We have MGS since January 2006 in our Zone 7b garden. It was not affected by the severe -12 to -15 C colds over 2-3 weeks in the winter of 2012. Normal winters are not an issue, no die back.
Thank you, jedmar for your efficient and direct response. I reside in a humid continental climate influenced by The Great Lakes with a USDA Z5b category. I'm contemplating her for the new gardens at my new home (over 2 acres now!)
Alas, another good story (like Ghislaine de Feligonde's) appears to be apocryphal. I was told it was named for the wife of a boring physics lecturer, whose students used to attend his lectures in the hope of being introduced to his beautiful Spanish wife. But from the description page: dedicated by the breeder to Emma Allgeier (1859-1941), the wife of Gregor Staechelin (1851-1929), a builder, contractor and financier in Basel, Switzerland since 1870.
I had read that Mme Gregoire Staechelin was the beautiful wife of the Swiss ambassador in Spain. Unfortunately research did not find any clue in this direction. The Swiss ambassador 1925-1932 was named Maxime de Stoutz. Gregor Staechelin was "just" a very rich patrician in Basel, also a political figure. His son Rudolf Staechelin (1881-1946) is famous for having been one of the foremost art collectors of Switzerland (Impressionists, Picasso and the like). He bought several Picassos during 1917-1923. This is the closest I came to the rose breeder Pere Dot. In 1926 Mme Gregoire Staechelin was a refined old lady (there is a photo in a biography), not a fiery Spanish beauty. I think the rose was dedicated to her against a payment to the Breeder.
Despite the hot dry summer, with the help of a little irrigating, this rose has produced three thick and healthy shoots the tallest of which is almost 5M high now. In addition as a bonus it also produced two extra flowers.
On April 21st there was a -4 frost following a -3. The damage was far worse because the spring was warm and early. Many shurbs lost their new growths, all the oak trees in the valley where I live had all their shoots burnt off. 'Madame Grégoire Staechelin' and 'Pompom de Paris' were the worst roses damaged, most of their flowers destroyed. The Deutzia that 'Pompom de Paris' grows through also lost all its blooms, the two flower together and look very pretty. In the south the frost was far more severe, down to -6, great damage has been done to all the grape vines the harvest will be down at least 60% this year.
That is a tricky one! If you are from the North of Normandie and from Belgium, then it is "Ghee-län", if you are from the rest of France, then it is Giss-län. Turbat would probably have used the latter pronunciation.
That's great, thank you. I just planted a 'Ghislaine de Féligonde' to replace a 'Breathe of Life'. 'Breathe of Life' and 'Compassion' never grew very well for me. They both suffered terribly from blackspot and badly from die-back too. They must also I think prefer an alkaline soil, mine is acidic. My grandmother grew 'Compassion' in a miserably thin bed up against her house. The soil was very hungry and chalky, it was up against the side of the South Downs, a snails throwing distance from th sea. It grew so strong and prickily it was like Sleeping Beauty's castle trying to get into the house sometimes.
Thank you, Andrew, for your valuable info. on which roses prefer alkaline. HMF stated that Compassion has " Large, glossy, dark green foliage", that's exactly the type of roses I shop for my pH 7.7 clay. After much research & experience I found that dark-green means it's very good in producing acid, and glossy means there's a higher demand for magnesium, which is abundant in alkaline clay. My clay soil was tested exceeding high in magnesium, next is calcium & potassium. But phosphorus is less available here.
Calcium is essential for growth, and there's less nitrogen & calcium & potassium & magnesium at acidic pH. Someone else with acidic clay also reported Breath of Life being wimpy. Last year I grew Munstead Wood (own-root) in a pot with MG-potting soil, we had tons of acidic rain that leached out nutrients. It refused to grow, then I gave it gypsum (calcium sulfate), and it immediately threw over 3 feet, or 1 meter octopus canes.
Winter-survival is better when I topped roses with alkaline horse manure, but many roses almost died through the winter when I heaped acidic leaves on top, or we got tons of acidic rain in winter rather than snow.
