I’m aware that rose cultivars achieve something approaching immortality when small parts of the plant are passed from person to person down the generations, but it still seems amazing to think that Rosa ‘Queen Of Denmark’ has been around since 1816.
Its bicentenary came and went with less fanfare than that accorded a human queen, but the important thing is that people are quietly growing it around the world. You may know it as Rosa ‘Königin von Dänemark’.
It’s easy to see why this rose has lasted. It’s a classic. The medium sized blooms are full, flat and a touch on the scruffy side, adding a voluptuous quality. Did I mention the scent? It’s strong and rich, as Albas tend to be.
While the flowers are traditionally described as ‘quartered’, when fully open they typically have five or six sections that loop around a glimpse of stamens at the centre.
Albas can be dated back to the middle ages. Devotees of Old Roses (also called Heritage Roses or Antique Roses) have helped them weather the storms of fashion and outlast many thousands of new introductions, despite the clear preference of most gardeners for repeat flowering varieties. It makes sense that the Albas that have come down to us don’t need much fussing. They tolerate partial shade better than most roses.
The parts of Rosa ‘Queen of Denmark’ I like best are the sepals (the green bits that protect the bud). They are longer than the bud with ferny or feathery appendages, and curl out around it with a cheerful flick.
My pictures are from Whitehall Park, in Darwen, where volunteers care for a small rose garden tucked away where not everyone will find it. It has all the ingredients you’d want in a rose garden, including a good mix of shrubs, climbers and companion plants; structures to give height; and places to linger. The little garden’s character has a naturalness, a sense of wildness, helped along by the roses themselves, despite them having great pedigrees. It is a little on the shady side: Darwen’s blessings have rarely included abundant sunshine. A cream coloured variety grows there that produces several twisted green buds in the centre of each flower. I’ll perhaps share some pictures of that one later, but I warn you, it’s funny looking.
Susan Rushton 
What a beautiful rose!
I’m glad you like it. 🙂
I looked up Darwen and found it’s very close to Blackburn, in Lancashire. That immediately reminded me of John Lennon’s song “Day in the Life,” which spoke of “four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire.” What got me searching in the first place was the question of whether Darwen and Darwin are merely variants of the same name. Apparently not, according to ancestry.com:
https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=darwin
My sweetheart was delighted to see a butter pie for sale here – I think he had heard of those in a Beatles song too. The oak derivation is the one I’m familiar with.
What a beauty! Love how it’s been around for a very long time.
The way plants regenerate from a cutting fascinates me.
First I must catch my breath, which was taken from me by the buds. If a bud can be described as extravagant, then that’s what these are. I particularly love the two peeking out in the top photo. To paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan, they really know their worth. Those sepals have a ballet-like quality. So lovely! Thank you for the lift!
You know I could not share buds without thinking of you. These ones are very fine.
She’s beautiful.
I’m glad you approve.
That rose really has everything a rose ought to have. Perfect.
Except the repeating.
Beautiful. I have R. Queen of Sweden, but I think that I like this pink better.
I like that one. She’s demure.
Absolutely gorgeous!
It’s the colour I think of when I hear ‘rose pink’.
Thinking of a flower being passed down through generations makes it seem even more special. 💙😊
If it could talk it would have a story or two to tell.
Absolutely! 😊
Those sepals are remarkable and I was thinking how much I liked them when I reached the paragraph saying you did too.
Any rose with a beautiful perfume is a treasure in my mind as so many roses in plant nurseries these days don’t have a smell at all.
I’m glad you liked the sepals. The singles without any scent are like a completely different flower.
Lovely
Thanks, Derrick.
Rosa ‘Queen of Denmark’ is a beauty. I love the ruffles and the richness of the colour. I have ‘Queen of Sweden’ – a paler pink and different cup shape, also the flowers sit upright. I could easily find a place for ‘Queen of Denmark’ in the garden, even if I had to evict something else. 😊
‘Queen of Sweden’ is just as photogenic. I’m sure you won’t be evicting her!
No, but I can think of one or two that I could happily say goodbye to! 😁