Rose Friedenslicht

Modern Shrub rose 'Friedenslicht' with softly nostalgic flowers that open warm creamy apricot and gradually become luminous cream-white to white. They are medium-sized, full and carried on a vigorous yet graceful shrub whose canes tend to curve outward in a graceful arching manner, giving an established plant a relaxed, romantic outline. Its petals are notably firm and weather-resistant, while the foliage has been selected for a high degree of resistance to the principal fungal diseases of garden roses. A light, pleasant fragrance accompanies a long season of recurrent bloom. Introduced by Rosen Tantau in 2015, it combines ornamental refinement with an unusually explicit commemorative association with peace and remembrance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

Rose 'Friedenslicht' forms a substantial plant which produces in abundance a stunning display of the colour progression from cream-apricot to white. The buds and newly opening flowers contain a distinct creamy-apricot warmth, particularly toward the centre, while the expanded flower becomes progressively paler until the shrub appears predominantly cream-white or bright white. Weather influences the degree of visible apricot, so cooler or less intense conditions may preserve warm tones longer, whereas mature flowers in bright weather can appear almost pure white. This gives a flowering plant more depth than a uniformly white cultivar: newly opened warm-toned blooms, intermediate cream flowers and older white rosettes may occur together.

The flower style belongs to the modern “nostalgic” aesthetic: relatively compact, full flowers with an old-rose impression. Nevertheless, the plant itself is distinctly modern in its recurrent flowering, comparatively strong foliage health, rain tolerance and suitability for landscape use. Tantau recommends it for groups, informal hedges and solitary planting; it blends naturally in mixed borders and at the back of perennial plantings. Its combination of soft colour, arching growth and disease resistance makes it especially useful where the appearance of an old-fashioned rose is desired without the once-flowering habit or comparatively demanding disease management associated with many historical cultivars.

FLOWERING

Variety 'Friedenslicht' is repeat-flowering, in temperate European and British climates it is generally flowers in recurrent flushes from approximately June into October, or until first autumn frosts. The first substantial early-summer display is followed by renewed flowering on fresh lateral growth. Regular removal of faded clusters, adequate soil moisture and continued nutrition through the main growing season encourages prompt rebloom.

The flowering effect is generous and refined. Flowers may be produced singly on secondary shoots but most often they appear in small clusters, of roughly three to five blooms together. The medium flower diameter prevents the shrub from becoming visually top-heavy, although the full flowers can weigh down flexible branch tips, especially after rain. Because the flowering branches of this rose naturally arch, this slight inclination of the flowers is part of the cultivar's charm and is not a sign of weakness. In mature plants, successive pale flower clusters distributed over bowed branches create a broad, softly cascading display well suited to informal plantings.

Flower bud:

The flower buds of 'Friedenslicht' are medium sized, have rounded shape with pointed tip before the sepals start to open. The sepals are lanceolate in shape, have medium yellow green colour with a slight pinkish tint on the midrib and closer to the edges. There are 3 lightly appendaged sepals and 2 unappendaged sepals with densely white hairy edges. The surface of the sepals is smooth and glandular on the upper surface and covered with gray white hairs on the inner surface.

When the sepals start to opened the buds demonstrate cream white petals with green, ivory and apricot intonations. Then the petals start to unfurl; they demonstrate more creamy apricot shades, sometimes with deeper warmth concentrated in the folded inner petals, before becoming progressively paler as the corolla expands. When the bud is half open the petals demonstrate more white, especially on the reverse and still retaining more of the apricot and cream shades towards the centre and to the base of the petals.

The peduncle is medium sized, rather slender and medium green in colour and has smooth surface; the peduncle tends to bend slightly under the weight of the petals, especially in rainy weather. The receptacle is chalice shaped, small, has smooth surface and medium green colour.

Bloom:

The fully open flowers of 'Friedenslicht' are usually medium sized, typically around 6 - 8 cm (2.4 - 3.1 in) in diameter, although particularly vigorous plants and under very good care they may become larger. They are full in petalage, and generally rosette shaped and broadly cupped, with the central petals remaining closely arranged while the outer petals relax into a more open outline.

