Class:   Floribunda

Parentage:   ‘Robinhood’ x ‘Virgo’

Date of Introduction:   1958

Hybridizer:   Reimer Kordes

Registration Code:   KORbin

Syns:   ‘Fee des Neiges’, ‘Schneewittchen’

 

I first saw ‘Iceberg’, a white modern, cluster-flowered rose (floribunda) in California about fifteen years ago. I was amazed then at how popular ‘Iceberg’ roses was in Southern California at that time in spite of the rose being 40+ years already since it was first introduced by Reimer Kordes. They were everywhere. We saw a lot of them at private gardens and even at the wineries in Temecula.

 

 

The flowers are semi-double, 20-25 petals and well formed, pure white with occasional pinkish tints in the bud state, especially in early spring and autumn when the nights are cold and damp. The blooms are produced continuously in clusters of up to 15 per spray, long lasting, both on the bush or as a cut flower. They have a moderate but not overpowering rose fragrance. ‘Iceberg’ can be used as a bedding plant for massed display which was very effective as we saw them in California. ‘Iceberg’ is almost entirely resistant to mildew and suffers only mildly from blackspot. All in all, ‘Iceberg’ is still the best and most popular white floribunda today.

 

‘Climbing Iceberg’ (syn. ‘Climbing Fee des Neiges’), introduced in 1968, is never without bloom, is a disease-resistant, healthy, robust plant. It is not too rampant and can be used to cover small fences or garden structures and even entwine around veranda posts.

 

Awards:

National Rose Society Gold Medal 1958

Baden-Baden Gold Medal 1958

World’s Favorite Rose 1983

Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit 1993.

 

Tip #42 – Make physical fitness a priority. Stop being a couch potato. 

 

Until Next Time. Stop and Smell the Roses

Rosalinda