Well mulched and set against a south-facing, sheltered wall, Jaune Desprez pushes our zone well here in Eastern Washington State. And thank goodness, too! Having this rose around is like stepping into the past. The scent is unlike any rose I've smelled--not "rosey" nor citrusy, but more like the ghost of the perfume clinging to your grandmother's old crystal atomizer. It reminds me of the now-forgotten time of quiet elegance, Manhattan at Christmas, San Francisco on New Year's Eve....

But enough poetic musings. This rose laughs at poetics! It's a no-nonsense Tea that, once established, slithered all over my wall, throwing out stiff canes with healthy vigor. The flowers are smallish, like many-petaled stars with button eyes, and are truly the most mutable blooms I've ever seen--now cherry pink, now gold, now butter-yellow, now a clean, chrysanth white--often on the SAME bloom on successive days! Despite my terror of delicate Teas, I kept it warm and watered, and was transported back in time to when life was mannered and beautiful.