Marie de Blois Moss Rose
I love moss roses for the silliest of reasons. The covering of moss on their stems and buds looks like an infestation of aphids. Argh! But then the relief - not aphids at all!
An old rose...
Marie de Blois is my newest moss rose, purchased online from a nursery that specialises in heritage and old roses. Her first year in my garden wasn't so good - she ended up being swamped by huge dahlias and struggled. This year I've shifted her into a sunnier space, and she's flowering beautifully.
Marie de Blois roses
Another thing that made me choose her is her name, Marie (close to my own). She comes from France, was introduced in 1852 by Français-Andre Robert, and is named after Marie I, Countess of Boulogne. She is sometimes called the 'pink moss rose'.
Funny - I put the question to Ms Google as to whom this rose was named after. Her answer, attributed to AI, was as follows : 'The Marie du Blois rose is named after Marie du Blois.. Well I never!