Ghislaine de Feligonde

Oops. When I first wrote about the climbing rose Ghislaine de Feligonde I was rather rude. She was 'too small', with 'budget growth, budget sized blooms'… What an impatient rose gardener!

She's a French beauty, bred by Turbat in 1916, and is said to be hardy and extremely disease-resistant. I've planted two, with irrigation drippers, on an archway in the Hazelnut Orchard. It's an area with loads of sunshine and fresh air, where no rose should ever dare expect to be sprayed.

A Good Report

The catalogues I chose my climbing roses from gave her a good report - using words like 'vigorous' and phrases like 'occasionally blooms in autumn'. Well, well, well! This autumn my Ghislaine de Feligonde roses are covered with the most beautiful clusters of flowers.

I like the slightly dishevelled look of her flower clusters, the texture of her leaves, and the mess of her colours - one bloom apricot-pink, the next soft yellow, pale cream, orangey-yellow, pale buff, or white...

And I'm sorry for being so 'sizist' in my initial comments. Small is definitely beautiful, in Ghislaine de Feligonde's case