Zephirine Drouhin Rose

The Zephirine Drouhin rose, is a great popular climbing rose. It is pronounced (Zeff-e-REEN Drew-HEEN), I had to look it up! It is also known as a Bourbon rose for its beautiful burgundy colors. You may also see it as the Charles Bonnet as well. I've seen various information on the original source timeframe, usually from the 1860s and being French bred, hence the name.

Beauty

Being a thornless rose it makes it ideal for climbing on pillars or arches. The canes are easily trained and worked to cover these area. These plants will get up to 10 to 12 feet and up to 15 feet with good planting conditions. They are terrific for arches over walkways, as you can see in the picture. It also works well as a shrub.

Many people comment on the strong fragrance with this rose, to me it has a familiar old-rose smell without being too overpowering. And unlike most old garden roses,this rose will repeat bloom all summer long.

Gardening

This rose requires much less maintenance than other breeds and has been known to be quite pest resistant. Even with some blackspot, it will often recover in the next season. It will do great in full sun but many growers have had great results in partial sun as well.

As with most climbers give it a couple of seasons to grow before pruning heavily. It will bloom repeatedly in the season with some deadheading. This rose is rated from zones 5 through 10.

The Zephirine Drouhin rose is a great climber, and no thorns make it easy to work with!