THE HISTORIC 16th century GALLICA ROSE, ‘ROSA MUNDI’
Every bloom is different, and this year, there has been some reversion to the mother plant, the ‘Apothecary’s Rose’, which is all pink with golden anthers, and was found in every monastic herb garden. It is true the leaves are subject to mildew in a closed situation like our front garden but the rough foliage and tissue thin flowers of this rose are so enchanting..
This is a glorious myrrh scented rose with pale pink circular blooms held above dark green shiny foliage. It has ‘Iceberg’ in its ‘blood’ so it is extremely healthy, with few thorns. The roses are clustered on the ends of rather rangy stems which hang with the weight of the flowers. Our bush always grows to about one and a half metres no matter how hard I cut it back in winter. David Austin always claimed this rose to be one of the best he ever bred. I am certainly glad I chose it for our garden. In fact I wish I had planted two as it goes well with the ‘Fantin-Latour’ fence roses.
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