Mme Legras de St. Germain

I'm still not finished with my rose blogposts, let alone my roses. In my opinion, if you're tired of roses you must be tired of life!

At this stage my all-time favourites finally come into bloom. These roses are the highlight of all my roses, and they are blessed with a very aristocratic name: Mme Legras de St. Germain. I've tried to Google the name to find out more about the lady concerned but the only posts I've found so far are about this rose. This rose is an Alba rose, a genius described in Peter Beales' book Classic Roses (a must have!!) as: "They are a beautiful and intrepid group, going far back in time, and although there is some uncertainty about their origins and the early parentage of the original form, some cultivars certainly existed in medieval times".

How wonderful to have such antques in our very own garden. The name Alba already gives a hint at the colours of the group. Although they are not all white, they are restricted to very pastel tints.

Peter says of Mme Legras de St. Germain: "A relatively thornless rose. Medium sized, very double, creamy-white flowers produced in large clusters, highly scented". And he's not wrong. The smell of this rose can only be described as heavenly and I just wish I could bottle it. I would open the bottle on dark, cold winter nights and I'm sure the smell would transport me back to a beautiful summer day immediately.

This rose is also a perfect illustration of the following poem:

The red rose whispers of passion,

And the white rose breathes of love;

O the red rose is a falcon,

And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud

With a flush on its petal tips;

For the love that is purest and sweetest

Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

(J. B. O'Reilly. A White Rose)