'Zéphirine Drouhin'.
Bourbon
èphirine Drouhin is a
pleasure to train on the trellis. Because it has virtually no prickles, I can
climb on top of my milk basket and immerse myself in the midst of it's canes
without drawing blood! For this reason alone, I would grow and enjoy this
climbing Bourbon. There are other reasons as well. When in bloom the
semi-double flowers are quite fragrant with the typical sweet Bourbon scent. My
plant is growing on the east side of my house, against a lattice trellis on my
chimney, hence it only gets half day sun. It has climbed to about nine feet
grown in this fashion. Some recommed her for partial shade. I have seen an
occasional hip, but few as a result of my dead-heading to entice a few more
blooms out of her.
There is a strong and plentiful spring flush of bloom
in late May through June. Bloom is quite sparse until a smaller rebloom in
September. I can usually find a few blooms in the summer on her. Mildew can be
a problem, and can pretty severely disfigure the leaves, and cause quite a few
to drop. But this does not seem to weaken her so much. She is reasonably hardy
in my barely zone 6 garden. This past winter was not exceptionally cold, but
it's sudden onset in November, after a very mild fall, took its toll on
'Zéphirine Drouhin', as it did on a number of my other Bourbons: 'Mme.
Isaac Periere' was almost, but not quite, completely frozen back to the ground.
And the white 'Boule de Niege', although a three year old, six foot tall plant,
was completely killed. 'Zéphirine Drouhin' lost about half her canes and
needed severe pruning. At this point in spring, she is bursting forth in much
new growth, but only half the quantity of last season.
I have found
'Zèphirine Drouhin', like a number of other Bourbons, fairly easy to
root from cuttings, and have given a good number of clones away.
It's
the easiest rose to find in the index of any rose book, but one of the more
difficult for me to pronounce. One rosarian suggests a pronounciation of
"zay-fih-REEN droo-EH-n".
kbk 2001 April 21
"This has been the most popular of the Bourbon Roses over may years, partly on account of its prickle-free branches and partly, no doubt, due to its vivid cerise-pink flowers, very sweetly scented, borne for so many summer and autumn months. It is best classed as a climber, up to some 12 feet, but is suitable for use as a large bush if kept within bounds by pruning. The beautiful leaves of of rich green, and of coppery-purple tint while young, and the flowers have a loose, semi-double formation. The sport 'Kathleen Harrop' occured in 1919, and is in my experience not so vigorous, but makes a very pleasing bush with flowers of bright, light pink, the petals being much darker on the reverse side, and beautifully marked with transparent veins. It is reported that this sport was found in Turkey"
--Graham S. Thomas, in The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book
"Famous as the 'Thornless Rose', although it is not completely without prickles. It may be grown as a climber, although preferably not on a wall, as mildew is likely there; better on a fence, and best of all as a pillar; it may also be grown as a shrub, or even as a hedge. In the latter case, it may be pruned to keep the required height, with the longer growths being tied down into the hedge.
At first sight it is one's least favorite pink, in the area between pink and red, often denoted in the catalogs by that word of warning: 'cerise'. But let them open, and the small flowers express the warmth of summer, not this summer but some old remembered days of warmth, when roses innocently quartered their centres without disgrace, and were expected to breathe a gentle fragrance into the air. I know nothing of the raiser except his name, Bizot; he introduced this rose in 1868, and it has been generally cultivated an enjoyed for over a century. In 1919 Alenader Dickson introduced a lovely pale pink sport, 'Kathleen Harrop', in all respects save colour the same."
--Jack Harkness in Roses
--Gordon Edwards, 1975. Wild and Old Garden Roses
"There is a great deal to be said for a thornless rose; so we look upon Zéphirine Drouhin with real affection, particularly at pruning time when we have just finished coping with a really prickly specimen. Such a rose has decided advantages when planted near a house or alongside a pathway. Zéphirine Drouhin makes a spectacular shrub in wide mixed bourders, and also an excellent pillar rose. In one garden we saw it growing among clear blue delphiniums and silver-foliaged plants, and it looked a picture. Out plants are placed at the back of a pink border and, though the spring show is all that could be desired, any later blooms come intermittently, though we do get some flowers right into the winter. We did think tht the bushes we saw in England produced particularly fine flowers. There are semi-double, uneven in shape, and of a vivid rose-pink, the base of the petals being white. In this century, Zéphirine Drouhin produced a pretty, pale pink sport which was named Kathleen Harrop. This does not flower well later in the season, but an old-rose grower in Auckland gets lovely blooms on her bush in early summer"
--Nancy Steen, 1966, The Charm of Old Roses.
"Although one regrets the general neglect of the best of the old garden Roses, it does not imply a want of willing welcome to anything new of genuine charm and usefullness. By far the best thing we have had of late years is that all round garden Rose Zèphirine Droughin, whose name, by general consent, is now shortened to Zèphirine. It has every merit that a garden Rose can possess. It is free of growth, the bloom is well shaped, and of excellent colour--a good rosy-red that never turns purple; it is hardy and repels most Rose enemies; it gives and abundance of bloom through four months of the year, its quality only bettering as the season advances. It has the sweetest scent, and is long lasting in water. The list of its merits is not yet finished, for it is one of the pleasantest Roses to cut and handle; it is long stemmed and has no prickles, and one can gather it, not in handfuls only, but in whole armfuls."
---Miss Gertrude Jekyll in Rose Annual for 1922 of the National Rose Society (UK)
"In 1800 we are told the estimated number of
roses in existence was about 100. In 1815 the number had risen to 250, in 1828
to 2,500 and by 1845 to 5,000."
--H.M. Ibell, 1960 in The
Australian and New Zealand Rose Annual
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