Rosa 'Gloire de Dijon'

Gloire de Dijon' (Jacotot, 1850), a Tea-Noisette climbing rose, is and always has been a one-cane wonder in my yard.  A nice lady had it planted in a pot with a clematis.   It did poorly, and so she gave it to me, rather than throwing it out.  It's still a sad-looking plant despite a lot of time, water and fertilizer, but it does produce these wonderful flowers:



David Austin mixed 'Gloire de Dijon' with 'Conrad Ferdinand Meyer', a big, tough, thorny Rugosa shrub rose, and then he mixed some more, and finally produced 'Cressida' (Austin, 1983):


'Cressida' in the landscape with 'Lemon Spice' (yellow) and 'Rabelais' (red):


'Cressida' inherited something of 'Gloire's beauty, and a lot of Conrad's tough thorniness.  I was in a friend's garden recently, and saw the Tea rose 'Adam'.  I was surprised to see how much 'Cressida' resembles 'Adam', (or at least, what is sold nowadays as "Adam"), which is one of the first Teas.  Here's 'Adam':



'Gloire's fragrance is sweet Tea.  'Adam' is Tea-scented as well, while 'Cressida's scent is a cross between licorice and face cream.  To me, the flaws of 'Cressida' were on David Austin's mind as he refined and refined through many different crosses to create the beauty of 'Evelyn'.  I'm not sure there's any relation between them, but in my garden 'Evelyn' comes off as a refined and elegant version of 'Cressida'. 

Rosa 'Cressida':



Rosa 'Evelyn':



The growth habit is somewhat awkward, and you must deadhead promptly to get good re-bloom. However, refined or not, 'Cressida' is a beautiful rose that I'm happy to have in my garden.