Every year again I am looking forward to see blooming the roses in our garden. I can’t wait till the buds explode, revealing their secrets, and to see that full bloom look!

Madame Isaac Pereire. Ready to explode!

Actually I am in love with old Bourbon and Hybrid roses. They are incredibly beautiful in shape as in structure and many varieties have a powerful and delicious fragrance.

It was therefore very hard to make a choice from the extensive varieties of antique roses. Finally we opted for following 3 types of old roses : ‘Madame Isaac Pereire’, ‘Honorine de Brabant’ and ‘Ulrich Brunner‘.

Next to the antique roses, we also planted the ‘Aspirin’ and ‘Snow White’ rose, and a climbing ‘Kir Royal’ rose.

All roses, except the climbing Kir Royal, we planted in 2010.

 

All pictures are of roses in our garden.

I would love to start with the Aspirin roses that we planted on the borders of our garden path.

This rose owes its name to the 100-year anniversary (1997) of the popular aspirin medicine we all know. The Aspirin is both a ground cover and a bedding rose. The Aspirin has a fresh green leaf and blooms continuously throughout the summer. In clear or colder weather the bright white colour of the Aspirin petals changes to a romantic pink. As a standard rose and planted on a border, the Aspirin is the excellent eye-catcher rose.

Aspirin ground cover rose on both sides of our garden path.

Aspirin rose

Aspirin rose

Aspirin rose

Sitting around our garden house table, we enjoy the Aspirin roses alongside the garden path.

 

Second rose to name is our Kir Royal climbing rose (planted in 2008) continuous flowering from May to October, and growing on the back façade of our home. This is a beautiful soft pink coloured rose with a fruity fragrance. The Kir Royal was introduced in 1995.

Climbing Kir Royal rose

Climbing Kir Royal growing on the back wall of our home.

The Kir Royal climber is treating us to a bunch of roses. 

Picture of the Kir Royal taken on a sunny day.

 

Arriving at the old roses.

The first of our antique roses I show here is the ‘Honorine de Brabant’ rose, which is an old Bourbon shrub rose. The Bourbon classification of antique roses is discovered around 1817 and originated on the Île Bourbon (now called Réunion) off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. They are believed to be the result of crossbreeding the Autumn Damask with the ‘Old Blush’ China rose, both of which were frequently used as hedging materials on the island.

Honorine de Brabant is a light pink rose with shades of crimson and purple and with a strong fragrance, flowering from June to October. This Bourbon rose was introduced in 1899.

Honorine de Brabant shrub rose

Honorine de Brabant rose

 

Our second old rose is the ‘Ulrich Brunner’ rose. This is a very beautiful rose as its petals look and feel as velvet. It is a tall rose that is very useful for cutting. This rose is classified to the Hybrid Perpetual roses and was introduced in 1841.

The classification Hybrid Perpetual was very popular during the later part of the 1800’s. They seem to be a mix of the Bourbon, Tea, Portland and Noisette roses and are considered to be the precursor to the modern rose.

The Ulrich Brunner is blooming in the late spring and early summer and again in autumn.

Ulrich Brunner rose

Ulrich Brunner rose

 

And then there is the ‘Madame Isaac Pereire’ rose, one of the most popular of all Bourbon roses, introduced in 1841.

If you still are doubting about which rose to plant, take this one! This rose has the most powerful and delicious scent, and has gorgeous cup-shaped flowers of which the colour is a luscious lipstick fuchsia! Blooming from June to September.

Madame Isaac Pereire shrub rose

Madame Isaac Pereire rose

Madame Isaac Pereire rose

 

Finally, I would like to share with you another 2 pictures of our Snow White roses (also known as ‘Iceberg’ roses) which only started to bloom since yesterday and that are flowering up the side terrace of our house.

 This stunning rose is very popular due to its beautiful blooms and long flowering period. Very nice choice for a rose border, producing masses of pure white flowers from early summer through to late autumn. Snow Whites are the perfect choice for simple beauty in your garden.

Snow White rose

Our magnificent Snow White roses against the background of the green leaves of the hedges.

 

 

A glimpse of our rose garden. From here you can see a part of the Ulrich Brunner, the Madame Isaac Pereire and the Aspirin roses.

 

 I would love to end this post with a few pictures of the roses dressing up our home.

Mix of Ulrich Brunner, Madame Isaac Pereire and Aspirin roses.

Mix of Ulrich Brunner and Madame Isaac Pereire roses.

Ulrich Brunner rose

Ulrich Brunner rose

And again a mix of Madame Isaac Pereire and Ulrich Brunner roses.

 

Recommended books about roses :

‘The Rose’ by David Austin. For purchase click here, here or here.

‘Vintage Roses’ by Jane Eastoe. For purchase click here or here.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post of today!

xx

Greet

All pictures by me