HMF currently gives 1898 as the year of introduction, when a glance at the references shows that it was referenced in 1897. This is a common discrepancy - roses produced by Continental breeders appearing in lists of new roses in French publications in one year, and in English publications the following year.
Possibly. Phillip Robinson (2001 ref) doubted the ‘Gloire de Dijon’ parentage. At this stage we have no more information on Souvenir de Mme. Leonie Viennot’s 1898 parentage. SdMLV was used as a SEED parent, with R. gigantea as the POLLEN parent to produce the hybrid giganteas Belle Portugaise, Dona Palmira Feijao, Lusitania and Palmira Feijas.
This rose troubles me. It has been growing everywhere around here reputedly for the last 100 years, over this period people have continually taken cuttings and started their own plants. My problem is that there are so many variants, Leaf shape and length, prickles, once blooming or remontant and flower shade. None of the clones are completely different though, they have usually only 1 variant
I share your experience with this rose John. Different plants - even ones propagated from the same parent plant - differ in recurrence, habit, bloom size and form, petal and leaf substance and disease resistance.
