DAME DE COEUR – red tea-hybrid rose - Lens
Step outside after a shower and DAME DE COEUR greets you with deep cherry-red blooms glowing against fresh foliage, a quietly luxurious centrepiece for a small Irish garden. This classic hybrid tea offers XL, high‑centred flowers that look as if they were cut for a vase, yet sit happily in beds where good drainage helps them cope with soft Atlantic rain and heavier soils. On its own roots, it settles in steadily, building a dependable framework that rewards light seasonal care with long-term reliability. You can enjoy armfuls of cut flowers over a long season, while moderate hips bring gentle autumn interest without fuss. Year by year, it moves from quiet establishment to full presence, gradually becoming a familiar, long‑lived garden companion that feels equally at home in a terraced front plot or a cottage-style border. Its discreet fragrance and tidy, upright habit suit busy gardeners seeking everyday floral elegance rather than demanding showpieces.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Feature rose in a small front garden bed |
The upright, medium-sized habit (80–120 cm) and XL, high‑centred cherry-red blooms create an immediate focal point that looks composed even in compact Dublin front gardens, offering everyday elegance with minimal shaping for the beginner homeowner |
| Cut-flower row in a family back garden |
Solitary, long-stemmed flowers with classic hybrid tea form are ideal for cutting, giving reliable, vase-worthy blooms from summer into autumn so you can bring that “queen of hearts” look indoors regularly, suiting the home flower-arranger |
| Specimen planting beside a path or seating area |
Planted singly at about 90 cm from other shrubs, DAME DE COEUR forms a dense, upright bush that frames a path or bench gracefully, offering a clear view of its showy flowers at eye level for the nature-loving stroller |
| Own-root long-term planting in a family border |
As an own-root rose, it regenerates well from the base, avoiding graft problems and helping maintain shape and flowering over many years, a stable choice that repays light pruning and mulching for the long-term planner |
| Traditional rose bed in heavier Irish soils |
In a sunny spot with improved drainage and a mulch layer, its strong parentage and hardy roots handle typical Irish moisture and clay, provided water does not sit around the crown, which reassures the Atlantic-climate gardener |
| Remontant flowering highlight for short Irish summers |
With a generous second flush after the main summer display, it keeps colour going when many shrubs are fading, giving a sense of continuity and cheer in shorter seasons that particularly pleases the busy weekend-gardener |
| Year-on-year development in a settled family garden |
Expect a steady arc: first year rooting and establishment, second year stronger shoots and more buds, and by the third year its full ornamental value, structure and flowering rhythm are evident, suiting the patient garden-builder |
| Large decorative container on a sunny patio (40–50 L+) |
In a well-drained 40–50 litre pot with quality compost, it offers a movable splash of cherry-red colour and easy access for deadheading and care, making hybrid tea style achievable on balconies and paved spaces for the urban balcony-owner |
Styling ideas
- Cottage Duo – Combine with soft pink Dianthus and loose grasses for a relaxed, cottage-front feel that softens paths and low walls – ideal for romantic, time-poor gardeners
- Crimson Focus – Plant three DAME DE COEUR in a triangle with low evergreen edging to create a neat, high-impact focal bed – suited to tidy, design-conscious homeowners
- Vase Garden – Run a short row along a sunny fence, interplanted with Liatris ‘Kobold’, to supply straight stems and textured spikes for cutting – perfect for enthusiastic home florists
- Soft Contrast – Pair its cherry-red blooms with pale Physostegia and silver foliage plants in a narrow city front border for calm colour contrast – appealing to subtle-colour lovers
- Patio Statement – Grow a single plant in a 50 litre terracotta pot with trailing thyme at the base for scent and cover, creating an easy-care terrace highlight – great for busy urban dwellers
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose, registered cultivar name DAME DE COEUR, commercial type hybrid tea rose; American Rose Society approved exhibition name identical, unregistered variety by registration year. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Louis Lens, Lens Roses, Belgium, from ‘Peace’ × ‘Independence’; introduced in 1958 and distributed initially by Lens Roses, reflecting classic mid‑twentieth‑century hybrid tea breeding. |
| Awards and recognition |
Honoured with a silver medal at Baden-Baden in 1958 and awarded the RNRS Trial Ground Certificate in Great Britain the same year, confirming strong garden and exhibition value. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Upright shrub, typically 80–120 cm tall with a 50–70 cm spread; dense, dark green, slightly glossy foliage, moderately thorny stems and weak self-cleaning, so regular deadheading is advisable. |
| Flower morphology |
Very large, double blooms with 26–39 petals, solitary and cup-shaped with a distinct medium high-centred form; remontant with an abundant second flowering period after the main early summer flush. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Vivid cherry-red flowers, ARS code MR, RHS 46A outer and 46B inner; colour lightens slightly in strong sun, staying deeper in cool weather, with a subtle pale edge as blooms mature. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Fragrance is very weak and discreet, barely perceptible at normal viewing distance; primarily grown for its visual effect and form rather than for strong scent or perfume-related uses. |
| Hip characteristics |
Produces spherical orange-red hips, around 10–14 mm in diameter, appearing in moderate quantities when spent flowers are not removed, adding a gentle seasonal feature in late season. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Fully hardy to about −32 to −29 °C (USDA 4b, RHS H7), but disease resistance is modest; very susceptible to powdery mildew and moderately prone to black spot and rust, so protection is needed. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Best in a sunny position with well-drained soil; allow 50–90 cm spacing depending on use, feed and water regularly, prune annually and maintain a plant protection routine in disease-prone areas. |
DAME DE COEUR offers classic cherry-red, exhibition-quality blooms, a remontant season and resilient own-root longevity, making it a thoughtful choice if you would like a dependable, traditionally styled hybrid tea for your garden.
