Marin Rose Society - Rose of the Month

Blanc Double de Coubert
Rose of the Month For June, 2008
by Barbara Picarelli

I am fortunate to have many roses blooming in my garden right now and this is one of them. At present this rose is in a pot, but eventually it will find a home of its own on the hill, in the white bed. I photographed this in the evening after both a rain and wind, so not at it’s very best.

This is another older rose, actually named after the home village of the raiser, and was initially produced in 1892. This is a semi-double rose of the nicest, softest looking petals and a very white white with blooms opening flat and lovely yellow orange stamens. It is a prolific bloomer, the blooms themselves being about 3-4 inches across. Foliage is dark, leathery, sort of wrinkled and full of prickles. I chose this rose because of the intense fragrance, and repeat blooming.

Parentage is questionable as the raiser, Cochet-Cochet of France, declares it to be a cross of a pollen parent of ‘Sombreuil’, but most rose experts consider it to be of R. rugosa alba. Either way, it does grow to a fairly large size of 5 x 4 feet, (or more) so it will definitely have to have a new home in the next planting season. Oddly, it was given an award of Garden Merit in 1993 by the Royal Horticultural Society. I suppose it took them 100 years to decide if it would perform well. This rose is still easily available at most Garden centers, and through Vintage Gardens.

Previous Roses of the Month