Cuisse de Nymphe

I’m not much of a rose grower. I’ve got two varieties. One, ‘Princess Di‘, was sent to me out of the blue, unsolicited, by gardens.com shortly before they went out of business. I’m still not sure why. Maybe some PR thing like with the sloggers. I posted about it a couple years ago, and it still struggles in a bed that gets too little light and has too much competition from neighboring perennials. Still, it put out a few blossoms this year.

But my favorite rose (not hard to pick one when you only grow two) is ‘Cuisse de Nymphe’, which the English toned down to ‘Great Maiden’s Blush’. I planted it soley based on a passage in one of Michael Pollan’s books where he waxed poetic about it, roughly translating the French to ‘thigh of an emoted nymphe’. Sold me.

While the three plants I bought haven’t thrived (lousy soil, not enough light, too much competition), each blossom is worth the effort. And they smell even better than they look.