ANDRE LE NOTRE ® – pink tea-hybrid rose – Meilland
Step outside to a soft shower of Irish drizzle and find Andre Le Notre ® glowing with romance in your front garden, its large, pastel-pink blooms catching the light even on grey days, while its strong, sweet fragrance drifts towards the doorstep. This hybrid tea is made for relaxed enjoyment rather than hard work: easy to shape, generous with repeat flushes, and on its own roots it settles in securely for a genuinely long-lived presence in family gardens. In typical Irish heavy soils, simple care – a sunny spot with good drainage and a mulch layer – is enough to keep it vigorous, coping steadily with our moist, disease-prone climate that challenges many roses. Give it a year to root, a second to build structure, and by the third season it will show its full, luxurious ornamental potential in cottage borders and city terraces alike.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Cottage-style mixed border near a path |
Extra-large, cupped blooms in soft pastel pink create a classic, romantic focal point in a cottage border, especially when placed where you pass close by and can enjoy individual flowers at eye level; ideal for fragrance-loving beginners |
| By the front door or gate |
The strong, sweet, fruity scent carries beautifully in still evening air, so a plant near the entrance turns everyday comings and goings into a brief scented ritual; perfect for a modest space and busy urban homeowners |
| Sunny, well-drained bed in heavier Irish soil |
In heavier or clay-based garden soils, planting on a slight mound with added grit and maintaining a mulch layer helps roots stay healthy and productive over many years, fitting typical local conditions for family-garden owners |
| Feature rose in a small front garden |
An upright habit to around chest height and a single, elegant stem structure make it easy to prune into a neat, showy specimen without complicated techniques, relying on simple spring cuts for novice gardeners |
| Repeat-flowering accent among perennials |
After its first flush, the variety quickly sends up new stems with a generous second wave of blooms, giving colour through much of the short Irish summer when many shrubs have finished, a bonus for time-poor gardeners |
| Long-term planting in a settled family garden |
Grown on its own roots, the plant ages steadily without graft failures, can regenerate from the base after setbacks, and keeps its shape and flower quality for many seasons, suiting forward-planning homeowners |
| Large container on a sunny terrace (50–70 L) |
In a generously sized pot with good drainage, regular watering and feeding, its upright form and single, sculptural stems provide a “mini-rosebush” look that complements compact Irish city terraces and balconies for apartment gardeners |
| Cutting corner for indoor vases |
The long, straight stems and very double, exhibition-type flowers are ideal for cutting, giving you luxurious, perfumed stems for the house over many weeks despite our cooler, shorter summers, delighting creative rose-lovers |
Styling ideas
- Cottage-Rose Path – Line a narrow garden path with Andre Le Notre ® underplanted with soft pink campanulas and airy grasses for a romantic, storybook feel – perfect for fragrance-oriented cottage-garden fans
- Front-Garden Welcome – Place a single specimen either side of a Dublin terrace gate, threaded with low lavender and catmint, to create a scented, easy-to-manage welcome – ideal for busy city homeowners
- Pastel Cut-Flower Corner – Group two or three plants with white phlox and soft apricot dahlias to form a dedicated picking area for long-stemmed, vase-ready blooms – suited to home florists and arrangers
- Large-Pot Showcase – Grow one rose in a 50–70 litre clay or stone container with trailing thyme and blue lobelia to frame a sunny doorstep – great for renters and balcony gardeners who need movable structure
- Romantic Mixed Border – Combine Andre Le Notre ® with Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and globe Japanese holly, contrasting fiery spikes and calm pink roses for drama with classic charm – ideal for design-conscious families
Technical cultivar profile
| Characteristic |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose, collection Romantica®, registered as MEIceppus; trade names Andre Le Notre ®, Romantica®, MEIceppus, ARS exhibition name Betty White™, premium gold garden-merit rating. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Alain Meilland, Meilland International, France, from Pink Panther × Charleston ’88 × Yakimour; introduced and registered in 2001, breeding completed in France in 2000. |
| Awards and recognition |
Highly decorated show rose: multiple 2000 awards including Rome and Kortrijk gold medals, Monza fragrance and Queen Teodolinda crown, Geneva fragrance award, Madrid certificate, Monza people’s choice. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Upright hybrid tea, typically 100–140 cm tall and 65–95 cm wide, moderately thorny, with moderately dense, glossy dark green foliage; weak self-cleaning, spent blooms usually need manual removal. |
| Flower morphology |
Very double, cupped blooms with 40+ petals, XL size over 10 cm, solitary on stems with a pronounced central rise; remontant, with a strong second flush and show-quality hybrid tea form for cutting. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Soft, warm pastel pink with peachy shading, ARS pb, RHS 36C–36D; buds creamy peach-pink, opening to silk-textured pink, fading towards very pale, almost ivory-pink tones as each bloom ages on the plant. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Noted for a strong, sweet, fruity rose fragrance that has earned fragrance awards; scent is easily appreciated in the garden and makes it an excellent choice where perfumed cut roses are especially valued. |
| Hip characteristics |
Hip set is generally sparse due to very double blooms; where pollination succeeds, it forms small, spherical red hips around 10–14 mm in diameter, rarely prominent in the overall garden effect. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Hardy to approximately -21 to -18 °C (RHS H7, Swedish zone 3, USDA 6b); heat tolerance medium, needs watering in long dry spells; disease resistance moderate to weak, notably prone to rust, needing protection. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Best in full sun with fertile, well-drained soil; space 50–90 cm depending on use. Requires regular feeding, deadheading and plant protection. Plant at 3.3–3.8 plants/m² for mass or hedge-effect planting. |
ANDRE LE NOTRE ® rewards you with sumptuous pastel blooms, powerful fragrance and reliable repeat flowering on a durable own-root framework, a refined choice if you prefer a long-lived, characterful rose to enjoy over many seasons.
