Rosa 'Ispahan'
Rosa 'Ispahan', also known as 'Rose d'Ispahan' and 'Pompon des Princes', is a clear pink, half-open kind of Damask rose, a type of garden rose introduced from Asia to Europe during the crusading 13th century.
Description
The double flowers are big, reaching a diameter of Template:Convert, and have a strong, sweet fragrance.<ref name="RHSaz">Template:Cite book</ref> They appear in great numbers in clusters that can hold up to 15 flowers,<ref name="RHSaz" /> and are well suited as cut flowers.<ref name="blv" /> Their colour is described as silky medium pink, with a slightly darker middle, and fades only slightly.<ref name="blv" /><ref name="meile" /> 'Ispahan' flowers only once, but for six weeks – the longest of all Damask roses.<ref name="RHSaz" /><ref name="blv" />
The vigorous shrub grows Template:Convert tall and Template:Convert wide, with an overhanging form, light green foliage, and few big prickles.<ref name="meile" /> It is robust, disease resistant, and winter hardy up to -20 °C (USDA zone 5 to 6).<ref name="blv" /><ref name="RHSaz" /><ref name="meile">Template:Cite book</ref> The cultivar tolerates half shade, poor soils and is well suited for harsher climates. It can be grown in containers, solitary, in groups or as hedges.<ref name="GU">Template:Cite book</ref>
History
Its origin is unclear – it was introduced in the UK by the garden designer Norah Lindsay (1873–1948), but was probably developed in the early 19th century – probably in Persia.<ref name="RHSaz" /> The cultivar is named 'Ispahan' after the city Isfahan in Iran, renowned for its gardens and roses, where the cultivar was discovered in a garden.<ref name="blv" /><ref name="beales">Template:Cite book</ref>
The cultivar is still popular. David Austin still recommends it highly as free flowering, among the first Old Roses to start blooming and the last to continue, and for its fine Damask fragrance. Peter Beales counts it as one of his favourite Damask roses,<ref name="beales" /> Christine Meile calls the flowering 'Ispahan' the most attractive rose bush and an ideal solitaire plant, if one has enough space.<ref name="meile" /> In 1993, and was granted the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>