22 May 2010

Pink Saturday ~ Zéphirine Drouhin Rose



I've been reading about Pink Saturday for a while now, and this is my first time to participate. Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. And inspired by my friends Candy at The Little Round Table (who grows some of the most beautiful roses I have ever seen) and Martha at Lines from Linderhof (who grows mostly pink roses at her home) I am going to feature a rose - Zéphirine Drouhin.

Zéphirine Drouhin is a Bourbon (Old Garden) rose. It is a completely thornless climber, a prolific bloomer and very fragrant.



Bourbon Roses are named for Île Bourbon, now called Réunion Island, in the Indian Ocean. Tradition has it that they originated from a natural cross between the China 'Parsons Pink' and the red Damask Perpetual 'Tous-les-Mois', two roses which were grown as hedges on the island. Bourbons began to be intentionally bred in the 1830s. In the best of them, vigour was combined with floriferousness, and beauty with fragrance. Zéphirine Drouhin embodies all of those.



A typical Bourbon will have the arching growth, lush flowers and intoxicating fragrance from its Damask ancestors; but it will also have a strong tendency to rebloom from the China ancestor, as well as a certain often subtle influence of the China flower form. Bourbons range in colour from deep reds through pinks to blush and white. The actual glory days of the Bourbon roses were 1830 to 1850. Currently they have regained popularity with antique rose growers due to their easygoing charms.

Around 1800 the French became interested in roses, inspired by the Empress Josephine, who was very interested in botany. After her divorce from Napoleon she lived at the palace of Malmaison. At this palace she collected all the available sorts of roses, and encouraged the breeding and hybridizing of new ones. Spurred by imperial patronage, French breeders went to work, developing several hundred new cultivars. Zéphirine Drouhin was bred by Bizot in France in 1868. Although it is a later Bourbon, it is still considered an antique rose.



Zéphirine Drouhin features profuse, sweetly scented, semi-double, cerise pink flowers that range 3.5"-4" in diameter. It blooms from May to frost giving beauty and fragrance all summer. Then the purple tinted canes make it attractive in winter after the foliage drops. It will take Zéphirine Drouhin a few years to reach peak blooming, but the wait is well worth it. Regular deadheading during the growing season will encourage re-blooming.



This rose is especially wonderful for arches, porch columns and fences as the canes can grow to 15' long. I learned about Zéphirine Drouhin from my Mom. She had read about it and ordered one to plant on her fence. Of course after I smelled and saw hers, I had to get one, too! I planted my Zéphirine Drouhin on a wrought iron column at the corner of the smokehouse at the farm. This is its first year to really start blooming and I am enchanted. The fragrance permeates the air all around. I have cut some of the flowers for bouquets inside and have found them to last about a week or so. And the house smells wonderful! The pink blooms and the purplish canes really stand out against the greyed wood of the weathered logs of the smokehouse. I can see it out the kitchen windows, and when I open the windows, the fragrance comes right in the house.

Here is a free-form bouquet of Zéphirine Drouhin with some other roses that were blooming at the farm. I've got them in a chartruese Fiesta bud vase on the mantle in our bedroom.


Happy Pink Saturday!




namasté,
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20 comments:

My name is Riet said...

We3lcome and happy pink saturday. What a beautiful rose you have here. Lovely story.
Have a wonderful day
Riet, The Netherlands

Linda M said...

Welcom to Pink Saturday beautiful reoses.

CailinMarie said...

thank you. I completely enjoyed this post and I'm enchanted with this rose. Not thorny. Smells sweet. Has beautiful flowers... how does it feel about humidity? Surely it can handle it, it is an island rose? Although, islands and swamps are a bit different... for some reason roses are not too easy to grow in this part of Virginia (between Williamsburg & Jamestown) but I sure would love to give one of those a go.

Brenda ~ The Heminger Farmhouse said...

Hi! Welcome to pink Saturday :) Beautiful roses you have shown us.

Have a Happy "Pinky" day, warmest, Brenda

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

OH Hello from the south too! and hello to your parrots, my babies wave hello to your sweet ones.

Such a lovely rose you have there. You are truly bless to have that in your garden. Is the fragrance as lovely as the flower?

Oh... you saw him too reading. I was so taken back by his poem The Aberdares where he said in his interview on Carson it was so cold there. I went out that following week to hunt down the book. Good to know someone else saw the show. Folks I talk to never knew his he wrote.

Will follow you and come back to visit.

Happy Pink Saturday

CC said...

Hi and welcome,welcome to Pink Saturday. I loved your roses and the history of them..and I can just imaging them growing on the wrought iron near your smokehouse. They're just beautiful and oooo,how I wish their franrence came thru to me. Happy Pinks and have a lovely weekend.

Unknown said...

Such pretty pink roses. Now I want one! Welcome to Pink Saturday!

Jacalyn @ rmebathproducts.com said...

Love the roses! Nature at its' best!

Happy PS,
Jacalyn

The Artful Diva said...

Very interesting history on the roses. Thank you - and welcome to Pink Saturday!

Unknown said...

Those are really beautiful...so perfect! They look like frosting roses :) Thanks for all the interesting information on the rose. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Sarah

Teena said...

I really enjoyed reading about roses on your blog, I so wish we could grow some here! Happy Pink Saturday <3

Tara said...

These are just stunning! Love all these shades together. I also read your previous post and I am a PacMan lover too, Ms.Pac is my favorite though Welcome to Pink Saturday and have a wonderful weekend!!

Twyla and Lindsey said...

Hi! Welcome to Pink Saturday! It was our first time too and I now want to join in every Saturday. Have a great week! Twyla

Sherry from Alabama said...

Such a lovely post for your first Pink Saturday. Welcome!

Sherry @ A Happy Valentine

Natasha in Oz said...

I don't grow roses but my dad does. He would love these beautiful roses! Lovely photographs-so perfect for your 1st Pink Saturday post!

Best wishes and happy week,
Natasha.

Mary Bergfeld said...

How lovely! The color is almost riveting and it is a perfect choice for Pink Saturday. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Beverly said...

Happy Pink Saturday, Becky. I am so happy you decided to join us. I have added myself as one of your followers, and I hope you will follow my blog, too.

You know, I adore roses, too - all kinds of roses. We only have hybrid teas, but I am always looking for a place in my yard to add others.

Thank you for sharing this information and your beautiful vase of blooms.

Also, I love PacMan.

A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...

How beautiful! I never do well with roses...mine always get spotty. I wonder why?

Annesphamily said...

This was a beautiful story and I learned something new here. The roses are gorgeous. Thank you for sharing. I hope you will come join me soon and I welcome you to Pink Saturday!

Stephanie ~ Angelic Accents said...

Becky, welcome to PINK SATURDAY! Love your pink florals today ~ you do wonderful photography, too! I so look forward to getting to know you better thru your blog. I see where you collect Art Deco. It is a favorite time period of mine and I LOVE Art Deco mirrors! (I sell antique mirrors all the time on eBay, although hubby says I KEEP waaay more than I sell!).

Big TX Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents