Polyantha Rose 'Mademoiselle Cecile Brunner'

I grow this rose in New Orleans and it does well. It also has an interesting history.

Cecile Brunner was hybridized by ...Read Morea famous female rose hybridizer -
Marie "Veuve" Ducher. The history is as follows.

In the middle of the 19th century, Claude and Marie Ducher had a famous nursery. Claude died and Marie, known as "Veuve Ducher" or "Widow Ducher" ran the business herself after that. Unfortunately, she had serious health problems and died young (at the age of 46). Her last and greatest creation, Cecile Brunner, had been developed but was not yet on the commercial market at the time of her death.

So it was left to Marie Veuve Ducher's son in law, Joseph Pernet Ducher, to bring Cecile Brunner to market. Possibly due to chauvinism (?), people of that era gave Joseph Pernet Ducher credit for hybridizing Cecile Brunner and he still mistakenly gets credit in some sources (e.g. Wikipedia), but it was really Marie Ducher's rose, as one can find out by researching the history of the Ducher nursery online.

Some of Marie Veuve Ducher's other roses remain in commerce today.

I purchased a one year old plant from the Antique Rose Emporium two years ago so that makes it three years old now. It has reached 36" i...Read Moren height and continues to grow upward and outward. It sends out loose sprays of buds on branching stalks above the bush that are up to a foot long. Leave the bare spray stems on the plant after blooming and new growth will start in the sprays in a few weeks. I have a neighbor from South Carolina who brought a rooted cutting from her grandmother's yard and it is doing very well in the mid Texas coastal region. Buds look like miniature tea roses and open up to a pom-pom shaped flower about the size of a quarter. First flush in spring is beautiful and the second flush in early summer is magnificent. Lighter flushes occur throughout the summer with a good display in the fall (and lighter flushes in the winter in warmer climates). I don't recommend pruning this rose if at all possible. The new sprays grow out of the old wood and trimming stresses the plant and reduces bloom production. Every rose gardener should have one of these. She will not disappoint.

When we moved, I realized I had no room for my Cecile Brunner, so a friend agreed to adopt her. I put her pot by the front door, but mont...Read Morehs later, the friend still hadn't picked her up. In the meantime, she'd planted her roots into the ground and was vying with the orange tree for space. She was so happy, sending up long shoots and blooming again and again, I decided to let her stay, but had to prune often so she wouldn't overtake others!
We finally made room for her over by the mailbox, but she looked a bit 'sad' after the move. However, she perked back up after a couple of months, and is now back to her usual healthy, continual-blooming self. But back at her original site... there are already 6 Cecile shoots coming up out of the ground!! She's VERY persistent!!

She's an absolute joy and I heartily recommend her to perk up any garden.

Simply beautiful, great fragrance. Blooms for me even in partial shade!