Rose Robe à la française

‘Robe à la française’ is a refined Japanese Shrub rose that is frequently cultivated as a short climber, combining very full Old rose form with a muted, difficult-to-categorize “Victorian pink” colour. Its flowers open from cups into elaborate rosettes, with pink, mauve-grey and brownish nuances becoming especially expressive in cool weather, while the plant repeats through the growing season and produces sufficiently long shoots for fences, trellises, obelisks and modest arches. Its charm lies in the combination of antique floral form, nuanced colour, good flower longevity, repeat flowering and a versatile growth habit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

Rose variety ‘Robe à la française’ in garden practice it occupies the useful intermediate territory between a substantial repeat-flowering shrub and a compact climber: its new basal and framework shoots can be retained and tied to a support, while shorter flowering laterals develop along them. Japanese growers specifically recommend training it on a lattice, fence or trellis, and long-cane plants are sold commercially for exactly this purpose.

FLOWERING

‘Robe à la française’ is repeat-flowering. The main late spring or early summer flush is normally the most dramatic because cool conditions favour both flower size and the distinctive muted colouring, but later shoots produce additional flowering laterals and further flushes through summer and autumn where heat, moisture and nutrition permit. Short laterals can flower along retained framework canes, so a plant trained more horizontally across a fence or trellis can potentially display considerably more flowers than one allowed to rise narrowly upright. Deadheading after each main display, followed by adequate water and nutrition, encourages faster renewal, although heavy pruning is not necessary simply to force repeat flowering.

Flower bud:

The flower bud in the longitudinal section is ovate. Before opening it is compact and rounded, appropriate to the eventually full cupped rosette flower. The emerging petals show a stronger pink than the fully opened flower; as the bud loosens, cooler mauve-pink and eventually brownish or greyed tones become perceptible toward the centre. More vivid early pink can settle into a calmer, dustier colouring as expansion proceeds.

The sepals are medium green in colour, have lanceolate shape and tightly wrap the bud before the calix starts to break. The surface of the sepals is glandular and has glandular hairs. There are 3 lightly appendaged sepals and 2 unappendaged sepals with smooth hairsuite edges.

The peduncle is medium lond, thick and appears strong, but relatively easy bends under the weight of the heavy flowers. This slight nodding can be especially attractive when the rose is trained on an elevated support. The surface of the peduncle is smooth with few small prickles and glandular hairs on the surface; colour of the peduncle is yellowing medium green, often with light bronze red tint on the side turned to sun. The receptacle is medium sized, chalice shaped, has medium green colour and smooth surface.

Bloom:

Rose variety ‘Robe à la française’ has large flowers. They are approximately 8 - 10 cm (3 - 4 in) in diameter when the flower opens, and under favourable conditions they may be larger, up to 12 cm (5 in), which makes them large but not enormous. The transformation from cupped opening form to rich and ruffled quartered rosette happened gradually, sometimes in the centre of the flower a soft button-eye in the center may form. The flowers are very full, having over 100 petals, the petals form an irregularly rounded outline around a very informal, layered and complex quartered rosette strongly resembling best Old garden roses.

The flowers may appear singly on short laterals but most often are gathered in small clusters, of 2 to 5 blooms together, although a strong shoot can present a larger visual group because several neighbouring laterals open together. The resulting effect is quite different from the rigid, individually presented blooms of a classical Climber: ‘Robe à la française’ produces a softer, more informal mass of perfectly formed rosettes.

The colour of the flower is its defining feature. Kawamoto describes the colour as “Victorian pink”, while more formally it appears a mix of a pale brown, beige-pink, greyed pink or classical pink which together are combined in an elusive palette. It develops a layered pink in which cooler outer petals surround an increasingly complex centre. As the flower opens, a beautiful brown-tinged pink becomes visible toward the centre. This subtle colour development, coupled with the dense rosette, gives the bloom its textile-like, eighteenth-century character. In cool conditions the outer part of the flower may appear as clear to dusty pink while the centre becomes deeper, warmer and subtly brownish; fully open flowers can acquire grey-mauve undertones. High summer alters both form and colour, a phenomenon explicitly acknowledged by the breeder, so the most representative flowers are those produced in spring and autumn.

