Chapeau de Napoléon

Rosa 'Chapeau de Napoléon' - June 8 2015

I have often mentioned how many years ago my Rosemary took me to a meeting of the Vancouver Rose Society at VanDusen's Floral Hall. We sat on uncomfortable chairs and watched over 100 bad slides of roses. I was appalled and told Rosemary, "You brought me for this!" As per usual Rosemary was right and I eventually developed an obsession for roses and particularly what are classified as old garden roses. For at least 12 years I have been posting here (very few rose photographs) rose scans in which I use my very good Epson V-700. From where you sit or stand you can easily turn of your computer or go elsewhere. You are not sitting on a hard chair. And you are probably bored at looking at these scans.

This particular rose, Rosa 'Chapeau de Napoléon' is a marvel to see in the flesh. It gets good sun (very little in my now very shady back garden) in the back lane. This has been its best year. Here is the info from David Austin's website.

 

Auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat displays a black felt 2-cornered hat belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte at an auction house in Paris in October. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)

Chapeau de Napoléon

Category     Old Roses

(Centifolia Roses)

Colour         Medium Pink

Flower Type          Double/Full Bloom

Size   Medium Shrub

Hardiness    Hardy

Fragrance    Strong

Repeating    None

Special Characteristics   Large wings on calyx of flower bud.

R. centifolia ‘Cristata’, ‘Crested Moss’. A beautiful rose with clear pink, heavy, nodding blooms and a rich old rose fragrance. It is very similar to ‘Centifolia’, possibly a sport of it, but is distinguished by the greatly enlarged sepals (or wings) of its calyces. These attractively envelop the buds in greenery, giving them the appearance of a three-cornered cockade hat and causing it to be easily mistaken for a Moss Rose. It forms a strong, nicely arching shrub. Introduced by Vibert (France) in 1826. 4 x 4ft.