Rosa 'The McCartney Rose' - Shrub Rose

'The McCartney Rose' is undoubtedly not the most awarded variety in Meilland's history. This rose stands out first and foremost for its intense fragrance reminiscent of the beautiful Rosa centifolia, sweet and lemony, a fragrant veil that diffuses far and wide. The flower style is resolutely modern, with an unquestionable elegance. The intense and bright colour radiates the petals with deep Indian pink, doubled with light amaranth red. This variety forms a beautiful bush, flowering almost continuously for 4 to 5 months and adorned with well-furnished, particularly decorative foliage. All these qualities justify an impressive list of awards, guaranteeing a formidable presence in the garden.

'The McCartney Rose' or 'Meizeli' is a modern shrub rose related to Tea hybrid roses, introduced in France in 1988 by Meilland. The list of awards obtained by this rose is long and prestigious: we can mention gold medals in Monza, Geneva, The Hague, and Le Roeulx..., as well as high distinctions for its fragrance. This beautiful bush with a bushy and erect habit reaches about 1m (3ft), 10cm (4in) in height, and 70cm (28in) in width at maturity, with moderate growth, but can reach a height of 1m (3ft) 80cm (32in) in good conditions and with long pruning in late winter. It produces strong branches, which carry elegant, semi-matte, dark green foliage, sometimes sensitive to marsonia in humid climates. Throughout the summer, with beautiful regularity, if faded flowers are removed, its large flowers, typical of hybrid teas, composed of 20 to 25 petals, measuring 12cm (5in) in diameter, open majestically. They are solitary, carried at the end of long shoots from the current year or emerging from 2-year-old stems. While they hold up well on the bush, these roses are somewhat disappointing in a vase.

This modern rose, 'The McCartney Rose', with its fragrance, the chic appearance of its flowers and its beautiful floribundity, is ideal in a large rose bed or as a solitary plant in a well-tended garden. It adapts to all soils that are not too dry and all climates, tolerating both rain and heat, which allows it to be planted anywhere, even at medium altitudes. It pairs perfectly with pale pink roses like 'Prince Jardinier', white roses like 'Fée des neiges', or purple roses like 'Papa Meilland', 'Edith Piaf', and pretty easy-to-grow perennials like 'Biokovo', 'Sanne', or 'White zigana' geraniums, campanulas (lactiflora, rapunculoides), catmints, snapdragons, foxgloves...