PlantFiles: Bourbon Rose
Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin'

I planted 2 of these years ago on either side of my porch. Now they are 10-15' tall and completely covered in blooms every May / June. They are not in full sun and still bloom. The one with more sun is larger than the other. I do not fuss over them at all - they get minimal pruning and pretty much no other care. They really don't bloom much after June though - very few and sporadic throughout the rest of the year.

It's a fighter, bloomed, developed black spot and recovered the first year. Came back the second year thirsting for more sun, (I have it in a partial sun area). It's flowers are long lived. It's tenacity makes it easy to grow and it does grow fast!

Get it if you can!! Of the roses I currently know, one of my top favorites.. Who couldn't love such a beauty without the all thorns?? Smells like a rose should.. amazing. Lovely color and just lights up a trellis like a garden magazine show model. Strong grower.. I have one by my back deck and it just grows and grows. I have plans for an arbor and this will adorn it. It didn't lose all of it's leaves over winter.. How nice is that?

From Countrysideroses.com:
Zephirine Drouhin
Class: Bourbon
Bloom: Medium red
Size: 10 - 15 ft. tall
Introduced: Bizot, 1868
Immensely popular because it is thornless, this climbing Bourbon rose has much more to offer. Cerise pink semi-double roses have an intoxicating perfume. New foliage is dark red and matures to a gray-green color. Takes a few years to reach peak blooming but worth the wait. Zones 6-9.

Great for only two weeks in mid-late spring. Beautiful at that time. But, very few blooms after the spring season. I have it growing in a sunny area which gets sun from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. It grows very rapidly and I need to constantly prune it back because it wants to grow higher and higher. Seems to be weedy?

This is my second year growing this rose. Last year I had Zephy growing in almost total shade and she grew so much I had to cut her down and move her. Wish now I hadnt moved her! Now she is in total sun and has recovered well from the SEVERE pruning I gave her when I had to move her.
It is a gorgeous pink color and the fragrance is incredible!!
She is thornless and so far I haven't had to spray her for aphids or black spot as I have my other roses.

Of the few roses I have, she is now my favorite.

Does well in Kentucky. I have mine on the north side of my house growing against a stockade type fence. Its very shade tolerant, completely thornless, and has pristine green leaves untouched by blackspot, when other roses in my garden in suffer with it. It has a gorgeous fragrance, and blooms and reblooms like mad. Beautiful bright pink. Cannot go wrong! Bought another for my backyard.

Report from the UK. Grown by my garden shed, on trellis, sandy soil with added spent mushroom compost, fed twice yearly with rose food. Flowers all season June-Oct. Cut back in late March and light prune when removing spent flowers. Damp conditions mean blackspot is a problem, but with this fabulous scent I can forgive this wonderful rose. This plant is on its third year and was slow to establish but now its got going its wonderful.

It's thornless, which makes it a great (neighbor-friendly) choice for a fence or arbor. We trained it on a wrought-iron fence and it looked great, except that I found the blooms were a bit, well...garish. I love a good pink old-fashioned type rose, but this one had just enough salmon in the color that IMO, it seriously detracted from an otherwise wonderful set of attributes. I left it behind in the move, and probably won't choose it again.

Shade tolerant, resistant to blackspot. Has performed beautifully in Zone 5. Generous, stunning flush of blooms in late spring/early summer. Sporadic rebloom in summer, with a reasonably good flush in autumn. Very fragrant, attracts passersby with fragrance.

Beautiful bloom in spring but very sporatic during the summer and fall. Perhaps doesn't like very hot humid weather?

In north Florida, took a long time (years) to start blooming. Fairly good bloom in the spring, then only a few sporadic blooms. Beautiful, but for our area there are better roses.

Hardy in Chicago area. Easy to grow. Bloomed early summer. Fragrant.

The height of this plant can extend to 15-20 feet. It grows in full sun to light shade, and blooms off and on from mid-summer to frost. It's mildew-resistant, thornless, and fragrant.