The colour is not plain white but is dynamic. At opening, the flower may show a pronounced warm cream-apricot or pale buff-apricot centre enclosed by lighter external petals. As it expands, the apricot fades through ivory and cream into white, often leaving only a lingering warm reflection in the centre. Flowers of different ages therefore make the whole plant appear subtly two-toned. The transformation is one of the cultivar's charm and separates it from white roses whose buds and mature flowers remain essentially the same colour.

The flowers are usually borne in small clusters and retain a composed, rounded appearance for a relatively long period.The petals as exceptionally firm and consequently resistant to rain, an important merit in full white rose, since many comparable cultivars can ball or brown under prolonged wet conditions. 'Friedenslicht' is consequently useful in regions with cool, changeable summers as well as in conventional rose-border cultivation.

Petals:

The full flowers of this rose typically have around 40 - 60 petals. They are relatively firm and substantial rather, a structural quality that helps the bloom maintain its form and contributes to its rain tolerance. The outer petals broaden and flatten as the flower matures, while the numerous smaller inner petals retain a more closely packed, retaining rosette arrangement of the blooms. The margins may become gently irregular or softly reflexed with age, but dramatic frilling is not observed in flowers of this rose.

The petals also show good colour stability in the sense that ageing produces an orderly transition from apricot-cream to cream-white rather than unattractive discoloration. Strong sun and advancing flower age accelerate the paling. Spent flowers should nevertheless be removed as the self cleaning quality is not exceptional in this rose and some petals may hang on and dry. Additionally deadheading helps redirect energy more effectively toward new flowering clusters and blooms.

Fragrance:

The fragrance of 'Friedenslicht' is pleasant but not strong, it is warm and faintly sweet, therefore this rose should not be selected primarily as a perfume rose.

Reproductive parts:

The full rosette shape and the number of petals partly conceals the reproductive organs in many flowers, and they mostly remain invisible to the observer.

PLANT

Rose variety 'Friedenslicht' is classified as a Shrub rose and develops as a medium to relatively tall Modern Shrub rose plant. The mature and well-established plants of this rose typically reach 120 - 150 cm (4 - 5 ft) and their width can vary considerably with climate and pruning, from relatively narrow plants around 50 - 80 cm (1.6 - 2.6 ft) to broader mature plants approaching 100 - 120 cm (3.3 - 4 ft). In favourable conditions it forms substantial, much taller plants to approximately 180 - 200 cm (6 - 6.7 ft) high. Its canes initially develop upright, but they are not rigidly vertical. As they lengthen and carry flowers they bend outward in broad arcs, producing the loose, romantic silhouette.

This habit makes the cultivar effective as an individual shrub, in groups, in informal flowering hedges and among medium to tall herbaceous perennials. Three to four plants per square metre, corresponding approximately to 50 - 60 cm commercial planting centres for group establishment, are recommended by Tantau, although a single specimen allowed to attain mature breadth should be given more space. The naturally flexible growth can also be accommodated beside a low fence or loose support where gardeners wish to display arching flowering stems more prominently.

In a garden it is best to provide this rose with a sunny site with fertile, humus-rich, moisture-retentive but freely drained soil. Light shade can be tolerated, but maximum flowering and the quickest drying of foliage generally occur where the plant receives ample light and air circulation. Permanently wet soil should be avoided.

Pruning should respect the cultivar's arching shrub character. Rather than cutting it annually into a short, rigid framework, retain a balanced structure and shorten strong previous-season growth by roughly one-third where necessary. Dead, damaged, weak and crossing stems should be removed, and an older basal cane can occasionally be taken out on mature plants to encourage renewal. Hard pruning is unnecessary unless rejuvenation is required. In cold climates, major structural pruning is best delayed until late winter or early spring when the extent of frost damage is apparent.

Foliage:

The foliage is abundant on the plants of the rose variety 'Friedenslicht' and it contributes significantly to its garden quality. The mature leaves of this rose are dark green and glossy, it is medium sized and has a quite thick and leathery quality. Healthy dark and glossy foliage of this rose is very healthy, and clothes the plants of this rose very well and remains on the plant until the end of the season, creating strong supporting background for its refined flowers and amplifying its luminous quality.

