Rosa Bernadette Lafont - Hybrid Tea Rose

The Bush Rose 'Bernadette Lafont' (Sauvachild), as feminine and sparkling as the eponymous actress, is a hybrid tea variety with a perpetual flowering that combines the charm of old roses with the disease resistance of modern roses. On a modest stature bush, large double flowers of a lively and fresh pink succeed each other, imprisoning an intense fruity fragrance in their multiple petals. It will be perfect in a small romantic bed, and its roses allow for charming bouquets. 

The 'Bernadette Lafont' Rose, obtained by Sauvageot, won the Perfume Prize at Bagatelle in 2004. It forms a bush that is not very tall but is well ramified and measures about 80 cm (32in) in height and 60 cm (24in) in width at maturity. Its growth is rapid. Its flowers are double, almost spherical, 10 cm (4in) wide, composed of 60 tight petals, opening in quarters like old roses. They exhale an intense rose fragrance with fruity notes and are long-lasting in a vase. The branches, with small prickles, bear very healthy, glossy, dark green foliage. Its disease resistance is excellent. The flowers are solitary, carried by solid, long stems. The foliage, deciduous, falls in autumn.

With its coquettish and deliciously scented flowering, this Bernadette Lafont large-flowered rose deserves an equally graceful setting and a place not far from the house. Some light-flowering perennial plants (Autumn Asters, foxgloves, penstemons), and grasses are ideal for enhancing its beauty and accompanying it late in the season. Combine it with Rozanne geraniums, Pink Penny, Nepeta Walker's Low and blue or white campanulas. It will look good as a solitary plant in a large pot on your terrace or balcony. Its flowers make very sumptuous bouquets in the company of peonies and white lilacs.