Rosa Guirlande d'Amour - Climbing or Shrub Rose

Rose 'Guirlande d'Amour' is a recent and very floriferous creation that combines many qualities. This large, robust, and repeat flowering rose can be trained as a climber or grown as a beautiful shrub in an informal hedge. Its exuberant and branching growth produces long and flexible branches that can reach 3 metres (10 feet) or more. In summer, it forms a mass of flowers from the base, covered in long bunches of small white roses with yellow centres, semi-double and highly fragrant. It then blooms again in autumn, until the first frosts. This splendid variety also demonstrates excellent health, which is reflected in its particularly vigorous foliage.

This exceptional large rose is a creation by Lens dating back to 1993, awarded in 2012 in Germany under the ADR label, where the criteria for vigour, abundant flowers and disease resistance are particularly demanding. It easily reaches 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 feet) in height with a spread of 1.50 to 2 metres (5 to 7 feet). Its long stems are covered in abundant and very healthy medium green foliage. The cream-white flowers of this perpetual variety form abundantly, first in June-July and then in September-October, sometimes until November if the autumn is mild. Gathered in long pyramidal clusters, they are also particularly resistant to rain. They emerge from short shoots of the second year as pale pink buds and open into small semi-double roses measuring 3 cm (1in) in diameter, gathered in long bunches along the flexible stems.  Simple, and charming, they are surrounded by a gentle musky fragrance. The small fruits, which birds enjoy during the winter, are actually fleshy false fruits called hips. They contain a large quantity of a single-seeded achenes.

'Guirlande d'Amour' is an enchanting, generous, and adorable rose, whose name alone is enough to invite it into the garden. It lives up to its promises, to the point that its flowering cannot be forgotten. Like other climbers, it is incomparable for adorning walls, fences, and small pergolas, but its moderate growth also allows it to thrive without support in a flowering hedge alongside a vigorous clematis like 'Montana' or 'Prince Charles', to gracefully spread out on a lawn, or to be planted behind overly formal borders. It is an ideal companion for reviving dead trees or adding charm to sheds. Trained on an arch or planted in a large pot on the patio, it will create a romantic and fragrant display.