R. Filipes hybrid, Scrambler
The biggest climber in the world. Discovered next to a R. Filipes plant at Kiftsgate manor in the UK. After all those years the original plant has taken possession of a giant red beech and another nearby tree. The owners have to keep it contained now.
In my garden I have two and I named them: Madame de Maintenon and La Palatine, two historic women at the Castle of Versailles during the Louis XIV reign.
I planted them as 100cm potted plants. The first two years they didn't live up to their notorious reputation as they grew only three meters or 11 feet. This changed after the third year when enormous lateral shoots started to emerge and spreading to all sides. The fifth year they had reached 13 meters with shoots growing five meters in one season. Armed with deadly thorns they tell you: Don't think about trimming me. I don't trim not because I'm afraid (I should be) but because I so love their huge clusters of small, single white flowers with golden stamen. When they are opening they are golden yellow. Bees love them and it's a pleasure to see hundreds and hundreds of them playing in the stamen together with bumblebees and other pollinators. The fragrance is strong and fills the air, it's a highlight of the garden every year. The blooms are followed by hundreds of hips which are food for birds in autumn and winter.
Never sick, extremely Hardy so they are a kind of indestructible.
Think twice before you plant Kiftsgate because she's a kitty with razor-sharp claws. But she's worth it, every cm.
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