Rosa x pimpinellifolia 'Sir Walter Scott' - English Rose

The 'Sir Walter Scott Rose' is a brand new English rose following in the footsteps of Stanwell Perpetual, cultivating the duality of its origins with undeniable talent. It has inherited from its first parent an extreme resistance to diseases and remarkable undemanding nature, and from the second, an old-fashioned rose, a well-perpetual flowering, in bouquets of small rosettes in the old style, semi-double and nicely scented. Their slightly tousled shape is accompanied by a rose colour of intense freshness, fading to a soft pink over time. This dense and bushy rose, dressed in delicate and graceful foliage, will be remarkable in a defensive hedge to which it will bring a lot of charm. Tolerating difficult situations quite well, its only requirement is to be planted in a well-draining, even poor, soil.

This modest-sized rose forms a dense and bushy bush, 1m (3ft) high by 75cm (30in) wide. Its growth is moderately fast but vigorous, as is often the case for roses in the Pimpinellifolia (spinosissima) group, and its very thorny stems are covered with finely cut, deep green foliage with toothed edges, completely immune to diseases. On this well-perpetual bush from June until autumn, bright pink buds are accompanied by small semi-double to double flowers shaped like 5-6cm (2in) rosettes with numerous pointed petals arranged around a small central eye and grouped in small clusters at the end of young branches. They are a pure and very fresh pink, more intense at the beginning of flowering, with the centre of the flower fading as the hours go by. They emit a strong fragrance of old roses.

If the passion for botanical roses and their direct hybrids is not widespread, it is fully justified, especially in poor soils or under difficult climates: these roses are not only the parents of our modern roses but also generally more robust and reliable. The Sir Walter Scott rose, a superb descendant of Rosa pimpinellifolia, is a rugged and romantic bush, truly undemanding, a unique rose that will be particularly appreciated by unlucky gardeners who constantly struggle with poor, sandy or stony soil. It will be useful in a bocage or defensive hedge, as it forms a thorny mass that is difficult to cross. Its location should be carefully chosen, at the front of a bed, to enjoy the fragrance of its roses. It looks beautiful in front of a mass of tall asters (Aster laevis, Aster turbinellus, Kalimeris mongolica, Solidaster), pastel daylilies, or accompanied by stalks loaded with white or pink lilies. Depending on the nature of the soil (more or less limestone or acidic), it can also be accompanied by arborescent heathers, Darley heathers, or heathers. Finally, it is a very hardy, low-maintenance shrub; once established, it is resistant to drought.