''Rosa'' 'Alexandre Girault' is a deep cherry pink hybrid wichurana, a large-flowered climbing rose. The cultivar was bred by René Barbier in 1907. The rose was awarded the

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

(AGM) by the

Royal National Rose Society The Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) (1876-2017) was a specialist horticultural organization in the United Kingdom dedicated to the cultivation and appreciation of roses. Founded in 1876 as the "National Rose Society", it was the world's olde ...

(RNRS) in 2012.

Description

'Alexandre Girault' is a hybrid wichurana rose, a robust climber, 12' to 26 ft (365–790 cm) in height, with a 12 ft (365 cm) spread. The rose has large, very full petals, that have a flat bloom form. It typically blooms in clusters once a year with a later scattered bloom. 'Alexandre Girault' has a strong, fruity fragrance. The flowers are a deep pink with yellow tints at the center and a white petal backs. The flowers hang down in loose of typically five to nine petals, opening up to a mass of pointed petals. The foliage is small and dark green. It is a very vigorous grower, often reaching up to 26 ft (8) if supported. The plant has long, slender flexible stems. The rose makes an excellent cut flower. The foliage is dark green and glossy

History

Barbier Frères & Compagnie

The Barbier nursery was founded by Albert Barbier (1845-1931) and his brother, Eugène, in Olivet, a village near Orleans, France. Albert was a nurseryman. He initially worked at the Transon brothers nursery and the D. Dauvesse nursery in Orleans with fellow nurseryman, Paul Transon, as his partner. Barbier took over the management of Transon nurseries in 1872, before starting his own nursery with his brother Eugène in 1894. The Barbier family business initially sold fruit trees, but later began breeding and selling roses. Albert's sons, René (1870-1931), Léon (b 1878), and Georges later joined the company. The Barbiers introduced the hybrid Wichurana rose to Europe in the early 1900s. Between 1900 and 1930, René Barbier produced exceptional new rose cultivars, large-flowered rambling roses with strongly scented and beautifully shaped flowers. Barbier developed this new rose variety by crossing ''Rosa'' 'lucieae', (a vigorous, trailing species from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

known for its thick purplish-red canes and glossy, dark green, foliage), and

hybrid tea rose Hybrid tea is an informal horticultural classification for a group of garden roses. The first hybrid tea roses were created in France in the mid-1800s, by cross-breeding the large, floriferous Hybrid Perpetuals with the tall, elegant Tea roses. T ...

During the height of rose production, the Barbier nursery produced some of the most popular and best selling roses at the time, including 'Albertine', 'Alexandre Girault', and 'François Juranville'. The Barbiers roses produced more flowers but were less hardy than ramblers produced from Hybrid Perpetual stock parents. Later ramblers produced by the nursery were more robust. Hardier ramblers like 'Primevère' (1929) and 'Jacotte' (1920) were popular in colder climates, like the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Barbier nursery also introduced the first Wichurana Polyantha rose, 'Renoncule' in 1911. After eighty years in business, The Barbier nursery closed in 1972. There are 33 Barbier rose cultivars that exist today, all introduced between 1900 and 1930. A large collection of Barbier roses grow in the

Roseraie du Val-de-Marne Roseraie du Val-de-Marne or Roseraie de L'Haÿ is a rose garden in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Val-de-Marne, France. History Jules Gravereaux (who made his fortune in the Bon Marché department store in Paris), purchased a large property in L'Haÿ about ...

gardens near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

'Alexandre Girualt'

The rose was bred by René Barbier in 1909 by crossing ''Rosa lucieae'' and hybrid tea rose, 'Papa Gontier'. The new rose cultivar established the reputation of the Barbier nursery throughout Europe. There is a famous planting of 'Alexandre Girault that envelopes the garden trellis at

L'Haÿ-les-Roses L'Haÿ-les-Roses () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. L'Haÿ-les-Roses is a ''sous-préfecture'' of the Val-de-Marne ''département'', being the seat of the Arrondissement of L'Haÿ-les ...

and bursts into a mass of soft pink roses every May. The rose has been awarded the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the

(RNRS) in 2012.

References

{{Rose, state=collapsed Alexandre Girault 1909 introductions