Rosa Ferdinand Pichard

The 'Ferdinand Pichard' old rose is a variety that is renowned for its variegated roses. On a robust and vigorous bush, double flowers with medium size, globular and hollow cups, well perfumed, shiny and variegated, in pale pink randomly streaked with carmine and purple and striped with white, bloom. They open on vegetation with abundant, rather dark, glossy, and very healthy foliage. The reblooming is more or less pronounced depending on the climate. This strong rose is hardy and easy to grow, even in hot climates, which makes it a perfect candidate for flowering hedgerows.

The 'Ferdinand Pichard' rose is an old horticultural hybrid, obtained in 1921 by Tanne. This bush with a bushy and erect habit can reach about 1.50m (4ft 11in) in height and 1.20m (3ft 11in) in width. Its deciduous foliage is carried by sturdy stems. Its colour is rather dark green, with a shiny appearance, and has a good resistance to diseases : to blackspot, rust, and powdery mildew. It blooms abundantly in May-June, then again in September-October, even when autumn is cold. Rounded buds with purple nuances open into double flowers, about 7cm (2.8 n) wide, formed by 20 to 39 petals, very large, more or less variegated with red-pink-fuchsia and white. The flowering will be more generous if the stems are carefully bent, which will also give it a cascading flowered look and allow it to produce strong shoots in its center. The fragrance of its roses is medium to strong, pleasant, with fruity notes.

The 'Ferdinand Pichard' rose has multiple uses, and its ease of cultivation should allow it to thrive in all gardens. Its unique and cheerful roses contribute to the exuberance of summer-flowering shrub borders, landscape hedges, mixed with buddleias, Abelias, Ceanothus, or Deutzias. It also deserves to be planted in scented gardens.

If you have enough space, English, Old, or Shrub Roses are magnificent when planted in groups of three. They will grow together to form 'one' opulent bush that will bloom even more generously.