The name intrigues me. I have a book on Castles and Chenonceau is my favorite one in France, being built like a bridge over the River Cher. The historical "Dames" put in quite beautiful gardens, too.

I just looked up the rose on HMF and it is very pretty. It doesn't look like it will get very big, which can be useful. How did you find this one? I've never heard of it before.

Annabeth

I love Pat Henry at Roses Unlimited, and often, when placing an order, I'll ask her, "Pat,could you please recommend something nice or just send me something...." She has always replied, and that way I've gotten Dames de Chenonceau as well as other great roses like Lemon Spice, Versigny and Roberto Capucci - to name a few. And that's how I got it. It's still young here, having gone in last March. I could see it getting to be about 4 or 5 feet in time, depending on how I prune it. It's a great rose.

It does look very pretty on HMF. I love that globular rose form.

Rosefolly

It's also extremely fragrant, fruit and myrrh. The color in real life is complex - a lot like a paler Mons. Tillier.

Two people are growing it in Moscow!

Maybe this one is not just for CA.

I like the form and color too. Thanks for the tip!

One of the Dames de Chenonceau was Diane de Poitiers, mistress to two kings of France, father and son, Francis I and Henry II. She was an interesting and accomplished woman.

Cath

Cath, thank you for the reminder, I love history, and especially that time period. I have read that she was a vegetarian, drank only water, and made cookies.

I was wondering if the Dames were just the two, Diane, and Catherine de Medici. But get thee to Wiki, and the whole of it is soon apparent!

I did see one reference to Mary Queen of Scots, but didn't verify if she actually lived there...my scullery duties await!

Here is a link that might be useful: Chenonceau's webpage

Jerome... I know this is an old post but I wanted to inquire about how your Dames de Chenonceau rose is currently doing. Do you have any photos? I'm in zone 9b in Norcal so your conditions may be similar to mine. I really love the look of this rose, as well as your high recommendation. Also...I'm having a hard time imagining the fragrance listed on HMF. It says "anise, citrus, fruity fragrance." I'm having difficulty imagining fruity, lemony, licorice. Fragrance is subjective and personal.... but how would you describe it? Or anyone else who grows Dames de Chenonceau? Please feel free to chime in. I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

I don't think that Father Jerome is as active on Garden Web as in the past. He signed off Facebook as well a few years ago. His duties at the monastery where he lives and teaches were getting more involved and as a result he stepped back from some of his online engagement.

The garden at the abbey at St Michaels near Irvine is spectacular, I last visited him in August 2012, I am sure the garden is even more glorious now. The photo below is from mid Aug 2012 and shows only a small number of the roses he grows, they are spread throughout the abbey grounds.

Thank you so much for the info Jan!

And we do miss Fr. Jerome. Every so often, I hear from him . . .

Oh! I am so sorry for not responding to this earlier. I rarely come on here anymore. It isn't because my interests have shifted, but because other duties keep me hopping. I did drop Facebook as well, so I'm a lot less online connected than I used to be.

To answer the fragrance question: Ok...this is not the fancy "anise, fruity...etc" description you get on the commercials - to me DdC smells like "Juicy Fruit" chewing gum! I like it a lot, don't get me wrong, but it's a strange smell. Not bad strange, just "oh, I didn't expect that from a rose" strange. Hope this helps.

The PermaDrought here has not helped the gardens. Obviously, we use irrigation, but have tried to cut back to do our part in conservation. There have been a few casualties among the more thirsty divas. Dames de Chenonceau is not one of them. It continues on, seems like a tough rose here.

I don't have any recent photos, nor will I take one right now, because the place doesn't look great. If we get decent rains this season, I'll try to take a photo.

I would still recommend this rose highly.

Jerome

Thank you so much Jerome! It sounds like you're missed! I left facebook as well years ago so I understand. It's amazing how much extra time I have to do other things when I'm not connected to social media. I just found gardenweb though so I'm not giving that up yet! :)

The fragrance description of Juicy Fruit makes A LOT more sense to me than "anise, citrus, fruity" fragrance so thank you! I also really like hearing that it is holding up well in the "permadrought." Sounds perfect for me! Thank you for taking the time to respond and for your recommendation. ;)

Jeri is right, Fr. Jerome. We do miss you here! Glad to hear you are doing well. No doubt getting ready to move to the new location one of these days.

Rosefolly

Here's mine from this summer. It's not a well rounded plant, as you can see it can be a bit of an octopus letting out long lengths of branches, but they are sturdy, and as you can see in the photo its still beautiful as the branch stands straight then arches as it grows and its covered with bloom. Becoming a real favorite of mine! My plant is about 3 years old. Let me add the pole in the way is not holding up the plant in any way, its just there because I am putting up fencing to keep my hound dog out!

What a lovely Rose! So romantic looking. I wonder if it does well in a dry heat climate? Lisa

According to Fr Jerome it was very drought tolerant and did well in the heat... which is one of the main deciding factors that prompted me to buy three. :) They're arriving from Roses Unlimited soon. I'm 9b in a hot/dry climate. I can let you know how mine does once it arrives and gets established. :)

Great, Cori Ann, I'll look forword to it! Thank you. Lisa

Ok...Jerome here...with some full bush shots of DdC from a few minutes ago. It gets bigger and bigger each year. Has not flushed yet, but covered with buds. It wants to be a very large, bushy rose here in SoCal.

It would be easily over 4' high, I think.

Gorgeous bush! Looks glowingly healthy!

Wow thank you so much for the full bush photos Jerome! Very helpful! Mine are all just baby bands, but have lots of buds. I have two growing on obelisk trellises and one growing on its own. Looks like they won't need the support, but it will be fun to weave them through the obelisk just for looks. Here's a photo of one of my youngsters. They're a little over a foot tall so far. This one has about 10 buds.

And here's some photos of a little hoverfly larvae eating the aphids of DdC. :-) Just for fun...

Thanks for your kind comments, all! I don't know about it climbing, frankly. We have kept it pruned like you'd prune an Austin rose. Maybe it could climb...

I will post full bush shots when it flushes, if I remember.

Here is a closeup a bush shot.

How beautiful, Jerome. Keep posting these gorgeous photos, please. Diane

Jerome your photos are my inspiration for buying Dames de Chenonceau! Mine are budding. The buds are plump with nice sepals... for those that like that sort of thing like I do. :-)

There’s a wonderful movie called “The Rose Maker” on Netflix and the scent is described as citrus with leather.

A few blooms from mine:

There is also a book "Killed by Roses" Mishima that is a photography book. Variously $5,000 or $6,000. Too high end for me.