The official Japanese registration defines that the petal surface has two colours, with very pale purple (RHS 69B) recorded as the main colour and pale yellowish green (RHS group 4D) as a secondary colour situated at the petal base. This formal description helps explain why photographs taken in different temperatures and stages of opening can appear surprisingly different. In cool spring and autumn weather the flowers may look distinctly dusty, muted or antique; warmer conditions tend to produce a simpler and often brighter pink.

Petals:

The petal number is extremely high, the flowers are very full. The petals have obovate shape, their margins only slightly reflex and petal waviness is very weak, the complexity of the flower comes primarily from the abundance and overlapping arrangement of the petals and an occasional button-eye in the centre. The outer petals form a supporting cup and subsequently flatten around the rosette, while the numerous progressively smaller inner petals create a densely folded button-eye. As the bloom matures, the layered colour becomes as important as the actual petal arrangement: brighter initial pink softens, while the central brown-pink, mauve and cream-inflected effects become more noticeable. The flowers generally retain ornamental value for about 3 to 4 days under normal growing conditions and have good self cleaning quality.

Fragrance:

‘Robe à la française’ has only light fragrance, with a weak Tea character.

Reproductive parts:

The extremely double rosette partially conceals the reproductive organs when the flower is mature, and the cultivar is grown for ornamental bloom rather than for hips.

PLANT

Botanically ‘Robe à la française’ is a cultivated hybrid of the genus Rosa and classified as horticulturally a modern Shrub rose. This point is important because the plant is often described in catalogues as a “short Climber” and mature specimens can certainly perform the functions normally expected of a relatively compact climbing rose. The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture registration, however, records its growth type explicitly as Shrub, with a spreading plant habit. Kawamoto Rose Garden likewise lists the architecture as Shrub while recommending the cultivar for fences, arches and obelisks and giving a potential height of approximately 150 - 250 cm (5 - 8 ft).

Under normal growing conditions the mature and well-established plants of this rose typically reach about 150 - 180 cm in width and about 90 - 120 cm (3 - 4 ft) in width, although under good care and in warmer climates the plants may reach bigger heights, growing to about 200 - 250 cm (7 - 8 ft) when long shoots are preserved and trained. It is especially effective on trellises, fences, obelisks and smaller arches, where the slightly nodding, clustered flowers can be viewed naturally rather than forced into the presentation expected of a Hybrid Tea climber.

This flexibility is one of its most useful qualities. A gardener can prune it moderately in winter and keep it as a substantial flowering shrub for the middle or rear of a border, or retain the longest canes and train them onto an obelisk, trellis, fence or relatively small arch. When climbing plants are desired, the main basal canes should not be shortened unnecessarily each winter. Instead, tie them at an angle or as close to horizontal as the structure permits and shorten secondary flowering shoots according to space and vigour. The practice encourages numerous laterals and distributes the bloom over a broader area. Plants that are formed as free-standing shrubs can be cut back more decisively. In cold climates this adaptability is useful because winter-damaged cane tips may be removed without permanently destroying the flowering of the coming season. In climates with dependable cane survival, however, retaining mature wood produces the fuller short-climber effect for which the cultivar is prized.

The rose is suitable for garden soil and for large containers, though a mature plant should not be confined to a small pot. Rich but freely draining loam, regular feeding and consistent moisture during active growth give the best flowering. Good air movement around the spreading framework is valuable, especially in humid regions.

