Book  (1992)  Page(s) 110.  
 
Fantin Latour (Origin unknown) This variety is a found child of G.S. Thomas, which closely resembles the delicate roses on paintings of the french painter Fantin Latour (1836 to 1904). Surely this is an old sort, which has been renamed. The impressive, rounded shrub is densely foliated, and with large, glossy, smooth foliage, which makes one think of Chinensis-heritage. 'Fantin Latour' produces small bouquets of finely fragrant roses. They are cupped, well double blooms, soft pink and a few shades deeper in their innermost. The roses fade quickly in direct sun. This is one of the few old sorts which were awarded with the 'Award of Garden Merit' of the Royal Horticultural Society (1968).
Léonie Bell writes in the reprint of Curtis (1980), that the found rose 'Fantin latour' must be the old Bourbon-Hybrid 'Céline' (Laffay 1825). Height 1,5 m.

Book  (1992)  Includes photo(s).
 
p93 Photo. Twenty old shrub roses with perfume of exceptional refinement [include] ‘Fantin Latour’.

p154. A superb mystery rose with records conspicuously absent. The soft delicate pink flowers and their form puts it into this (Centifolia) group, although its foliage is smoother, darker green and more rounded than is typical. Its shoots too are less thorny. I find the all-pervading perfume rather more Alba-like than Centifolia. Summer flowering only. Tolerant of poor soils. Suitable for hedging, woodland and covert planting. Very fragrant. 5’x 4’ 1.5 x 1.2m.

Book  (1992)  Page(s) 31.  
 
Centifolia shrub; pink; blooms of medium to large size, double; not remontant; growth spreading, open, strong, 7 x 7 ft (2.2 x 2.2 m); dark leaves; good scent. Origin unknown, found c. 1900. OGR

Book  (1988)  Page(s) 61.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Fantin-Latour'. A China or HT hybrid, probably crossed with a Gallica, dating from around 1900. It makes a large spreading shrub up to 2m high, with well-scented flowers produced only at midsummer, in large clusters, at first cup-shaped, later with the outer petals reflexing.

Book  (1986)  Page(s) 165.  
 
‘Fantin Latour’, named after Henri Fantin-Latour, the 19th century romantic painter (particularly of flowers), is a latecomer appearing first in 1900. Its blooms are exquisitely shaped and of surpassing beauty.

Book  (1985)  Page(s) 124.  Includes photo(s).
 
Fantin Latour. C. Pale pink, summer, 5 ft (1.5m). Vigorous and free-flowering shrub rose. Flowers double in clusters of 2-5, pale blush pink, slightly deeper to shell pink in center, fully-petalled, slightly cup-shaped and deeper in colour when first opening, later opening flat and become paler. Delicately scented. One of the most delicate in colour and beautiful of all the shrub roses. Flowers 3 ½ in. (8.9 cm.) across. Mid-late June. Non-recurrent. Foliage good green. 3-5 large leaflets. Stem not very prickly. Rightly one of the favourite shrub roses, close to many of those of the old Dutch painters and also those of Fantin Latour, the French painter. A good grower but fading in bright sun. Origin and date of raising unknown. One of the very few old roses to have been awarded both A.M. and A.G.M. of R.H.S. 68. p13. A.M., R.H.S. 1959; A.G.M., R.H.S. 1968.
Plate 68, page 13.

Book  (1985)  Page(s) 130, 175, plate 15.  Includes photo(s).
 
p130. No such other outpouring of floral art has ever recurred, although we have isolated artists producing exceptional work such as Fantin-Latour (1805-1904). This celebrated Frenchman loved the rather squat arrangement of flowers in a bowl, the blooms closely pressed together, with a very natural softness pervading the whole. His was a soft and very sympathetic touch, and the early forms of Teas and Noisettes can be recognised in his roses, although I do not feel competent to name varieties. I am tempted to add that some of his flat, double, pale pink roses might well be 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' or even the rose we call 'Fantin-Latour' itself. From Chapter XI, Old Roses in Pictures.

p175. FANTIN-LATOUR. It is difficult to know where to class this splendid rose, as it clearly has Centifolia flowers, but the leaves shew signs of China smoothness. In growth and flower, however, it nearly approaches typical Rosa Centifolia, and as it has one season of flowering only, it seems best included under this heading. It will make a large rounded bush, well clothed in handsome, broad, dark green leaves, 5 feet high and wide on good soils, and is one of the most handsome of shrub roses, particularly when in flower. Poised with Centifolia charm the blooms have a circular, cupped shape when half open, of a bland pale pink, warmly tinted in the central folds with rich blush. Later the outer petals reflex, still leaving the centre cupped, and at this stage it is scarcely surpassed in beauty. It is a most satisfying rose in every way, and has a delicious fragrance. I found it in one garden where its name was unknown, labelled 'Best Garden Rose', and as such it is worthily named after the great French artist. So far I have been unable to trace the name in any book. (Pl. 15). From Chapter XV, The Provence Roses.

Caption for Plate 15: 'Fantin Latour' [no hyphen], a rose which unites vigorous growth and handsome foliage with a free and showy display of blush-pink blooms with neat 'button eyes'.

Book  (1984)  Page(s) 48.  
 
'Fantin-Latour' Haut. et diam. 1,50 m - Fleurs: diam 8 à 9 cm - Inflorescences: 2 à 5 fleurs.
Très doubles, les fleurs serrent d'abord en la forme d'une coupe leurs pétales d'un rose soutenu, puis les étalent et même les récurvent, mais seulement sur les bords, n'éveillant qu'au centre, toujours en coupe, une touche de rose carné.
Ces nuances de rose s'évanouissent sous le grand soleil.
D'où est venu ce rosier armé d'aiguillons, au beau foliage foncé, aux fleurs embaumantes qui ressemblent à celles que peignaient les peintres hollandais et aussi Henri Fantin-Latour?
Quels furent ses parents? S'il ressemble par ses fleurs à Rosa x centifolia, il fait penser par son feuillage à un rosier de Chine.
Graham Stuart Thomas l'a trouvé dans un jardin où l'on n'avait pas su lâppeler autrement que d'un nom reconnaissant: "Best Garden Rose"!.... "la meilleure rose de jardin"!
C'est ensuite qu'il reçut le nom du grand peintre (Henri Fantin-Latour vécut de 1836 à 1904.)
Que de belles roses gardent leur mystère!

Book  (1983)  Page(s) 63.  Includes photo(s).
 
Centifolias and their Hybrids...Fantin Latour. A greatly admired rose whose origins are unknown. It has a light scent and the flowers are pale pink, being deeper in the centre and sometimes as much as 100 mm across. They are cupped, fully double and open quite flat. The plant is vigorous, growing to at least 1.5 metres. A wonderful spectacle in full flower.

Article (website)  (1982)  Page(s) 16.  
 
Fantin-Latour (centifolia) Full petalled, flattish, blush pink fragrant flowers, abundantly produced on a handsome bush. c.1900. (S) 6 x 5’.