Leaflets:

The leaves are pinnately compound in the normal manner of modern garden roses. A normal leaves in the middle of the flowering stem typically has 7 leaflets with variations from 3 to 5, including the terminal leaflet. The leaflets have ovate to elliptic shape with pointed apex and base; the edges of the leaflets are serrated, the type of serration is medium-sized and single closer to the base while more double closer to the tip. The healthy appearance of the leaflets throughout much of the season is of greater horticultural importance than minor morphological distinctions.

Wood:

The plant produces vigorous, well-branched canes which begin broadly upright and progressively bow under their own length and the weight of flower clusters. New basal growth contributes to a rounded framework, while lateral branching produces the recurrent flowering wood. Mature architecture is open enough to appear graceful but sufficiently branched to form a substantial shrub. The young canes have medium green colour and smooth bark, and when they mature the bark becomes darker green while bark remains mostly smooth with some rough patches and stripes.

Because long shoots can curve noticeably, severe shortening purely to force a compact outline sacrifices one of the variety's characteristic qualities. Where space permits, allowing selected canes to develop naturally produces the best landscape effect.

Prickles:

There is a normal quantity of the prickles on the main canes from the base and on the laterals from the main canes of this rose. The prickles of rose 'Friedenslicht' are medium sized, have deeply curved downward shape and medium green to light red-pink in colour when young, and with time mature to brownish gray in colour. Gardeners handling mature arching shoots should use normal rose-pruning precautions like wearing glows and glasses.

Small prickles:

Under normal growing conditions the small prickles are not observed on the main canes from the base, on the laterals or on the flowering canes of this rose.

Disease resistance and stress tolerance:

Disease resistance is one of the strongest attributes of the rose variety 'Friedenslicht'. Its resistance to most common and troublesome fungal diseases like powdery mildew and black spot is very high. Likewise the resistance to rust, botrytis and cranker is very high as well. This does not mean that it is immune to all these pathogens: disease pressure varies with climate, fungal races, nutrition and air movement, but the cultivar belongs to the more dependable modern shrubs for gardens where routine fungicide spraying is undesirable.

In terms of winter hardiness this rose is recommended for growing in climates similar to USDA zone 6 to 10, which corresponds to the ability of the variety to withstand winters in climates with minimal temperatures to about −23 °C (−10 °F). In climates similar to USDA zone 5 cultivation may succeed in protected sites but should not be treated as reliably unprotected performance across all climates. In climates with severe winters, a grafted plant benefits from having the graft union below the finished soil level and from protective mounding after the ground begins to freeze. Late-season nitrogen fertilization and heavy autumn pruning should be avoided so that the canes can mature before winter.

The German name ‘Friedenslicht’ means “light of peace”. It was chosen in connection with the rose's christening at Gottorf Castle on 8 May 2015, seventy years after the end of the Second World War in Europe. The associated ProGedenkstätten project used the rose to support remembrance sites and peace-education work in Schleswig-Holstein; the flower thus became a deliberate horticultural symbol of remembrance, reconciliation and peaceful civic culture.

'Eirene' is the established international synonym found in Tantau catalogues and protection documents. Eirene, or Eirēnē, is the ancient Greek personification and goddess of peace, making it a direct classical counterpart to the meaning of 'Friedenslicht'. Some current Tantau website text renders the synonym as “Eireen”, but Tantau catalogues and earlier legal documentation consistently use 'Eirene', and that spelling is also standard in The UK commerce.

‘Memorial Rose’ has been used particularly in English-language charity and commemorative marketing, while RT 10-696 represents the breeding or trial identifier and TAN10696 the cultivar denomination.

Rose variety 'Friedenslicht' has accumulated a notable European trial record. In the 2018 International Competition of New Roses at Lyon, entered as 'Eirene' TAN10696/RT10696, it received first prize in the landscape-rose category with 73.19 points; Rosen Tantau describes this distinction in its commercial award record as the 2018 Lyon Gold Medal. The Lyon competition is particularly relevant horticulturally because its permanent jury evaluates entries over an extended period for vegetation, flowering, flower quality and health rather than judging only freshly cut blooms.

Before that, in 2017 it was awarded with a Baden-Baden second prize or a Vienna distinction at Baden-Baden Rose Trials.

