Gorgeous rose collapses under weight of blooms

My Reine des Violettes old-world rose has collapsed under the weight of abundant blooms and smothered the little wooden bench below.

I never expected this rose to produce such an avalanche of flowers, particularly after the hard winter we had this year, but it has bounced back with renewed vigor.

Reine des Violettes is a once-flowering, old-world Hybrid Perpetual with an intense fragrance that dates back to France in 1860. It is also considered “almost thornless” because its prickly stems are barely noticeable.

The rose was given an Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society and the American Rose Society has rated it 8 out of 10.

However, this is a rose that needs to be pruned every year to keep it from becoming unkempt and it does respond to hard pruning.

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