This weeks Rose of the week  is another shrub rose, this time it’s a great alba rose, Koenigin Von Danemark or the Queen of Denmark. The alba roses are thought to be from an very old cross between rosa damascena and a form of rosa canina. They have certainly been around for many centuries and indeed rosa alba ‘Maxima’ is thought to be the white rose of York. Koenigin Von DaneMark was bred from seedling from another alba rose, Maidens Blush in 1816 by the Scotsman James Booth. He had a nursery in Flottbek near Hamburg, Germany although at the time, it was part of Denmark. The new seedling started like as Great  Maidens Blush and was changed to its current name after James Booth asked permission to name the rose after the Queen from the King of Denmark and was sold from as this from 1826. 

Koenigin Von Danemark is indeed one of the truely great heritage roses. It has the most beautiful buds that open up to sometimes quartered flower of a clear pink with sometimes a green button hole in the middle, the scents flowers are borne just from 4 weeks around about mid summers day in June. The foliage is also very good, a dark blue/green colour with a grey sheen, just like all other alba roses. It doesn’t tend to suffer too much for fungal diseases but those can be treated easily,  just click here for details. Growthwise it is pretty lax grower, making a shrub up to 6ft in size, but it can be (and is much better) grown up a wall, archway or just cascading out of a small tree. Like all others in the alba group, it can take North facing sites pretty well and same with semi shady spots. 

The Queen of Denmark or Marie Sophie Frederikke of Hesse-Kassel as she was born in 28 October 1767, eldest daughter of Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Louise of Denmark. She married her first cousin, Frederick, crown Prince of Denmark On 31 July 1790 in Gottorp, she married her first cousin Frederick, then crown prince of Denmark. In 1808, his father, Christian VII of Denmark passed away and Frederick became Frederick VI of Denmark on 13th of March, 1808 and Marie became a much loved Queen of Denmark and served as Queen until her husband died in 3rd of December 1839 after which she disappeared from public life, she died a few years later in 1852