Foliage:

There is a normal quantity of the foliage of the plants of the rose variety ‘Robe à la française’. Leaves as large, of medium green in colour when mature and moderately glossy. Anthocyanin colouring is present in the new growth, complementing the strongly anthocyanin-coloured young shoots. The foliage is sufficiently substantial to provide a convincing background for the complex pink flowers and contributes importantly to the plant's usefulness on a fence or trellis. It should not, however, be assumed to remain immaculate without fungicides management in all climates, because cultivar-specific disease assessments are less uniformly enthusiastic than some nursery descriptions suggest.

Leaflets:

The normal leaflets in the middle of the flowering stems typically consist of 5 leaflets, with variations from 7 leaflets closer to the lower part of the stems and to 3 closer to the flowering cluster, including the terminal leaflet. The terminal leaflet blade has an elliptic shape, with an acuminate apex and rounded base; the edges of the leaflets are serrated, the type of serration is single and large. The foliage otherwise follows the pinnately compound organization typical of modern garden roses, with leaflets arranged along the rachis; no unusual leaflet character has been noted as a defining ornamental feature of variety ‘Robe à la française’.

Wood:

Young shoots show strong anthocyanin pigmentation, so fresh growth can carry an attractive reddish cast before hardening. Plants of this rose are able to vigorously produce new shoots from the base, an important trait for both renewal and training as a short climber. The growth habit of the canes is spreading and bushy, somewhat arching. The longer canes are quite flexible, when mature they have medium green colour and smooth bark. Once tied to a support they branch into shorter flowering growths, allowing the plant to cover a lattice or fence relatively densely. The combination of recurrent bloom and renewable shoots makes it especially suitable where a conventional climber would be too large.

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 rose ‘Robe à la française’. The prickles are quite large, have a straight pyramidal shape with a broad base. The colour of the young prickles is light green strongly suffused with purple red at the base transitioning to light yellow-green to the tips, and when they mature the colour becomes brownish gray. The regular garden gloves should be used when tying canes to a trellis or removing old wood. The plant cannot be recommended as a nearly prickless rose for a narrow walkway, but is not as harsh as in older modern shrubs or climbers.

Small prickles:

Under normal growing conditions the small prickles are not observed on the main canes from the base as well as on the laterals from the main canes of rose variety ‘Robe à la française’. Very few small prickles may be found on the peduncles.

Disease resistance and stress tolerance:

Although the Kawamoto Rose Garden describes ‘Robe à la française’ as having strong disease resistance, the detailed Japanese evaluation published through Ibaraki Flower Park rates overall disease resistance, powdery mildew resistance and black-spot resistance as ordinary rather than exceptional, recommending periodic fungicide treatment where uniformly clean foliage is required. That same source considers the rose vigorous enough to regrow after partial defoliation. ^[1]

Following referrals from gardeners all over the world we can state that the disease resistance of rose variety ‘Robe à la française’ is reasonably good but not a point of the standards of modern no-spray landscape roses. Good spacing, morning sun, watering at soil level and prompt removal of diseased leaves are advisable in climates favourable to black spot, rust or mildew.

Heat tolerance is rated strong by the Japanese specialist evaluation, which is useful for a rose originating in the humid Japanese climate. However in hotter climates, like the Mediterranean, the heat tolerance is not sufficient and flowers tend to fade quickly and the edges of its soft petals get burned under strong sun. Therefore some afternoon shade in the middle of the day is highly recommended in such a climate. Flower colour and form do change during hot weather, however, and consistent irrigation remains necessary during prolonged drought.

Although the cold hardiness assessments vary for this rose, it is most evidently recommended for growing in climates similar to approximately USDA zone 6b and the RHS H7 hardiness category or warmer, broadly corresponding to winter minima around −21 to −18 °C (−6 to 0 °F). In colder climates this rose requires substantial protection in winter: cover the graft union with soil or mulch, avoid stimulating soft late growth, and retain more than one principal cane so that winter damage can be renewed from lower growth.

The name 'Robe à la française' literally means "dress in the French style" and refers to one of the characteristic forms of eighteenth-century women's court dress. Surviving examples from approximately 1750 - 1780 are held by major costume collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Japanese and European fashion museums. The gathered examples combine abundant silk, broad skirts and elaborate floral or woven decoration - an appropriately opulent association for a densely petalled rose.

