rose is Princess de Monaco. Her first story is that she was bred by Marie-Louise Meilland and released in 1982 to celebrate the life of actress Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.
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| Princess de Monaco |
My Princess de Monaco wasn't content to remain a bush rose and decided she wanted be a standard rose instead. Despite many attempts on my part to convince her to throw some new watershoots, she has flatly refused to produce any more than this one stem, which stands thick and tall for about 30 or 40cm then branches out in three directions. This hasn't always been so, in earlier years she has grown multiple canes and until last year had 2, the oldest of which I removed during our annual prune, hoping to encourage more new growth.
She is virtually impervious to blackspot, though this may be because all her foliage is so high off the ground! I love her dark green leaves and the gorgeous cream flowers, long stemmed and elegant, with their vibrant pink edging and delightful fragrance. She shows all the glamour and beauty of the stunning Grace Kelly.
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I have often wondered what would happen if I were to prune her one cane off at the crown, whether she would be induced to produce new canes or whether that would be the end of her. In balance it seems a little too extreme to potentially destroy a rose that is performing well in every other way. So a mini standard she now is!
A rose with a very old history is Mrs John Laing. Bred in 1887 by Henry Bennett, this rose was created as a result of a breakthrough in terms of development of a new class of rose. Bennett is considered to be the father of the Hybrid Tea because of his pioneering work in the hybridisation of roses through controlled pollination. This rose is a cross between a Tea and a Hybrid Perpetual, or a Pedigree Hybrid of the Tea Rose as he called it.
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| Mrs John Laing |
But who was the lady "Mrs John Laing"? Why was this rose, which proved to be one of his best and most commercially viable roses, named after her? After a little internet research it seems this is quite an enigma, about which there has been much conjecture and debate over the years.
By now my curiosity was well and truly piqued and I dug even deeper, until I found a reference I had not seen before. Someone had posted this same question on a rose forum website and after much discussion, another contributor had come forward, claiming to be the great, great granddaughter of Mrs John Laing, a lady named Emelia, a Scotswomen whom she said travelled to London periodically to visit her son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren who lived in London, an entry I have not been able to verify elsewhere, apparently it was kept as a family secret for some reason that none of the family can now remember.
I find it quaint that she preferred to be known as Mrs John Laing rather than Mrs Emelia Laing, a custom that was quite common in those times and so different from today.
According to Wikipedia, Henry Bennett had been a widower for some years by the time he developed this rose 1887; his wife, Emma, having became late in 1875 following a horseback riding accident. Perhaps Emelia was also interested in roses, indeed who knows? Regardless this is quite a beautiful rose with a subtle but sweet scent.
Mrs John Laing came to me last winter as a bare-rooted rose from Misty Downs in Victoria. The blooms are well formed and appear quite delicate, almost rice paper like in texture. The leaves are mid green. So far I have not had a huge number of blooms, but it is still early days as this is a relatively young rose bush.
Another of my favourites is Blueberry Hill. Many years ago I bought a bush for my mother, mostly, I think, because I thought it was a cool name. Bred by Tom Carruth (USA) in 1997 and released for sale in 1999 Blueberry Hill is classified as a floribunda shrub. I hadn't heard of Tom Carruth before researching Blueberry Hill so was quite surprised to learn just how many outstanding roses he is responsible for developing.
Mum truly loved her Blueberry Hill and most conversations included at least one reference to just how lovely hers was and how prolifically she was blooming, etc, etc. After a couple of years I decided that maybe I should acquire one myself and approached my local rose specialist nurseryman (where I had bought Mum's) who said he thought they had one in a back paddock that they could bring in for me.
A week or so after I brought my "Blueberry Hill" home I had another phone call from the nursery. Apparently they were now not sure whether my rose was or was not Blueberry Hill and by this time "Blueberry Hill" had been planted in the garden.
When I saw the very first flower (left), I knew this was NOT Blueberry Hill.
Although I was initially a little disappointed that I didn't actually have a Blueberry Hill, this rose has excellent colour and a very pleasing fragrance, beautiful glossy leaves and each bloom is long stemmed and makes a perfect vase specimen. Not to mention being relatively hardy and tolerant of a little shade. I don't know her name and until the day I do, she will remain to me my "Not Blueberry Hill" rose.
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| Blueberry Hill |
And so my quest for a Blueberry Hill rose continued. These are the times you really love Google because I did manage to locate a supplier and duly placed my internet order. Once planted I waited impatiently for my new purchase to produce flowers, just so I could be sure I actually had one this time.
Blueberry Hill has many moods. Sometimes she produces a single rose, sometimes a cluster, always a delight! Her buds open up into a delicate semi-double bloom with a subtle fragrance; a very enthusiastic rose.
Mum warned me that I should allow her plenty of room to spread and she was correct, what Blueberry Hill lacks in height, she more than makes up for in width.
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