Rosa 'Jean de la Fontaine' - Shrub Rose

The Rose 'Jean de la Fontaine', dedicated to the famous fabulist of the same name, is one of Meilland's fantastic creations that combines the unique charm of old roses with the qualities of modern roses. Its large flower in shades of pink and apricot captures in its numerous petals an exceptional fragrance. The bush, with its regular vegetation, is adorned with particularly healthy foliage, a spring green, and it flowers until the first frosts. Remarkable in the garden, its roses make intensely romantic bouquets, alone or accompanied by lilies and peonies, for example.

'Jean de la Fontaine' or 'Meiffable' is a modern bush rose with large flowers introduced by Meilland in 2021. This seductive creation received the Certificate of Merit and Perfume Award in Le Roeulx, Belgium, as early as 2019. It is a small bushy and harmonious shrub, rather upright, which reaches about 60-70 cm (24-28in) in height and 50 cm (20in) in spread at maturity. It grows rapidly. It produces strong, thorny and well-branched branches, which bear elegant foliage, a semi-matte grass green, very disease-resistant until late in the season. Its young shoots are slightly tinged with bronze. From June to October, if faded flowers are removed and the soil does not dry out too much, the plant produces successive waves of beautiful 11 cm (4in) diameter flowers, with 50 petals, arranged in crumpled and irregular quarters. Their colour, a bright light pink on the periphery, is warmed by salmon and apricot shades in the centre. They are generally solitary, sometimes grouped in small bouquets of 2 to 3 units. Their fragrance is pronounced, more or less perceptible depending on the time of day and the weather conditions. The deciduous foliage is absent in winter.

This is what Meilland says about the exceptional fragrance of this rose : "Named in May 2021 in Château-Thierry on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the birth of the fabulist writer, this rose has irresistibly seduced perfumers who describe it as follows: 'This rose offers us floral scents of honeyed rose combined with cyclamen, a cloud of creamy violet and punctuated by a lemony start. This accord evokes the cosmetic care of a voluptuous night cream'."

'Jean de la Fontaine' is a rose ideal for English-style borders and romantic bouquets. It can be planted alone among low perennials such as asters, perennial geraniums, or catmints, for example: they will conceal its slightly bare base after a few years. With its modest size, it is suitable for container cultivation and is ideal for planting in groups of 3 plants. It blends well in borders of low shrubs with summer or autumn flowering, or mixed with annuals such as poppies and love-in-a-mist, for example. In an Italian or French garden, it can be showcased in front of a boxwood or yew screen or surrounded by a miniature hedge.