It's beautiful!!

I have it. But haven't had it long enough to know it well. Bloom color may change on climate, sun , shade, etc.

@User Can I ask what your personal opinion of it is? Space limitations force me to be quite choosy.

That is insanely beautiful!!!

I ordered Duc de Fitzjames from Rogue, coming this Spring. This is what they said about theirs:

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) "Can I ask what your personal opinion of it is?"

Its OK. Just OK. Its become overwhelmed by Blackberries out there in the "garden" now, and as it was never as vigorous as most other roses of its type, it can't compete against the Blackberries. It may not be there now, I don't know. Its not a "pure" Gallica - it appears to have Bourbon (or China) genes in it.

Given a choice between it and 'Charles de Mills', 'Tuscany Superb' or half a dozen other mauve/purple Gallicas, I would choose any of the others over 'Duc de Fitzjames', simply because its color is sometimes less than pleasing (unless you are smitten by medium candy pinks). A better medium pink Gallica type would be 'Desiree Parmentier', which has a magnificent perfume. I'm also not fond of 'Duc de Fitzjames' broken quartered outline so often present in its flowers.

@User Aw, I did want to get Desiree Parmentier last year but it was unavailable at that time, so I went with Henri Fouquier instead. Hopefully it is nice, you've grown that one too, haven't you?

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) Yes, its out there in the garden somewhere, but I haven't seen it in a few years. I remember it was a nice rose, but for one reason or another it doesn't stand out in my mind.

Thank you Paul for recommending Desiree which I just ordered from Rogue. This year i have also ordered more of yours which I had wait listed for including Diablo Hawk, Duke has already arrived. I never thought I would get a response to my wait list and was very surprised. I have been trying to get Common Moss from them for years and was able to get one before they sold out.

This took some hunting, but I found the name I was looking for. In the Vintage Gardens catalog they list two distinct "Duc de Fitzjames", acknowledging that they don't know which is correct. One they sourced from Pickering. Some years ago, I believe it was, DdF came up in a discussion here, and the possibility that one of the versions in circulation might actually be 'Mme. Lauriol de Barny', a rose grown by an English poster and a favorite of hers. My DdF, from the old nursery La Campanella, a good source, sounded very much like MLdB, a rose I've never grown. (There's a lot of undergrowth in the garden of old roses, isn't there.) Anyway, my 'Duc de Fitzjames', which may, or may not, be 'Mme. Lauriol de Barny'--is a medium pink, once-flowering, somewhat lanky and thorny rose. It's obviously hybrid, as its tendency to blackspot once flowering has passed reveals. On the other hand, it's a really notably tough rose, which is a quality I know how to value, and this, plus its general good cheer and good flowering makes it well worth growing. I suspect that Paul Barden's and my 'Duc de Fitzjames' are two different varieties.