fair bianca

14 years ago

Hi - after a fair amount of research, I decided to give the Austin rose Fair Bianca a try in my garden. It sounds perfect - can handle a little shade (the site should get 5-6 hours sun, but much of it is early then dappled later in the day), isn't too big, is fragrant, white and blooms continually (or reblooms). It also has a nice cabbage-y shaped flower.

Unfortunately, I'm now having a hard time finding it! I finally did find that Miller's has it available, but it gets pretty mixed reviews as a source... Anyone know of a really reputable nursery that has it, or why it might be so hard to come by?

Thanks,

Lisa

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Comments (8)

buford
14 years ago
I got mine direct from Austin and it's a nice plant. It is grafted. If you want own root, try Chamblees or Roses Unlimited.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
13 years ago
You do not want Fair Bianca own root. It's not a good grower even grafted (it isn't Mighty Mouse, just regular mouse)
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Hi - I got mine from Hortico several years ago. I just saw it listed from Peter Schneider under the Custom Propagation section. http://www.combinedroselist.com/freedom-gardens.html I know that Palatine Roses in Canada offered Fair Bianca a few weeks ago when it had a special sale of discontinued David Austin roses. You might contact them to find out when their next sale is. I believe their FB is grafted on multiflora rootstock which does well for me in 9b. Ann
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My FB has been a frail little thing and I cut it to the ground in preparation for taking it out. That was just the ticket for it, and it sent out stronger new canes and bloomed more than it had ever done in the past. It apparently loves being pruned hard in my climate. I assume mine is grafted but I'm not sure - bought it commercially at a local nursery many years ago before I knew about such things! I do like this rose very much. Sweet little cupped flowers. Anita
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I think David Austin's best white has to be ROSE-MARIE, the white sport of HERITAGE. It is a good bloomer, vigorous, and forms a graceful shrub. The vase life of the bloom is shorter and the color is more of a creamy white, but still a very beautiful bloom. BTW, if you are going to get any vase life out of the rose you must cut the bloom while it is still in bud. Don't worry if the bud hasn't cracked yet. As long as one or two sepals are down you should be fine. I didn't like GLAMIS CASTLE because the myrrh fragrance was obnoxious (the blooms also shatter easily). As you folks have guessed "myrrh" can vary quite a bit. With Fair Bianca the fragrance is acceptable because of a subtle vanilla-like base note, which is why the rose marries so well with the annual Heliotrope. Tamora has a delicious myrrh fragrance because of a fruity top note. CLAIR AUSTIN is the hot new English white right now but I haven't had a chance to grow it yet. I'm dying to try BOULE DE NEIGE, a white Bourbon hybridized by Francois Lacharme in 1867. I have its pinkish-white sister COQUETTE DES BLANCHES growing in my mother's zone 7b garden and it is an exceptionally beautiful plant. The blooms are small but are blessed with perfect OGR flower form and appear in lovely sprays on a graceful (and healthy) shrub. CdB has a very strong, sweet fragrance that must be smelled to be believed. Of course no white rose can compare in beauty to the classic Damask MADAME HARDY (1832). I've searched my whole life as a rosarian for a repeat blooming substitute and have yet to find it. That is why I like Fair Bianca so much. The bloom is similar. Alas the fragrance isn't as fine, the chartreuse button eye doesn't have as much visual punch as Mme. Hardy's emerald green pip, and the plant ... well it's a joke to even try comparing the two for vigor and graceful growth habit. SOMBREUIL is a gorgeous white climber but the blooms are more of a flattened rosette verses Mme. Hardy's silky white quartered perfection. Sigh...
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I will try to answer all of your questions. totoro, I have not had a problem with Blackspot, but we do spray fungicides. Here in our overly humid climate, we would not have any leaves if we didn't Lisa Adams, Thanks for your kind words. Yes my Fair Bianca is in a container. Last spring I ordered two more own root plants of Fair Bianca from Roses Unlimited and they are in a 3 gallon pot and are doing fantastically well. I would not try to grow it in my roses beds because it stays so small. Monarda, I said it is hard to grow but not because it dies suddenly. It's just that is does not grow much and I don't get alot of new basils to keep it going. After a few years, it becomes a "one can wonder" but it still blooms. jo_pyeweed, I have had some bushes of Fair Bianca grafted and some on own roots. Last spring I ordered two more own root plants of Fair Bianca from Roses Unlimited and they are in a 3 gallon pot and are doing fantastically well, probably better than the grafted ones every did. Thanks to all who have posted such wonderful compliments. Suebelle
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lisahloo
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi - mad gallica, thanks - you replied to this over in NE gardening too. I'm going to post the same question about other options as I posted there, so it may seem familiar! :-)

Hmmm, I did all this reading and found all good things about Fair Bianca, now am suddenly reading (here and elsewhere) not so great things about Fair Bianca. Ugh.

What I'd like is a fairly compact rose with a good, strong fragrance for my front steps. It needs to have some shade tolerance. I'd prefer white, but a light pink might be ok too. My favorite roses have that cabbage rose style flower, but I like other old garden looks too (don't really love the HT pointy florist type rose flower). I'd like one with a continual or strong repeat bloom too.

I know, I'm not asking much, am I? :-) Any suggestions??
yellowrose10
13 years ago
how do you grow this rose in arizona?
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
13 years ago
I know, I'm not asking much, am I? :-) Any suggestions??

I don't know how it would hold up in your challenging climate, but the 2004 version of 'Bolero' is a wonderful small white with a powerful citrus-rose fragrance. A winner here, far better than 'Fair Bianca'.

{{gwi:271642}}

yellowrose10, where in AZ? Tucson has much different conditions than Sedona or Flagstaff.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
13 years ago
Another possibility for you lisahloo, is maybe 'White Pet', aka 'Little White Pet', a polyantha with small white fragrant flowers that stays compact and blooms a lot. Again, I don't know how cold-hardy and disease resistant it will be in your zone, but it may perhaps be better for you than a modern rose...
lisahloo
Original Author
13 years ago
Oooh - thank you!!! Bolero might be a winner... certainly something to do more research on. White pet looks pretty good too.

I was just about to ditch my search for white and go with Jude the Obscure (which I now have to have, but may just have to go elsewhere!)....

Thanks! If anyone else has other suggestions, I'd love to hear!
jerijen
13 years ago
What about something along the lines of Marie Pavie?

Jeri

fair bianca

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fair bianca

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buford

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