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| I have two of the bush form and must admit that they're nothing to write home about, except for the blooms that I love so much. It occurred to me to try the climbing variety and treat it as a large shrub. I did notice that in one of the on-line nurseries it was rated as blooming less frequently than the bush. I wondered if anyone has this rose, preferably in a climate somewhat similar to mine, and what their experience has been. Ingrid |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I grew 'La France', 'Cl. La France', and the sport 'Duchess of Albany' at one time. Sadly, they all failed to impress me at all. The storied fragrance I didn't like (too citrusy; I was expecting something more Damask-y), they all proved prone to fungus fun, the bush varieties hardly grew, and the climbing variety grew lots without blooming. Possibly I would have been more pleased with growth and bloom had I given them several years more to mature; but I knew the fragrance would never change, so out they went. I hate to have this opinion about one of the most highly regarded roses and fragrances of Old Rosedom; but there it is. |
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- Posted by jill_perry z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 20:48
| I found a Cl. La France in a foothills cemetery, and we have 2 plants from it in the garden. In that cemetery it was spectacular, large and healthy. The ones in the garden are about a foot tall after about 5 years. I keep hoping sometime one of them well get happy and grow. Jill |
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- Posted by mendocino_rose z8 N CA. (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 8:57
| I planted Climbing La France this spring with the intention of growing it as a large shrub. It is 4 feet tall now. It had some disease problems in the spring that cleared up. It hasn't had a lot of blooms but I'm not going to make a final judgement on it till it's been in the ground longer. |
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| Hmm, those are not ringing endorsements, although Pam's rose shows some promise. My Duchess of Albany is a pitiful thing after three years although she has given me one or two spectacular blooms. I rather like the citrus fragrance of La France, certainly better than the beery smell of her neighbor, SdlM. Apart from some rust that cleared up, my bushes have had no disease. What I love about this rose, apart from the wonderful blooms, is that the flowers do not get smaller, lose color or crisp in my heat trap of a garden. At the moment that makes them almost unique. Nevertheless, I've decided getting the climber is too much of a gamble given my soil and climate. I really appreciate your feedback. Ingrid |
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- Posted by jacqueline3 9CA (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 14:17
| I have a background story about that rose. When we moved into what was then a 85 year old home in 1989, there was a Cl La France growing way up into the trees. It bloomed in partial shade frequently. My FIL (who had grown up in our house and was a gardener) insisted its name was "America La France", and told me the sturdy trellis (more like an open fence) that supported the bottom of it was put there because the rose had used to be supported by the old garage. They tore down that garage and built the "new garage" further back on the property in 1932. He said that the rose was already mature and climbing up the trees then, which is why they built it a support to replace the old garage. I think the name probably was a marketing device during or right after WWI. So, that would have made that rose about 70 something years old when we moved in. Unfortunately, we were complete garden ignoramoses at that time, and we killed it during the drought of the early 1990s. They had instituted strict 50 gallon per person per day water rationing that year, and we had the great idea of running all of the water from our bath/shower into a tank, and then into the garden. Stupid dummies just let it run all of the time, and most of it went on Cl la France, and it drowned. That was when I decided I really had to start paying attention to all of our old mystery roses. Luckily, it poured down rain 28 of the 28 days in Feb, which caused floods all over the county. The water district main offices were completely flooded, and they lifted the rationing, and we haven't had any since. So, what I can tell you about this rose is that it is hardy in our climate, gets very large, bloomed great up trees in partial shade, and did not like getting watered a lot 24/7. Jackie |
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| Jackie, right now I'd be deliriously happy to water anything 24/7. After seeing roses blooming with wild abandon in your garden I don't have the hope that any of them can do even a fraction as well in mine. I'll never forget your old Le Vesuve, absolutely covered with flowers. Ingrid |
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