Paul Gauguin Rose
As a garden sentimentalist, I knew I needed a suitable striped rose companion for the beautiful Claude Monet. Here, then, is his smaller friend Paul Gauguin. These chaps would have something in common.
Both painter roses are striped, and both were rescued from an alarming situation last winter - a sale table in a supermarket, both close to rose-death, bare-rooted in plastic bags. The glossy photographs seemed unbelievable at the time - would these two survive?
Paul Gauguin Striped Rose
Yes they did, but only just! Of these two rose friends, Claude is the more robust of the two. Paul seems a little small, but his flowers are so beautiful. Red roses are enjoying a resurgence in my garden - I do get a bit tired of all the pink and white fluffies, and the peachy David Austin English pastels. Paul Gauguin provides a lovely shade of red, and his stripes are beautifully random and blotchy.
An Honourable Rose Name?
I've found a rather cute phrase about this rose in my big Botanica's Rose Book, which I will now quote: 'This rose is grown for its novelty value'. The rose book describes the stripes as 'deep russet and light salmon', but this combination is not as alarming as it sounds. Another nursery prefers 'Deep reddish mauve with pink and white stripes.' Perhaps not the lush, tropical colours that one might associate with the painter of the same name!
In Error - Discovered 2011
Originally, on this very page, I incorrectly identified this rose as Picasso. Please accept my apologies for getting so mixed up. Oops.