Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin': a fabulously scented thornless climbing rose
When we are designing gardens we tend to find that roses can often be rather devisive for our customers. Some people absolutely love them and can’t imagine an English garden without them, whilst others may be able to appreciate them but prefer to steer clear when it comes to their own gardens.
For the customers who tell us they don’t want roses, the two most common reasons given are dislike of thorns and concerns about complicated pruning. This is always such a shame, because a well-chosen rose can provide fantastic colour, fragrance and textural contrast whilst offering a wonderful sense of sophistication to any garden.
Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ is a vigorous climbing rose with intoxicatingly fragranced deep pink flowers. It produces a glorious floral display throughout late May and summer and will happily cover a wall, fence or screen if given appropriate support. It loves full sun but can also cope with partial shade. It will grow in pretty much any aspect any soil providing it is well-drained and is sufficiently hardy for British winters.
Best of all, however, R. ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ is THORNLESS, so it is absolutely perfect for growing near gates, doors and paths. From a garden design point of view, we really like to use R. ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ where it’s delicious fragrance is going to be best enjoyed. It's just brilliant next to a seating area.
Traditionally grown as a climbing rose, R. ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ can also be grown as a shrub rose if preferred. There are different pruning methods for different types of roses (the RHS has an excellent guide to pruning roses on their website) but, in reality, pruning should be pretty simple providing we are clear about what we are trying to achieve. Pruning to size and shape, for example, is different to pruning to reinvigorate a plant. The key thing is to use a clean and sharp pair of secateurs (so as to try to reduce the risk of disease), to begin by removing any obviously dead, damaged or diseased stems or shoots and then to try to be confident rather than timid.
So, if you love roses and great fragrance this is a real ‘must have’ to add to your collection. For those of you who are nervous of roses we’d encourage you to give R. ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ a try…we are sure you won’t be disappointed (and remember, it doesn't have any thorns!).
Tythorne Garden Design provides professional fixed-fee garden design solutions for customers in Grantham, Stamford, Newark and surrounding areas. Let's see how we can help you to enjoy your garden more. Call us on 07900 224 239 or 01529 455 355.