Veilchenblau

Veilchenblau very happy near the cellar

Some years ago we were given a “blue” rambling rose by our friend Gail. This was after admiring the beautiful rose with its clusters of different hues of dark purple to greyish mauve flowers. ''Veilchenblau” is a mauve hybrid multi-flora rose cultivar and the best known violet rambler.

Gail was given cuttings of Veilchenblau by her cousin in 1995. According to her cousin it was a slip from Gail’s grandmother's rose bush. Her grandmother had taken slips of the rose from the Eastern Cape back to Harare. Her grandmother had grown up in Fort Beaufort and regularly went back to her home when her children were young. Gail believes that it came from the Fort Beaufort home. Gail’s grandfather died in the 1918 flu epidemic. Her grandmother had visited before that, so she must have taken slips of the bush back to Harare before 1918.

Bees love these fragrant roses

From this account it seems that Gail’s great-grandparents might have planted one of the first Veilchenblau roses since it was only bred by Hermann Kiese in Germany in 1909. Its parents are the red hybrid multi-flora 'Crimson Rambler' (Japan, before 1893) and the mauve hybrid setigera 'Souvenir de Brod' (Geschwind, 1884). It was introduced by Johann Christoph Schmidt from Erfurt, where Kiese had been employed until he started his own nursery in 1904.

A good description and some interesting facts that I found on Wikipedia is that, “'Veilchenblau' has small, semi-double flowers with an average diameter of 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) and a sweet, fruity fragrance reminiscent of lily-of-the-valley.

The crimson buds appear in late spring and early summer  in loose clusters of 10 to 30, and open to dark, purple violet flowers with a white centre, that age to a greyish mauve, especially under hot conditions. As they remain long on the plant, all hues can appear simultaneously. The cultivar blooms abundantly for a period of three to four weeks. In autumn, 'Veilchenblau' develops small brown-red hips of only 5 to 10 mm length, decorating the shrub into the winter.

The cultivar is a robust, near-thornless rambler, growing from 3 to 6 metres (10' to 20') in height, but can reach heights of over 10 metres. It has large, glossy, light to medium green foliage, tolerates heat, half-shade and poor soils, and is winter hardy up to -29 °C (USDA zone 5), but should be planted in airy locations, as it is susceptible to mildew. The cultivar was used as stock plant and in rose hybridisation, and is easy to propagate through cuttings. Some of its seedlings from the beginning of the 20th century are 'Rose Marie Viaud' (Igoult 1924), 'Violette' (Turbat 1921), 'Schloß Friedenstein' (Schmidt 1915), and 'Mosel' (Lambert 1920).

In 1993, 'Veilchenblau' was granted the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.”

Gail got her cutting shortly after the rose was given its Award of Merit, in 1995.

Her remaining bush sadly died last winter while she was away. This year I have made cuttings of Veilchenblau and am very happy to be able to return some heritage, history and beauty in the form of a plant or two to Gail who so generously gave us this beautiful rose in the first instance.

Our rose looks as though it is very happy in its spot in the blue section of the rosarium.  It does not look tired at all after travelling from Germany to Fort Beaufort, to Harare, to Cape Town and then to Bonnievale over the last 100 years!