My original Madame came with the house (5 years ago), a huge old plant planted alongside a treated pine arbour. At first she was a sickly, rusty thing but when I walked out one mornoing to find the whole garden saturated with the scent of just one open bloom, I had to keep her and have since bought her a sister which I planted against another pillar. the canes grow very tall, so I either tie them up to the wire of the arbour or cut them. Ideally you should peg them out, but I dont have space for that, so I just chop off whatever looks awkward. It's not a pretty plant, inheriting ugly canes from its damask parents and sprawling dendancies from the Chinas, but the blooms make up for it. Now that I have improved the sandy soil with bentonite (cat litter) and have been giving more regular organic fertiliser, the foliage is looking really good and she is putting out new canes left-right and centre. I would give yours a good thick mulching with lupin mulch or sillilar and a drench with sea-weed tonic (not a fertiliser) to promote new canes from the base. Then, if you can, peg them out along the ground. Don't try and keep the stiunted old canes living. It seems to go better when you cut them off after theyre spent (as you have) and alow them to be replaced from the base. But thats just my experience. This may help. http://www.vintagerosery.com/roses/madameisaacpereire_.htm

I grow both Maggie and Madame Isaac Perrier. Based on your photo and your description of the roses rebloom cycle, I believe that it is Maggie. It also appears to have loose petal formation which the Maggie I grow also has. The MIP has the more stuffed petal look if that makes any sense. MIP in my yard is also a deeper rose color. If you post a whole bush shot and perhaps a close up pic of the leaves it would be easier to know for sure. Hope that helps. Jeannie

Hi Adam, Could I ask how old your Mutabilis is? Does it need shade at all or would it be happy in full sun? A friend has just given me a cutting of her Mutabilis - at this stage it's tiny (in a 14cm pot) but I was wondering where I should plant her. I have one part of the garden that receives quite a lot of shade from a very old oak tree planted to the South of it (but along the roadside so it's beyond anyone's control). Also, if 8 x 8 feet is the dimension it reaches in the UK I wonder how big it will grow here in sunny Italy? Cheers Tricia

@fragrancenutter, how's your MIP doing now as far as repeat? My own-root plant is in it's second season in a container. It hasn't put on much new growth at all, but it did put out a very nice first flush this spring. It defoliated, and got ravaged by japanese beetles. Now starting to grow back its leaves. There have been no new canes though for some reason :-/