Kawamoto Rose Garden states specifically that the rose was named for the image of Madame de Pompadour's dress. Japanese nursery sources add an important detail: the commercial name was reportedly chosen by the well-known Japanese rose grower and garden designer Kosei Ohno, who was struck by the atmosphere of the flower. The connection with Madame de Pompadour is historically plausible in aesthetic terms because portraits and scholarship associate her closely with the elaborate fashions of mid-eighteenth-century French court culture, including the robe à la française.

The Japanese name “ローブ・ア・ラ・フランセーズ” is simply the katakana rendering of the same French commercial name.

Up to this date the rose variety 'Robe à la française' has no verified competitive rose-trial awards or major international honors.

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

Rose ‘2011カワモビクトリアンピンク’ / 'Robe à la française' was bred by Junko Kawamoto of Kawamoto Rose Garden and introduced in Japan in 2011 under the commercial name ‘Robe à la française’. The variety was filed for Japanese plant-variety protection under application no. 26426 in October 2011, publicly announced in February 2012 and registered on 30 September 2015 as registration no. 24489. The registration names Kawamoto Rose Garden as the rights holder and Junko Kawamoto as the breeder. The precise parentage for this rose has not been disclosed and explicitly record the cross as ‘mihappyo’ (unpublished), therefore neither a seed parent nor a pollen parent are known.

BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY

‘2011カワモビクトリアンピンク’ / 'Robe à la française' belongs to a modern Japanese style of breeding in which the boundary between Shrub rose and climber is deliberately useful. Such roses can be cut back for a large shrub effect or trained on relatively modest vertical structures, combining the recurring bloom of modern shrubs with some of the spatial possibilities of climbers. In Japanese gardens, where usable space may be limited, a rose capable of producing 1.5–2.5 m shoots without developing the overwhelming size of a traditional rambler has considerable practical value. Its flower belongs aesthetically to the “romantic” or nostalgic rose tradition: very full, rosette flowers, reminiscent of Old garden roses yet carried by a modern repeat-flowering plant.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

‘2011カワモビクトリアンピンク’ / 'Robe à la française' is a distinctive modern Japanese rose in which sophisticated flower colour and flexible architecture are more important than conventional exhibition perfection. It combines very full cupped-to-rosette flowers with antique Victorian-pink colouring, a recurrent flowering habit and a spreading shrub. This rose variety incorporated the following unique combination of characteristics:

  very full, cupped to quartered rosette flowers with an unusually nuanced Victorian pink to brownish-mauve centre;

  vigorous growth habit combined with sufficiently long, renewable canes for use as a compact climber;

  repeat flowering and good flower longevity, producing ornamental flushes from spring into autumn;

  light Tea fragrance and distinctive antique flower character.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

The precise seed and pollen parent documentation for this rose was never published, therefore a formal parent-by-parent comparison cannot be made.

COMPARISON WITH THE CLOSEST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CULTIVAR

A particularly useful substitute for genealogical comparison is supplied by the Japanese variety-registration examination itself. For distinctness testing, ‘2011カワモビクトリアンピンク’ / 'Robe à la française' was compared with the cultivar recorded in Japanese as ‘サレ’ / ‘La France’. Compared horticulturally with the classical ‘La France’, ‘Robe à la française’ is much more decisively nostalgic in flower form when compared to high-centred Hybrid Tea form of ‘La France’, while‘Robe à la française’ opens from a rounded cup into a broad, densely packed quartered rosette. Its muted, brown-influenced pink also creates a markedly different effect from the clearer silvery rose-pink of ‘La France’. Most importantly for garden use, ‘Robe à la française’ develops the spreading, trainable canes, characteristic of a modern Shrub roses and short Climber compared to upright bedding Hybrid Tea plant form of ‘La France’.

USDA 6

USDA Zone 6 - hardiness guide