At the time when the legendary poetess Sappho in ancient Greece called the rose the queen of flowers, this plant was also safely cultivated in ancient China, India and Persia. Oil was made from rose petals, they decorated banquet halls and marriage beds, and sprinkled the path of high-ranking and royal persons. According to legend, the Earl of Lancaster brought a red rose from France, which became the emblem of his family in the early 16th century, but the concept of "French rose" appeared only in the 17th century, when a hybrid was bred, which was called La France.
The Story of the French Rose
The need for a large number of these flowers caused the appearance of numerous rose gardens in antiquity, but over time, the fashion for roses has passed. It was revived by Napoleon's wife Josephine. Her rose garden was replenished by special agents looking for new varieties in Europe and beyond.
In the flower gardenJosephine, which was founded in 1804, over 10 years of searching, more than 250 new varieties of roses appeared, the main collection of which was Rosa Gallica (French). In 1829, the rose garden already had more than 2,500 varieties, and after the death of Josephine, it did not stop replenishing with new hybrids of these flowers.
When breeders bred re-flowering plants, French rose became less popular and part of the collection was lost. But since the beginning of the 20th century, they returned to it, and a new stage of revival began.
Rose variety Cardinal de Richelieu
The rose, named after Cardinal Richelieu of France, was bred in 1840. Its dark purple double petals, when fully opened, are similar to the color of His Eminence's robes. At the beginning of flowering, they are pale pink, and as they open, they acquire a pink-lilac color, turning into purple. The maximum height of the bush is up to 140 cm, and the size of the buds is up to 8 cm.
French rose Cardinal de Richelieu is a frost-resistant variety that can withstand temperatures as low as -12 degrees. The stem is almost devoid of thorns, the leaves are saturated green. The bud consists of petals tightly adjacent to each other, which open gradually, day after day, until the flower is completely crumbled. It has a sweet aroma and abundant flowering. It continues for several weeks once a year.
This French rose does not tolerate heat and sunlight, so it is best to plant it where it will be in the shade during the midday heat. Shadowpart of the garden is also not suitable for her, since there she will not fully open up.
French Rose Charles de Mills
This variety of roses was bred in Denmark in 1790 and belongs to the bush varieties of the plant. Rose Charles de Mills is loved by gardeners for its large and fragrant flowers. They can be up to 15 cm in diameter and have a strong fragrance.
This variety is easy to grow, hardy, virtually immune to black spot, powdery mildew resistant, hardy and does well in shade.
Flowering is abundant, long-lasting, once a year. The buds are collected in inflorescences of 3-5 flowers. The bush has almost no thorns and reaches a height of one and a half meters, so it should be tied up so that heavy roses do not break the stems.
Charles de Mills flowers have a unique spiral structure with amazingly symmetrically arranged petals. The buds range in color from crimson to purple, often with hints of black or purple. They do not crumble for a long time, which makes them additionally popular among rose fans.
Preparing the soil for planting a French rose
Garden roses require some care and proper soil preparation. Do not plant new bushes in place of old ones. This can be done only if you remove a layer of soil by 50-70 cm, pour a new one, fertilize it with high quality and only then plant young sprouts.
In the soil prepared for the rose garden, manure should be applied withmineral fertilizers - for 2 buckets of earth you need to add:
- rotted manure - 1 bucket;
- peat - 1 bucket;
- for clay soil - a couple of buckets of sand;
- for sandy soil - 2 buckets of clay soil;
- bone meal - 2 cups;
- superphosphate - a couple of handfuls.
All these components must be mixed well and filled with holes so that the French rose will take root and grow quickly.
For adult plants, you can prepare a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizers in a ratio of 1:2:1. If organic fertilizer is used, dry manure or bird droppings are the best option, which must be dried for several weeks, and then diluted in water in a ratio of 1:4. The mixture is infused for a couple of days, after which it can be diluted in a ratio of 1 liter of solution to 1 liter of water.
Growing roses from seeds
Planting roses with cuttings is the most common type of propagation of this plant. Amateur flower growers also know that it is possible to plant roses from seeds. Cultivation begins either with the preparation of purchased seeds, or by cutting seed pods from an adult plant.
Steps of seed preparation:
- Seeds from a bag just need to be poured into a gauze bag. If they are taken from the fruit of a rose, then it should be carefully cut and the seeds removed, separating them from the pulp, and then put into a bag.
- The seed container must be placed in a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution for 20-30 minutes, which will protect them from decay and mold in the future.
- The next step is stratification. To do this, you need to soak cotton pads in a solution of hydrogen peroxide, spread the seeds on them and cover with the same disks. After that, the seed is folded into a plastic bag and left in the refrigerator at a temperature of +4 … +5 degrees.
- Every 3-4 days, check the condition of the seeds, and if mold has appeared, they should be washed and the whole procedure should be started again. After 1.5-2 months, sprouts will sprout, which can be transplanted into separate pots or peat tablets.
- To achieve the full growth of roses from seeds, seedlings are grown under 10 hours of light. To do this, you can use fluorescent lamps.
When the soil warms up enough in spring, the sprouts can be transplanted outdoors.
Caring for roses
Rose care includes top dressing in spring and summer, pruning after flowering, shelter for the winter and reproduction. There is nothing difficult in the process of caring for these flowers.
Pruning means removing old shoots in favor of young and strong ones. To do this, not far from the growth bud, you need to make a cut with a sharp secateurs at a distance of half a centimeter with a slope from the bud. It should be cut from the outside of the branch, making sure that the cut tissue is white, not brown. If, after this manipulation, several shoots begin to grow from the kidney at once, the weak ones should be urgently removed.
This will help the plant form new he althy branches and produce beautiful and abundant blooms.
