I adore the fragrance of this rose, and the sumptuous pink blooms. Repeat bloom is light. This rose is compact here. It gets blackspot but is quite hardy.

It’s beautiful, Krista! Wow! Lisa

I grow Madam Boll, from Vintage, which they believed to be the correct I’d of the rose sold in commerce as CdeC, not a strong grower, but not in the best place in the garden, I have a rooted baby which I will put in more choice real estate, and then we will see. Fffff and pretty healthy here, but would benefit from some coddling I am sure.

cheers

claire

My 2 were very slow to develop but well worth the wait. I read (in more than one place) they do not like to be crowded & have found this to be true, They're happiest with short plants in front of them at a respectful distance. I had tall campanula & foxgloves around them, they were much happier with them removed. You will love this rose, the blooms are spectacular.

Wonderful rose! Even survived in my garden through the -40F winter back in the 90s. Fragrance will knock you over. Rodents made a home under it one winter and killed it. There's been several mentions of it again on the forums and I'm thinking of ordering it back for this spring.

My neighbour has 2 of these in the front garden and I pass them every day, and sniff them when I feel like it... about 4 x 3 foot, and they bloom all summer,, I noticed a short break this hot year, for about 4 weeks... and they almost completely defoliated by mid September, and still with few leaves now, so that's probably it for the season... it's been so dry here, they need some water I think... but they do not look great at the moment...

He got them from Aldi would you believe... about 2 quid each...

I should add a positive to say that his roses are astonishingly beautiful from mid May to about end of August... and I look at them with envy, and very little disease issues.. then it hits...

Darren,

Jacques Cartier, aka. Marchese Boccella, is another great Portland rose I observed for years, growing in a large, local public garden. There were 5 of them in a group.

Each one was a vigorous 1 meter tall by .5 meter wide blooming machine. After 15 years in ground they all had a trunk, yes a trunk. The trunks were each about 25cm. tall from the ground. The rose bushes themselves branched tightly at their Trunks' top ends to form a 'tree,' looking all the world like miniature crabapple tree. No basal canes or any growth emerged from the trunks' sides, or from their bases, nor from their crowns. All growth came from the trunks' top ends at 25cm from the ground. This occurred naturally.

The trunks' diameters averaged 85mm.

These roses were grown on multiflora rootstock, with the graft union planted 4" below soil level. I was there when they were planted. 15 years later, I was also there when they, at their spectacular prime, were shovel pruned and cast into a dumpster to make room for 'modern roses!' The head rosarian there was a hybrid tea-exhibitor type, a great guy, but not a lover of OGRs.

Also, Jacques Cartier was just about disease free, and winter hardy to their tips. If your CdeC grows like these you will be ecstatic!

Moses

Wow, Krista and lkaytwvz5 - so this one is hardy for you? I've killed this one at least twice without a hint of overwintering, but given these great pictures and your reports I clearly need to try it again. Maybe the snow cover makes a huge difference, since we get very little consistent snow cover most years.

Cynthia

nippstress........... On HMF it says the Swedish Rose Society recommends it for Northern Sweden, I think you should try again. On second thoughts they probably have tremendous snow cover.............. Mmmmmm.

I had an ownroot one from Heirloom. It was disease free for me, which led some on this forum to suggest that it was not the correct rose, although it looked just like the pictures to me. I should have let it grow in a pot before planting it into the garden. it never got taller than a foot and a nearby culinary sage plant eventually crowded it and killed it In its 3rd year. So I’d have to agree with those above who said it doesn’t want to be crowded and is not very vigorous. I Assume you will be getting a grafted plant so may have better luck.

-Chris

Cynthia, mine has survived harsh winters, but there is snow cover here. It does not get more than about 2 1/2 feet tall.

Darren,

Can you get your CdC grafted? I think that would give it a shot in the arm, growing more robustly and throwing more blooms of greater substance than an own root would.

I tried to grow the Jacques Cartier in my rose garden at home being inspired by the specimens I wrote about above. It was an own root though, not grafted.

It was a wimp, never getting over 40cm tall, with lax stems. It's wimpiness was due to being own root, IMHO. It surprisingly, did bloom a lot in spite of its lack of vigor, but was extremely chlorotic, never responding satisfactorily to the regular nutrient corrections I gave it. Had to evict it, and have yet to replace it with a grafted version since Pickering Nursery, CANADA, went under.

Moses

Moses, Palatine is currently selling Jacques Cartier grafted on multiflora rootstock.

-Chris

For what it's worth, my own root 'Jacques Cartier' grows great, untroubled by drought and heat and heavy clay soil. It may be better adapted to Italy's Mediterranean-continental climate than to the eastern U.S. I let it get tall, which it enjoys: I'm not one for heavy pruning.

Krista and old rosarian, those are gorgeous pictures. It's such a lovely rose, although it's been many years since I've grown it, in another garden. I don't remember any problems, although obviously my climate is completely different.

Palatine's Jacques Cartier, is my budwood and it is a strong grower to 5 feet.

Lkayetwvz5,

it is super interesting to me that rodents killed your CDC (Madam Boll), because the first one I tried here in Washington state met the same fate at the teeth of a vole, wonder if her roots are especially tasty, might explain her small stature when grown OR, if various critters nibble away her roots, even if she lives, she would probably be smaller.

