Climbing Tea Rose 'Sombreuil'

I have 2 of these on a north west facing entrance in a 6' block wall. They are huge..I had to move one or she would overtake my garage!! ...Read MoreI moved the one prior to a 100degree plus heat wave(in June)..She came through it like a trooper!!She is already kicking out blossoms!! Shocking considering the weather kicked out..and still thriving! I did cut it back alot prior to moving it.
The remaining one is well over 12 ft ..comes across the trellis I have over the entrance and running along the wall the other direction. No stopping her. We had several days over 100 and it didn't phase her..
There is a scent as this is the main entrance to our patio..I notice it everytime I walk thru the gate. Not strong but there none the less.
Too keep the blooms prolific..deadheading does help..otherwise she stops blooming to gather for the next flush..with deadheading there is no pause. Yes there are thorns..it is a rose..I'm buying clippers on a pole!! LOL In the spring it is totally covered with blooms.
So you want a big white rose..(slight pink as a bud) you got one here!! I haven't noticed any disease issues either.
They are about 4 years old and I think they will get to about 20 ft. I am more than pleased with this rose and would highly recommend it!!! I do not pamper my roses either..usually forget to fertilize them..

I have grown Sombreuil in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

Its very beautiful and hardy in my area.

The las...Read Moret time it dipped below temp zone 6 was like once in 1983 or so.(I based my zone 6 claim on on the 1952 shared Canada US USDA hardiness map which rated my temps and area zone 6 because almost every garden book I own uses that climate map)

The internet said it dipped to -30 Celsius that record cold snap around 1982. Usually winters don't go below the -18 to -22 Fahrenheit range here.

I don't know about heat issues since where I am only gets about a week of summer 88+ Fahrenheit (not over 92 degrees Fahrenheit though, even in a heat wave). Summers usually run 76-84 degrees Fahrenheit here in July (our hottest month).

From my own experience in the last 20+ years (but basically since 1995) I've never seen the old Fahrenheit thermometer dip below -23 Fahrenheit. It usually doesn't go below -18 Fahrenheit but, I play it safe by considering my climate zone 6 but borderline so that I plant any borderline hardy plants in protected spots.

In the case of Sombreuil its got a garage wall on the west blocking westerly winds evergreen trees on the north somewhat sheltering it from northern blasts, and our neighbor has a deciduous hedgerow of sorts 30 feet from it on the east although it gets morning and most of the afternoon sun.

This rose is very beautiful has a nice tea scent, but the strength of the scent is extremely variable and usually very hard to detect until your nose stuck right in flower, and is also weather dependent as to detectability

It is usually creamy white to white with quartered extremely doubled flowers.

2 things to be aware of are:

1) that it is very vigorous even where I live (it grows 12 feet or about 3 and a half meters). I measured it reaching 12 feet high in my garden. However, I don't recommend measuring it as handling it can and in my experience did, draw blood.

and

2) it has very large nasty vicious thorns that seem to always catch your clothes and rip at skin when you prune the rose or try to tie it onto a trellis or support.

That said, I wouldn't be without it, just grow it in a protected area of your garden if you are growing it on the edges of its range. In my garden its facing east (winds are usually from the west) and its against a wall of a building on the west side with a evergreen on the north coincidentally blocking any rare north wind as well.

A positive for it, is it looks beautiful floating on water in a transparent globe like bowl on the dinner table and lasts anywhere from 3 to 5 days displayed in that manner (usually 3 days)

Just beware its thorns, and enjoy :)

I edited for clarity on March 16, 2021 primarily to clear up some temperature and climate zone confusions I might have inadvertently caused by not entering my personal climate observations properly in my pre edit posting.

Small bit of trivia for you: Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada was once considered the rose capitol of Canada. You can see why since Sombreuil grows well here.

I may have another variation of 'Sombreuil', but I saw the old tin tag on the mother plant and Sombreuil is what it said. Mine is a clim...Read Moreber and a varigated pink, not very showy, and prone to blossom cabbaging. However! There is no more sturdy plant going than this lady. I was given A Start. It took. I planted it right under the drip line of our house, here in zone 6, and it never noticed that it's flooded or sitting in a block of ice all winter long. Hardy is not a strong enough adjective for this beauty! It's a climber, and is a rather retiring plant as it's colors; leaf, stem and blossom, are all muted, but the aroma is the richest, truest rose fragrance there is, without parallel - and I grow a LOT of fragrant roses. I have it in clay soil amended with lagoonage on a south facing wall, and it does need to be pegged, but it only wants a bit of a soap spray for occasional aphids. Is prone to black spot. Seal all cuts with vaseline; borers love this rose. Thrives on an early spring spray of sulphur and castille soap. I would not trade this rose for a diamond ring.

This entry conflates 'Mlle de Sombreuil', a tea rose available in commerce as 'La Biche' in the US, with 'Sombreuil', a large-flowered cl...Read Moreimber introduced in 1959 as 'Colonial White'.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.5858