Rosa ‘Blairii No 2’

Generally considered to be Bourbon rose, it was classified as a Hybrid China by Rivers and Paul and included in this group by Macarthur.  A climbing or pillar rose, it has large and distinct rosy, blush flowers and is said to be a reliable repeat flowerer although it never repeat flowers in my garden.  To 3.5m.  William Paul described it as one of the largest roses and one of the freest growers, often obtaining 10-12 feet in one season.  [Paul (1848, 1863, 1888, 1903), Gard Chron. 1847].

Horticultural & Botanical History

An English rose introduced by Blair of Stamford Hill in 1845.  Rivers wrote of it: ‘Blairii No. 2, a rose not so much known as it deserves to be, is a very distinct and unique variety, so impatient of the knife, that if pruned at all severely, it will scarcely put forth a flower: it is perhaps better as a pillar rose, than grown in any other mode, as it shoots ten or twelve feet in one season, and its pendulous clusters of flowers which are produced from these long shoots unshortened, have a beautiful effect on a pillar.’  [Rivers (1854, 1857, 1863)].

History at Camden Park

Included in a handwritten list of roses dated 1861, probably intended for a new edition of the catalogue that was never printed.  [MP A2943].

Notes

Published Feb 12, 2010 - 12:03 PM | Last updated Jul 27, 2011 - 05:27 PM


More details about Rosa ‘Blairii No 2’
Family Rosaceae
Category
Region of origin

Garden origin, England

Synonyms
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Blairii No 2

Confidence level high