ADELAIDE D'ORLEANS

'ADELAIDE D'ORLEANS' Rose. Popular for over 180 years, ‘Adélaide d’Orléans’ was bred in France in 1826 from Rosa sempervirens. It falls into a group that the Victorians called evergreen roses, and indeed it is in mild winters. Christine Allen, GPP selection committee member and rose expert, describes its summer blossoms (mid-June to mid-July) as follows. “Its powder-pink buds open into semi-double flowers whose silky white petals fan back slightly from a central boss of golden stamens. Their primrose fragrance, like that of most ramblers, is cast on the air rather than held within the flower. This rose has particularly sinuous canes and trusses of flowers on thin, plum-tinged laterals, making it a natural for training through a lattice or draping gracefully over a pergola.” Its new leaves also have plum highlights. Its flowers attract bees and butterflies, and all ramblers provide good protection, including potential nesting sites, for wild birds. Height : 4.50 m.