Olympe de Gouges

Hybrid Wichurana
Hybridized by Jean-Pierre Vibert 2001

This rose displays a very beautiful first flowering. Handsome, dark, shiny green foliage adorns this free growing climber, which reaches 10 to 13 feet. Canes are well armed. The deep, lively pink, semi-double blooms come in small clusters of one to five. Each fragrant bloom measures about three inches across. Remontant.

Named after Olympe de Gouges a.k.a. la Virago, and la Femme-Homme by her enemies, Marie Gouze (1748-1793) was a playwright and journalist who strongly advocated equal rights for women. At the height of the French Revolution, she published a proposal for the Rights of Women and the Citizen. This didn't find favour with the Revolutionary establishment. She was accused of conspiring to overthrow the Republic and was judged and guillotined the same day. But not before she had time to call Robesbierre an amphibian and Marat a miserable specimen of humanity. For more information link here.