PlantFiles: Polyantha Rose
Rosa 'Cecile Brunner'

I purchased a one year old plant from the Antique Rose Emporium two years ago so that makes it three years old now. It has reached 36" in height and continues to grow upward and outward. It sends out loose sprays of buds on branching stalks above the bush that are up to a foot long. Leave the bare spray stems on the plant after blooming and new growth will start in the sprays in a few weeks. I have a neighbor from South Carolina who brought a rooted cutting from her grandmother's yard and it is doing very well in the mid Texas coastal region. Buds look like miniature tea roses and open up to a pom-pom shaped flower about the size of a quarter. First flush in spring is beautiful and the second flush in early summer is magnificent. Lighter flushes occur throughout the summer with a good display in the fall (and lighter flushes in the winter in warmer climates). I don't recommend pruning this rose if at all possible. The new sprays grow out of the old wood and trimming stresses the plant and reduces bloom production. Every rose gardener should have one of these. She will not disappoint.

When we moved, I realized I had no room for my Cecile Brunner, so a friend agreed to adopt her. I put her pot by the front door, but months later, the friend still hadn't picked her up. In the meantime, she'd planted her roots into the ground and was vying with the orange tree for space. She was so happy, sending up long shoots and blooming again and again, I decided to let her stay, but had to prune often so she wouldn't overtake others!
We finally made room for her over by the mailbox, but she looked a bit 'sad' after the move. However, she perked back up after a couple of months, and is now back to her usual healthy, continual-blooming self. But back at her original site... there are already 6 Cecile shoots coming up out of the ground!! She's VERY persistent!!

She's an absolute joy and I heartily recommend her to perk up any garden.

Simply beautiful, great fragrance. Blooms for me even in partial shade!

This is a wonderful little rose. I planted 4 of them in my front yard last year (spring 2007) and they are doing very well. I had to water them quite a bit last year, due to very little rain and their need to get established. This year we've had tons of rain, so I haven't had to water them, and they are doing great.

They have a light citrusy rose scent. Usually I can only smell it if my nose is close to the rose, but if enough are blooming and the conditions are right, they can lightly scent a whole area.

Bloom color fades from pink to almost off-white. It will deadhead itself, but I prefer to do it, for a cleaner appearance.

Also, last year I fed them MiracleGro Bloombooster about once a week. This year, I've only given them one watering total with Miracle Gro general fertilizer, along with one spring feeding of blood meal. The feeding this year was in response to some very light color on the leaves in early spring. However, they have grown out of that (mid-July), and leaf color is good - so I don't know if the feedings were necessary or not.

They have bloomed generously and consistently since mid-May. They are only about two feet tall with about the same amount of spread.

I pruned in early spring - two of them I pruned heavily, and the other two lightly (ARE Roses recommends very light pruning for all antique roses) but you can't tell the difference now. I would say these can be very low maintenance roses, once established.

We purchased this plant from an antique rose place in Houston. It has been a steady bloomer, getting better each year.
Each bloom seems to have a different shape. All are beautiful. No problems of any kind have been experienced.

Bred in France. Won the Polyantha Spray award from eight times from 1999-2001.

Parentage:
Seed: Seedling
Pollen: Mme. de Tartas