The Baron
As a rule I avoid buying and growing plants that have the name of famous people. I prefer plants with name of famous people from the past I know nothing about. Such is the case of my Rosa ‘Baron Girod de l’Ain’.
In my Classic Roses by Peter Beales I find the following information:
Reverchon — France 1897
‘Eugene Fürst’sport
A popular novelty since its introduction, this unusual rose is well worth garden space. Its very double flowers are bright crimson, and they open cup-shaped, with the petal edges rather ragged-looking, an illusion enhanced by the fringe of white edging the margins. As a shrub it is rather straggly but quite dense with firm, stout thorns and leathery dark green leaves.
I must add that this rose is a Hybrid Perpetual. What this means in 19thcentury fake advertising is that it blooms once in May/June and then it will have sporadic flowers until the fall.
The baron was a French politician of note. I liked this comic illustration of him.
Should this plant die it would be practically impossible to replace it. We are now plagued with pope roses, president roses and soon a Rosa ‘President Donald Trump’ which will be in a lurid orange.
Originally published at blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com.
