Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' - Peace Rose - Hybrid Tea Rose

The Peace Rose, also known as Gloria Dei, is a tea rose with a rich history, inseparable from the events that preceded and followed the Second World War. This hybrid tea rose, produced by Meilland, is undoubtedly the most famous and best-selling rose in the world among all the collections of this rose breeder. It is a very hardy bush that produces large roses from summer to frost, with feminine lines, pale yellow, barely edged with pink at the opening, with the pink spreading and intensifying on the petals as the flower matures. The foliage is abundant and healthy, with a beautiful glossy dark green colour. These roses are splendid in bouquets.

The Peace Gloria Dei Rose was created in 1942 in France by Francis Meilland and then sent to the United States to be multiplied away from the conflict-shaking Europe. Saved from oblivion, it was found again in 1949, placed on the desk of each of the 49 delegations gathered in San Francisco to form the U.N. Each flower, named the Peace Rose, was accompanied by this note: "This is the 'Peace' Rose, which was named at the 'Pacific Rose Society' exhibition in Pasadena on the day Berlin fell. We hope 'Peace' will influence men for peace in the world." (Dr. RC Allen, President of the A.R.S.*). Awarded in France and then in the U.S.A., it is also the first variety to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976 by the WFRS (World Federation of Rose Societies). The offspring of this queen in the land of roses is as numerous as it is prestigious.

The bush that bears these roses shows vigorous, dense, and regular growth, forming a tall and wide bush of 80 cm (32in) to 1m (3ft), which retains all its qualities over the years. It develops long stems adorned with healthy and glossy foliage, which produce solitary flowers or clusters of 2 or 3 from June to October without interruption. The flower, 15 to 18 cm (6 to 7in) wide, very double, opens in a cup shape. It displays a magnificent golden yellow to light yellow colour, bordered with pink to carmine, depending on the flower's soil, sunlight, and age. The pink becomes more prominent as the flowering progresses.

Ideal in a small garden, the Peace Gloria Dei Rose is also perfect for use as a border. It can be paired, for example, with white or orange paniculate Phlox, as well as with the dark foliage of boxwood, Distylium (x) Blue Cascade, cotoneaster, or the tall spikes of blue and white Baptisia Starlite Prairieblues. Its cut flowers are naturally perfect in bouquets.

* A.R.S.: American Rose Society