Roses always give us something to think about don’t they!

cheers

claire

Oldrosariian,

Now that's a Jacques Cartier! If I can put an order together for more than just JC from Palatine, I believe it will be back in my garden then.

Moses

Melissa,

If my recollection about Jacques Cartier's history is correct, and if the history itself is accurate, Jacques Cartier is an Italian Rose. It (aka. Marchesa Boccella), supposedly was discovered in Italy by the Duchess of Portland, on a trip to Italy. She returned to England with it, and renamed it Jacques Cartier. By discover, I mean she came upon it in either a nursery or garden, can't remember. It's been a number of years ago since I came upon this bit of Jacques history.

With its Italian origin, it may grow ideally in a Mediterranean climate.

Moses

I grew it in the dry south east of England, (Surrey) where it was wonderful. Then I grew it in the much wetter south west (Cornwall), where it was terrible. You are on or near the west coast, so, perhaps try just one to see how it goes first.

All roses from British growers are grafted.

Daisy

Moses, thanks for that information. I not too long ago found out who Jacques Cartier was, too (great French explorer). I'm not too clear on the development of the Hybrid Damasks, but am quite friendly to the group. Good luck with whatever you decide to get.

THANK YOU everyone!! Amazing response - truly grateful!

Mine isn’t own root so I imagine it’ll grow slightly better?

Will post pics up once in flower.

Wish I could have tea and cake with you all in my garden. :/

big love and thanks xxxx

I love the fragrance. It smells just like my grandmother's powder to me so it reminds me of her. Mine is in the ground and I think I need to pot it up so it won't suffer from root competition. it's in lot of shade because I thought I read somewhere it doesn't love our heat. It's blooms are a little small and not quite full because it's been so hot but still lovely. I have no idea if I have the real one or the imposter.

Depends where you are gardening. In my Silicon Valley climate with alkaline soil, it was a dog. Seduced by the lovely descriptions and pictures I tried it twice. Both times it was a tall, stringy plant with chlorotic leaves. Both times, sadly, I removed it. Actually most of the Portlands do poorly for me.

But in a different climate with different soil, I understand it can be lovely.

I had a Comte de Chambord here for quite a while until it couldn't survive our late, hard freezes any more. It could get quite big and sprawly. It repeated well when happy and healthy, but it was a total blackspot magnet here.

I found 6-8 of bare root Comte de Chambord at Lowe’s this past spring for a bargain price. Check your Lowe’s next spring.

My C.deC came from a cutting I got from Luannes plant, which she bought from Vingage gardens. It is an attractive plant even between flushes.

The damask scent of the blossoms is Wow- Wow- Wow- Wow,- Wow, or 5W. for intensity of fragrance.

I love its' hue of bright pink.

I mostly collect Old Garden Tea roses but this and Glendora are two Damask Perpetuals I had to have.

Lux.

Glendora was one of the few Damask Perpetuals that did well for me here. The other is Sydonie, which I do still have at this time.

I've been ruthless in reducing the number of roses I grow, to the point where even quite good roses have been removed (passed along when possible). Both thrived for me.

I have CdC own-root from Heirloom and it does great. It's about 4-5' tall without pruning, few disease problems, puts out lots of beautiful pink blooms with fabulous scent. I have it where it gets part shade in the afternoons. I'd say its a strong grower for me.

No idea if it is the "real" CdC or not...

I bought mine from David Austin roses. I had it in a garden in the 1990s and hadn’t had room until this garden. It’s spectacular! I bought bare root own root

Hey @Carla Mudry how's the rebloom on it? And what zone/climate are you in? I was thinking of getting one from DA as well.

@User Prepare yourself for a display of Blackspot that any textbook on diseases would be proud to include.

Can anyone compare Comte de Chambord with its child Gertrude Jekyll? I’m particularily interested in rebloom and fragrance, and if one lasts lomger than the other.

I usually think I’ll like the original rose better than the Austin, but in the case of Abe Darby, I was surprised I like him 1000x more than Aloha.

@User hahahaha I just removed it from my cart! But I find it hard to believe anything could be more diseased than my Dolly Parton which got everything! My Gertrude Jekyll was spotless last year!

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) I also love Abe Darby. Love it.

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) - CdC rebloomed a little more for me than GJ, although GJ received a little less sun. I’m surprised that DA’s catalog and website say ”best for flowering” - I did get 3 flushes each season but the 2nd and 3rd were fairly meager. Both have an amazing fragrance but I did prefer GJ a bit over CdC. The blooms lasted about as long - 3-4 days? I received tiny GJ’s in 2 quart pots from DA last fall for my new garden and was able to order CdC to ship this spring - I think they’re both worth growing IMO.

Dave , thanks for sharing your experience growing Gertrude and CdC, much appreciated! I saw Gertrude trained as a climber in a Dallas public garden, it did not repeat well, but to be fair, none of their climbers did. I also ordered her own-root 2 quart from DA last fall, hoping she likes California better than Texas. I do think her fragrance is extraordinary, it’s the main reason I’m trying her again.

zone 8 here, although today covered in snow. Jacques Cartier grows fabulously here 1500 feet above Portland Oregon

and repeats all season long. In that color direction, Reine Victoria also does well.