The Associazione Italiana della Rosa records three further 2018 distinctions for RT 10-696: a Silver Medal at Kortrijk in Belgium, a Silver Medal at Orléans in France, and the Shrub Rose prize at La Tacita in Italy. Tantau's own current award record additionally lists a Certificate de Mérite at Le Roeulx, Belgium, in 2018. These awards collectively indicate that the cultivar's performance was recognized in several independent European trial environments rather than at a single exhibition.

For Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic, Rosen Tantau records second place among Shrub roses in 2019; Czech specialist nursery accounts describe the cultivar as receiving recognition after approximately three years of observation in the competition rosarium. The terminology used in published summaries varies between “second place” and an honorary recognition, so the breeder's formulation - second place, Shrub Roses, Hradec Králové 2019 is the clearest identification of the award.

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

The rose variety 'TAN10696' / 'Friedenslicht' was bred in Germany by Christian Evers of Rosen Tantau. Based on its trial code RT 10-696 it is the same to assume that the breeding occurred in approximately 2010, which is consistent with its trial code RT 10-696; its official commercial introduction and naming occurred in 2015. The precise seed parent and pollen parent have not been disclosed to this date.

BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY

Within Rosen Tantau's breeding programme the rose variety 'TAN10696' / 'Friedenslicht' belongs stylistically with the company's modern landscape and nostalgic roses branded as Nostalgie® group. Its restrained cream-white colour allows it to function differently from strongly coloured shrubs: the bloom has a romantic, full appearance, yet the plant was selected for recurrent flowering, rain-resistant petals and modern disease resistance. 'Friedenslicht' was intentionally associated with remembrance, reconciliation, tolerance and peace-education projects.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

'TAN10696' / 'Friedenslicht' is a repeat-flowering Modern shrub rose whose main strengths are the changing apricot-cream-to-white coloration of its full flowers, their unusually firm and rain-resistant petals, graceful arching growth and strong resistance to black spot and powdery mildew. This rose variety incorporated the following unique combination of characteristics:

  warm apricot-cream buds and young flowers ageing to luminous cream-white and white;

  medium, full, nostalgic rosette flowers with firm, notably rain-resistant petals;

  repeat flowering through summer into autumn with a light, pleasant fragrance;

  graceful bushy growth with arching canes and very good resistance to powdery mildew and black spot.

The propagation methods suitable for the rose 'Friedenslicht' includes vegetative propagation by budding or grafting onto rose rootstock and by rooted cuttings; hardwood cuttings are specifically listed among suitable propagation methods. Commercial production is commonly based on budding or grafting because it gives uniform saleable plants relatively rapidly. As TAN10696 has been subject to plant-variety protection, commercial propagators should also confirm the current legal status of propagation rights in the relevant jurisdiction.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

Precise seed and pollen parents for rose 'TAN10696' / 'Friedenslicht' are not disclosed therefore the comparison with parents is not possible to make.

COMPARISON WITH THE CLOSEST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CULTIVAR

Among commercially available Tantau Shrub roses, 'Artemis' provides a useful comparison because both roses are repeat flowering cream-white Modern shrubs with full, nostalgic flowers and robust growth habit. 'Artemis' typically grows about 100 - 130 cm high and produces smaller flowers, approximately 4 - 6 cm in diameter in creamy white with a distinct faint greenish tone on the outer petals. Its flowers are notably ball-shaped, and its perfume has a distinctive aniseed character.

'Friedenslicht' is generally taller at 120 - 150 cm, with more obviously arching canes and larger 6 - 8 cm flowers. Its colour development is also more pronounced: the buds and opening flowers are distinctly apricot-cream before bleaching toward white, whereas 'Artemis' remains fundamentally creamy white with greenish shading on the outer petals. The fragrance of 'Friedenslicht' is lighter and less pronounced, but its firm petals are particularly valued for rain resistance.

In a garden 'Artemis' forms the denser and more upright cream-flowered shrub and is particularly effective where a controlled, compact mass is desired. 'Friedenslicht' is better where an arching, naturalistic outline and a visible progression from warm cream-apricot to white are preferred. Both are valuable modern alternatives to more disease-prone pale-flowered nostalgic roses, but their mature architecture is sufficiently different that they serve distinct landscape functions.

USDA 6

USDA Zone 6 - hardiness guide