A Walk Through The Garden, 2008

'Capitaine John Ingram'

Moss, 1854, Laffay

I received this rose as a sucker in 2006. M. le capitaine sulked for quite some time after being planted in my garden, growing again only after a couple of months. Over the winter, the longish canes that he came with died back; only the canes he grew since he arrived survived. As a result, I didn't have that much hope for him in 2007.

I shouldn't have worried. Though he started a bit slowly, M. le capitaine soon grew both plentiful leaves and plentiful new canes. Then came buds; not very heavily mossed, but large, round, beautifully dark and smelling of balsam and clove. By 26 May, the sepals began to fold back and the flowers to open; so I'm looking forward to a wonderful week with this grand old rose.

When the flowers finally opened, I found I had a remarkably lovely rose on my hands. The petals ranged from a true crimson to mauve, with a depth of color it is impossible to capture in a photograph. There is also a light but fine fragrance.

This has turned out to be, alas, another rose which tends to have its older canes snapped of during the winter. Over the last winter I lost about 2/3 of the plant, and I wonder if the high winds of winter did most of the damage. Next winter I'll try staking him and see if that helps.

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