Eric, you probably need a Gruss an Aachen AND a Pink Gruss an Aachen. PGaA remains my favorite rose of all. If I could only grow one rose, PGaA would be the one. Patty, some of the time my RdV blooms in pinkish blends too. I never know when to expect these incredible purple blooms to show up, but when I least expect it, there they are. I love this rose when its blooms are pinkish or purple, but the purple are a special treat. I agree with you that the scent is awesome. I just refer to it as "old rose fragrance", because I'm not good at describing them either. Hamp, I hear you about the clematis ... I'm sold on them now. Everyday, I watch the buds on HF Young get bigger and bigger and bigger. The buds on that thing are huge! Yes, 'Thomas Affleck' is a very fine shrub rose. His bloom color can be a little startling during the cool months, but he's a keeper, and softens in color very nicely in hotter weather. Lindy, RdV is a rock star in the garden when she's in bloom. Randy

I think the single, most beautiful display I've ever seen on any rose may have been years ago, on a 'Reine des Violettes" that we pegged, nearly flat to the ground, with just enough arch to prevent the canes' snapping. It was astonishing when it flowered. Hundreds of closely-packed flowers. On the other hand, we've never done it again, because after that flower flush, the structure of the plant was a mess, and we pruned at it for a long time to make it "normal" again. And it was a lot of work to peg it in the first place. Nowadays, we grow it as an untrained, unsupported bush, which easily reaches 6-7' tall by nearly as wide in a season. We do prune it fairly hard, especially for height, in the spring. We get a major bloom flush in the spring, then a few flowers here and there all summer, then another heftier flush in the fall. It then continues with a few flowers through the winter, until we prune, usually late February or early March. (this is in Lakeland Florida) Malcolm

Need some advice please for antiques! We're having 30 mile winds again but over 40 mile gusts. RdV and MadameIP are really getting beat up by the wind and their heavy buds are being banged around. Since these are my first blooms, I don't know what will happen if I cut the blooms only partially opened to lessen the weight on the branches. Some varieties I can cut a heavy barely opened bud and it goes on to bloom in the vase and others just sit there and rot in the center. Which way do these girls behave? Thanks!

That did occur to me also, Christopher. But the description was written by Charles Lemaire, an eminent botanist, who vouches that the illustration is an accurate depiction of the rose. That same illustration is then referred to in the same German publication that says the rose has a red center and no thorns. I think that's weird, but I also think it points to the primary source as being considered reputable. And it seems unlikely to me that the description and illustration would be published without feedback/ correction from the breeder, given that this was a cultivar being advertised for sale for the first time. And the publisher of L'Illustration horticole was also selling the rose- introducing it in Belgium. If you can find a retraction or correction, that would indeed be of interest. But assuming that you doubt the original description, the question is: does the modern version of RdV have a red or crimson center? No- so far as I can see, it has a white or whitish center. So either you go with the very first description and illustration introducing a red-thorned 'RdV' to the world, or you go with the thornless rose with the red or crimson center. Neither of these early descriptions quite fit what is in commerce today. At this point, I'm mostly curious about why RdV disappeared to the point that her absence was lamented in the 1904 Journal des Roses, but she is now one of the more famous of the old rose cultivars. I think it is a false assumption that RdV has been popular and available continuously since her introduction in 1860. I want to search American catalogs (or any catalogs, but I seem to mostly only have access to American ones via the Biodiversity Heritage Library) to see who carried it and when. I know that Peter Henderson Nursery of NYC carried RdV from 1872-1880 (and possibly before, but the earliest catalog I find is 1872). Her absence from other catalogs is remarkable. She is also listed in the 1880 Baudriller catalogue (Angers, France). I'm hoping to get a better feel for who liked her, who sold her, did she really disappear and- if so- when did her 20th C. revival begin, and who began it? If anyone knows of a free online source for old British/European nursery catalogs, I'd appreciate a heads up. Virginia