“Fantin Latour” is in it’s second season here in our garden. We have her growing in a container against the side of our house in a south-facing location. It has taken this rose what seems like forever to get established, and I say that knowing how crazy that sounds since we’ve had her for such a short period of time, but she still has only a few lanky canes and produced just a handful (albeit beautiful) roses last spring. (It’s difficult not to compare “Fantin Latour” to the outstanding growth of it’s neighbor, “Arcata Pink Globe” which we’ve had for just as long and is a beast.) EDIT: So it’s the end of the season, and I thought it worth mentioning Fantin grew like crazy, filling out nicely with several long canes. Which just goes to show that old adage about “…third year they leap” being so true!
Not the best photo, but sharing this because it demonstrates how “Fantin Latour” produces arching canes. This rose looks like it would be a good candidate to train as a climber or on a pillar. Anyone tried pegging? I’d love to know how that worked out.
I’ve read that “Fantin Latour” is slow to get established and of course we’re finding that to be true, but that’s not what concerns me. Mainly it’s the fact that I’ve seen powdery mildew on her leaves, not all, but enough to make me raise an eyebrow.
But the blooms! The roses on “Fantin Latour” are simply gorgeous. Powdery-pink with darker, strawberry pink centers when just forming and fading to a pale, whisper-pink as they age. The scent is a glorious old-rose fragrance. As I type this, our ‘Fantin Latour’ has finished blooming and is putting forth some healthy new growth so I am optimistic that this rose just needs a little time to become established and then will be a showstopper. Do you grow “Fantin Latour”? Any tips you’d like to share?
Fantin Latour is another rose on my want list, its is soo beautiful but of coarse most roses are 😀
Agreed!
I have this rose (I am in the UK). My plant is 3 years old and has long, floppy, sparsely foliaged canes about 3 and a half feet long. There are currently small clusters of buds at the top of each cane. I am going to attempt to peg down or least arch the canes over onto a home-made support. The flowers are lovely but I’m not impressed with the habit of growth or the foliage. If I hear back from you I will let you know the result of my experiment.
Hi Neil, Yup Fantin does tend to get long, arching, floppy canes with roses clustering at the ends but I think you will be happy with the results if you peg them. I’ve found that bringing the canes into a more horizontal position and even downward forces her to produce flower buds along the entire length and not just at the tips. Good luck and let me know how it works!
Hi Neil – im a rose producer in France – I received Fantin Latour in November – i heeled in 10 plus plants at a 45 degree angle, i lifted half and potted them on – for sale – they did well – but i was late to lift the remainder as we had such a mild winter so we have left them in the ground – they are amazing! all have flowers, buds and healthy growth but all growing at a heeled in 45 degree angle! maybe she likes this – we will not move/repot them now until the colder months so we are leaving them to grow and enjoy themselves and show our visiting clients how beautiful they are – i can email you some pics if you want
Susan, thank you for sharing this! Sounds amazing!
Me again…I tried pegging. The border I have F.L. planted in is only 6 ft front to back, so you can imagine the lack of space for pegging. Pegging has helped with the formation of new foliage along the canes. I’m still not happy…my F.L. looks nothing like the magnificent specimen I saw at Broughton Castle last year. I have Mme Ernest Calvat, Bourbon Queen and Mme Lauriol de Barny in pots awaiting their place in the ground, so I think one of them is going to take F;L’s place. I just love the bourbons too much.
I have a fifteen year old fantin latour we planted in a two foot tall raised bed. On each side we have a six foot tall post with a cross bar at four and six feet. The long canes are draped over the bars and shorter canes draped over the sides. As soil Sinks in the planter we fill with compost. It’s around ten feet tall right now and fifteen wide. It bears around five hundred flowers every June.
Oh my gosh Andy I’m picturing this and it sounds like HEAVEN!
The late Margery Fish’s garden at East Lambrook has a stunning FL growing up through an apple tree, smothered with flowers & the scent is amazing. The stems are as thick as my wrist so been there a while!! obviously patience is the key.
I have a Fantin Latour rose in my garden that I planted last year, on Prince Edward Island, Canada, zone 5 (bought from a nursery in New Brunswick). I did prune it back in May and so far this year it has bushed out and is covered in buds. Can’t wait to see how the blooms fare.