Blooming beauties: Heritage roses in the Puff Adder

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

With their sweet perfume and delicate petals, roses have symbolised love, gratitude and joy for centuries. We are celebrating these fragrant beauties at Babylonstoren during the month of November. For the very first time, the Puff Adder walkway has been transformed into a fragrant rose runway as we host a rose exhibition in collaboration with Anja Taschner, the daughter of famed grower Ludwig Taschner and founder of Cosmafolia floristry.

What are heritage roses?

The Puff Adder rose exhibition is a perfect complement to our towering pergolas of sweet-smelling antique roses that grace the garden. These heritage roses are prized for their fragrant perfume, unlike roses cultivated for cutting that have forgone their heavenly scents in favour of longer-lasting blooms.

In the Farmhouse rose garden, a collection of heritage roses is cultivated especially for their fragrance. Now all farm guests can enjoy these sweet scents in an exhibition of more than 80 types of roses.

Babylonstoren in bloom

Our exhibit has been arranged like a fragrant ombré dream. Enter the Puff Adder to find shades of white, such as Mme Alfred Carrière, Kiftsgate, Lamarque and Iceberg, before hints of pale yellow pop up in the likes of Mermaid and Albéric Barbier. Further down the belly of the Puff Adder, shades of Champagne Pearl make way for the Rosa Damascena, famed for starring in Chanel no.5, and the pale pink hues of Souvenir de la Malmaison.

Next you will find shades of pink and purple such as Albertine, Manuela Crabbia and Towering Magic, some firmly potted and others suspended in kokedamas from the topmost slats of the Puff Adder. Many of these flowers are not regularly available at local nurseries and have been specially cultivated by Ludwig’s Roses. The exhibit will offer something new every week as we showcase a revolving range of heritage and cut rose delights throughout November.

This month, we invite you to take some time to stop and smell the heritage roses at Babylonstoren.