Rosa Marie Pavie

The 'Marie Pavie' Rose is one of the best old-fashioned polyantha roses. Not very tall, but dense and always blooming, it can become a beautiful bush offering delicate bouquets of charming small double flowers, which open in a very pale pink, then turning creamy white, with crumpled silk petals surrounding a heart of golden stamens. Its flowers exude a delicious anise scent, which hovers above impeccable foliage, free from diseases. With its rounded habit and tender flowering, it is easy to associate, at ease in all gardens. It is also a small  hardy and easy-to-grow bush in the sun, in ordinary soil.

Rosa 'Marie Pavie' is part of the varieties developed by the Lyon rose grower Allégatière in 1888, originally resulting from hybridizations between R. multiflora and R. chinensis. It forms a small bush of 70cm (27.6in) to 1.50m (4ft 11in) in height, with a width of 50cm (19.7in) to 1.20m (3ft 11in), very branched, vigorous but flexible and covered with very healthy, slightly shiny dark green foliage. It proves to be highly resistant to rose diseases, and its branches bear almost no thorns. Its flowering is remarkably long, lasting for 5 to 6 months, it is in bloom. This bush renews in successive waves throughout the summer, its double corollas of 4cm (1.6in) in diameter, gathered in terminal clusters. The tightly closed buds open into turbinate flowers, then give way to roses with aniseed scents with a slightly more relaxed appearance. The colour of the flowers is a flesh pink nested in the predominantly very pale flesh pink flower, then a creamy white before deflowering.

Polyantha hybrid roses allow for beautiful small hedges, planted mixed at the edge of the terrace or in small shrub beds. Combine them with Abelias, Nandinas, or Caryopteris for example. They are good companions for panicle phlox and tall Gypsophila. The modest size and fragrance of the roses of 'Marie Pavie' make it an interesting variety for growing in large pots near the house, with appropriate fertilizer and watering. Smooth and undemanding, this rose will thrive in the sun, partial shade, or even shade.