I have seen very old plants of Perle d'Or which have never been pruned very hard push six feet by nearly as wide, Nik. In my climate, it will tolerate about four hours of sun daily and yes, it flowers as continuously here as Mlle. Cecile Brunner does. Kim

Kim thanks. Six feet is a long way from three which I was reading about. I should have known better and double all sizes listed in colder climate sites... Am I right to assume though that this is a relatively slow grower?
Nik

You're welcome Nik. Think about it as you would the traditional Tea as far as slow to mature goes. Once it puts out the roots necessary and is happy where it grows, it can gain a lot of momentum. Heavier pruning will induce it to sulk. I usually just removed the spent flower cluster wood and left the rest of it alone. It appeared to be satisfied with taht treatment here. Kim

Mine grew large relatively quickly and flowered almost continuously. It was about 5 x 5 when I left that garden. I must be the only person here who isn't wild about it, but then I'm much more into pink than apricot. It certainly is a good and carefree rose.

Ingrid

I grow a hedge of Perle d'Or in the Silicon Valley of northern California, in the lower foothills not far from San Jose. It cycles in and out of bloom continuously all year long except when it has just been pruned. I find the color to be more of a warm pink than a definite apricot, but I'm sure that varies with climate. It has a light fragrance that intensifies pleasingly with volume.

The first several years I deadheaded and pruned it regularly. With this treatment it grew to maybe 3 feet by 3 feet. Having heard it can grow much larger I decided not to prune it for a year. Then I just shaped it very lightly and let it grow under that treatment a couple more years. It ended up about 7 feet by 7 feet. I think it could grow even larger, but the weight of the flowering might start to break canes. Maybe not, if they could rest on the ground. You will see from my picture below that mine was elevated and long arching canes were not supported on one side.

This year I decided it had grown far too big and unwieldy so I took it down hard. I think it will now be somewhere in the range of 4x4 or 5x5, something much more manageable for the location. At least, that is my intention.

This is what it looks like in full bloom, lightly pruned. It is around 6x6 at this point.

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And here is what it looks like right now after a heavier pruning than I have done in about six or more years. Please excuse the out-of-focus look of the photograph. We are having a foggy morning today and I could not get sharp focus.

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I think you could contain it to the smaller size with regular work but it will be happier approaching closer to the larger end of its size range. Watch out, though. It has particularly vicious thorns, so don't put it where it can snag the unwary passerby.

Folly

Beautiful Rosefolly! I'll bet that smells incredible when in full explosion like that! Kim

Thank you all for the info. Rosefolly you have a very nice hedge there. What's the distance between the bushes?
Nik

Nik - here is a picture of an old neglected bush growing in our neighborhood. Despite no care, it blooms in flushes all year. This pic is when it was past the height of bloom for this flush. I would guess this one is about 8 ft tall by 6 ft wide.

There is another one growing in our neighborhood - it was lightly shaped every year, and bloomed hugely. The house changed hands, and it was hard pruned - not only hard, but by someone who only knew how to prune hybrid teas (left only 4 main canes). It sulked, and I did not see it bloom again for about 3 years, until it recovered most of its size.

Rosefolly - please let us know how your hedge reacts to hard pruning (although of course you did it correctly).

Nik - I agree with you - it took me years to figure out that the info coming out of the UK regarding the size of any rose needed to be at least doubled before it would be meaningful in my garden. I was intimidated by the undoubted expertise of the rose folks in the UK, and the fact that, at least at that time, they did not qualify their opinions - they were just stated as fact.

Jackie

I forgot to mention that, as you can see, PdO is healthy here, even with no care at all. I love it.

Jackie

Thank you, Kim. You always have such nice things to say.

Nik, they are planted about 3 feet apart, in two sets of 4 each with a stairway emerging between them. If I had it to do over again, I would keep the same spacing apart but have just 3 in each set. If I don't keep after them, they interfere with access to the stairway.

Jackie, I am not sure how they will do with such hard pruning, but I remain hopeful. In any case, it had become necessary. Not only were the plants too big for the location, but also after years of being treated as a hedge they had built up a lot of dead material in the center. Now that has all been cleared.

Folly

I have to qualify my opinion about Perle d'Or, rosefolly. As a hedge yours looks gorgeous.

Ingrid

You're welcome, Folly, but they ARE gorgeous! I love that enormous old plant you posted the photo of, Jackie. These things can be amazing if we'd just leave them alone. Kim

The Sacramento Historic Rose garden has HUGE Perle d'Ors. Perhaps 8x12 feet when left alone and allowed to grow with no pruning.
One year we hard pruned a couple and they came back fine. Gregg Lowery cut back 4 huge Perle d'Ors and transplanted them and they did well in their new location.

I live in a somewhat "mild" climate. I had mine for years, many years, before she ever flourished, and it took moving it from its original location to another, but they are now beautiful plants. I had them interspersed with Marie Pavie's but all my Marie's died in a late freeze a few years ago. I loved them growing together and their altered blooming pattern and wonderful smell.