Deep Secret

Where to plant. Above all, a variety for its scent. Plant it where its powerful spicy fragrance will be noticed every day: by a bench, the entrance, a path, a window. The deep dark colour shows best against a light background, next to silvery foliage (lamb's ear, wormwood) or blue flower spikes (catmint, sage), otherwise the flowers can get lost against dark green.

Climate. USDA 6b–10b; tolerates about −20…−23 °C. Tantau rates its cold hardiness as moderate (3/5), so in Ukraine the bush is covered for winter by the dry-air method. A sunny, well-ventilated spot.

Care. Repeat-flowering, so it blooms in waves all season; regularly removing spent flowers encourages a new wave. On disease: two versions exist. Gardeners often praise its resistance, but Tantau's official data is more cautious (black spot and mildew both 2/5), so in wet years plan on preventive treatment.

Name. The original German name is 'Mildred Scheel', after Mildred Scheel, a German radiologist and founder of the Deutsche Krebshilfe foundation ('German Cancer Aid'). The British name 'Deep Secret' ('a deep mystery') was chosen when the variety was launched in Britain, for its dark, almost mysterious flower colour.

Breeding. Raised by Matthias Tantau Jr. at the Rosen Tantau house (Germany); introduced in 1976; it reached Britain in 1977. In 1991 it received the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Significance. Deep Secret is one of the darkest red Hybrid Teas and at the same time one of the most fragrant. Such a combination of a deep, almost black-red colour with a powerful spicy scent (blackcurrant, lemongrass, Earl Grey) is rare, and that is what made the variety a classic. Do not confuse it with the newer cut-flower Deep Secret from Tantau (~2017, lilac-purple): ours is the classic garden Hybrid Tea of 1976 (= Mildred Scheel). Its natural neighbours in the 'velvet-dark' group are Papa Meilland, Black Baccara, Barkarole and Mister Lincoln.