Flammentanz

Where to plant. Tall arches, pergolas, south- and east-facing house walls, tall fences; ideal for country plots in cold regions (Kyiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast); a typical scene — an old farmstead in northern Europe covered in it; paired with the white 'Iceberg Climbing' it makes a dramatic red-and-white duo.

Climate. To −34 °C — all of Ukraine without cover; a legend in Canada (zone 4) and Scandinavia; one of the few climbers that tolerates frost with no preparation at all.

Care. Formative pruning of climbers is minimal — only sanitary pruning after flowering; it is important to train the main shoots horizontally for abundant flowering; it flowers on the previous year's shoots — do NOT prune it every year like a Hybrid Tea (HT).

Name. 'Flammentanz' — German for 'flame dance'. The name conveys the blazing raspberry-red colour and the energy of the flower clusters moving in the wind, like a dancing flame.

Breeding. Bred by Wilhelm J.H. Kordes II (father of Reimer Kordes, who later created 'Friesia'), Sparrieshoop, Germany. Date clarification: bred 1951–52, ADR 1952; commercial introduction 1955. Often mistakenly written as '1952'. Code KORflata. Parentage: Rosa eglanteria (= R. rubiginosa, sweet briar) × Rosa kordesii (Kordes 1941, tetraploid).

Significance. One of the hardiest large-flowered climbers in the world. The Hybrid Kordesii line (created by Wilhelm Kordes II in 1941, when he crossed R. wichuriana × R. rugosa and obtained the tetraploid R. kordesii) gave the world a class of extremely hardy roses for cold regions. Flammentanz was its first major commercial success. Dortmund (Kordes 1955) also belongs to this line — both are legendary in Canada, Scandinavia and the Carpathian region of Ukraine. ADR 1952 — one of the very first ADR-certificates, in a system that had only just been launched.