I think the flowers are beautiful in that charming old-rose way, although in my hot climate they seemed to blow very quickly. However, what's been termed that "high shouldered look" where the leaves begin directly below the flower is not to my taste. To me it looks somewhat congested. However, mMany people love this rose for its many good qualities.

Ingrid

I have one, over 20 years old. It is a reliable bloomer, is seldom without a flower or two, well after the first big rush of bloom, a lovely fragrance, and if it died tomorrow, I wouldn't be terribly upset. It's floppy, and not in a charming way, like rosa mundi is; the spent blooms stay on the plant, turning black, unless you deadhead religiously. I could, I suppose, have a just-not-so-great plant, but it has lasted 24 years, but has never had a lot of vigor - when I prune my OGRs, I rarely have to take much off this plant, because it hasn't done much to begin with. Meanwhile, it's surrounded by the aforementioned Rosa Mundi, which I practically have to take an axe to, by Pax, ditto, and several other roses which are happy and exuberant. So it's not the soil, it's not the sun, or the water - it's this rose. Just a big "enh".

This is one of my favorites. I don't mind the short flower stems at all. It is very healthy, always clean leaves. I keep mine around 3-4 feet, and in spring prune to around 2 feet. Growth is upright and usually don't need support. Buds and flowers can take a lot of rain and still unfold fine. In my soil they need a lot of fertilizer though, twice a year with solid organic type stuff, and generously. If I didn't prune in spring, they would grow to 5 feet I think, and would need support in rain. Some years this has been my best rose. I live in an area with cool summer, near the coast, and lots of rain.

Here it is 8 ft unpruned. I've seen it kept closer to three, and like that look better, but since it is crammed in between much larger shrubs, it would probably die of shade if it was pruned dramatically.

I keep mine pruned to keep a nice shape--it can get kind of sprawlly (if that's a word) if I don't.

Here in hot humid Atlanta, in the heart of black spot country, it gets a kind of ratty in the late summer. However, the beauty of the spring flush, the way it almost always has at least one bloom and the fragrance gives it a place in my garden--just one in a place not everyone can see it.

Here are a couple of pictures from last spring:

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I think it's a real keeper.

Thank you all for replying . Your inputs really help me a lot. JC do look pretty, but I just remember it's a Portland rose, I'm not really a fan of this class. As a couple of you guys had mentioned, I'm not sure whether I'd like shorter flower stems too.

gardennatlanta - Thank you for sharing with us those wonderful photos of JC. Your rose looks beautiful! I guess I'll just have to admire this rose at the botanical garden.

nasty rose. gets terrible proliferation, looks grimly untidy, wants to get huge, even in the UK, and flops witlessly about. I have one tucked away at an end of a vegetable bed and my neighbour on the allotment has an enormous 3mx3m one. Have never seen a really good flush, just sporadic blooms which blow quickly. Nope, all in all, I simply fail to understand the adoration given to this rose. Smalls nice though and is (unfortunately) healthy.

campanula LOL, you have to be nicer to it than that!

I like JC rose. Growth can sometimes look a bit stiff, perhaps even a bit coarse, but mostly it's a shapely plant, green from top to bottom? Jacques Cartier is probably not the original, and not a portland, but a HP. JC has shinier leaves than any other portland.

I have discovered a rose with a similar flower shape, but darker pink, more rosy, a bit larger, and with better fragrance; Souvenir de Mme de Corval. The rose in commerce might not be the original, but I really like the misnamed variety. Either way, it looks like a hybrid perpetual. I see vintage gardens call it brick red, but petals are too silky, and color to rosy for me to think of bricks.

nasty? my JC is offended!!

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One rosarian's trash is another rosarian's treasure?

Didn't I read somewhere that Jacques Cartier is really Marchesa Boccella? Or is it the other way round?

any rose that manages to bloom in my foggy part shade garden deserves my humble thank yous. jacques cartier or marchesa boccella (whatever your name is) will always have a place and i will enjoy it's beauty and fragrance even if it's not perfect (what rose is?).

fogrose

The blossoms of 'Sister Elizabeth' often put me in mind of Jacques Cartier - but the plants themselves couldn't be more different. If you want to go by photos, try the link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Sister Elizabeth

The blossoms of 'Sister Elizabeth' often put me in mind of Jacques Cartier

Sister Elizabeth is not available in my country. It's a nice rose, but I can see some purple/lilac shade to it. I prefer pink. J/C in my opinion, looks more like 'Eglantyne'.

I also like the rose, 'Harlow Carr'. Looks beautiful in pictures. I think I will stop buying more roses if only H/C was available in my country.

I’ve loved JC for decades in California, self main & disease free. spectacular rebloom, unforg unforgettable fragrance. propogates easily by cutting. what else is there?

In 2021 a branch of Jacques Cartier was knocked down by the rain and I brought it indoors in my basement sink, not knowing what to do with it. It lasted there a couple of days, blooming away. Then I brought it upstairs and put it in a vases where it continued to bloom and exhale its fragrance. I normally cut very few of my old roses, in part because of the short stems, and in part because I'm afraid they won't last as long in the vase indoors as they do outdoors .But this one did -- another reason to love it.

I got this as a small starter plant. At some point it started acting like it wanted to be a climber and I have had to provide support. It is still young and isn’t especially clean or generous with blooms where I have it. I’ve been debating whether to give up on it or to give it more time and see if it grows into itself. I may try prunning it more aggressively based on y’all’s experiences.

I saw this rose growing in a public garden and immediately decided to take a pass. So much beauty and fragrance, and so many thorns. Same goes for Comte de Chambord.

I saw one growing in a public garden in Italy, and decided it was very beautiful. It may be that it was heavily pruned at some point. Italian gardeners like to do that. Or that the mild Mediterranean climate just agreed with it. The flowers are good sized for an old rose.

At one point I staked and tied the branches of Jacques Cartier (in a circle) to stop them from flopping and eventually the bush stood up considerably straighter. But I have had it for over well over 20 years and it has started to spread, so it needs some renewal pruning. (My whole garden needs renewing).