Honey Dijon

Where to plant. 'vintage' borders, containers near places where people sit, themed 'brown' groups with Hot Cocoa and Guinness; prized in wedding flowers for its rare colour, and good in bouquet arrangements; lovely in evening light, where the mustard tone 'glows'.

Climate. Down to −20 °C — in Ukraine with moderate cover in the northern regions; in the south, no cover needed.

Care. Classic Grandiflora — prune in spring by ⅓; removing spent blooms encourages new flushes; standard seasonal disease prevention.

Name. 'Honey Dijon' — English for 'honey Dijon mustard'. The name is a tribute to the French Dijon mustard sauce with its characteristic honey-golden colour. The variety is known precisely for its unique 'honey-mustard' colour, which is rare among garden roses.

Breeding. IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: from the code WEKsproulses one might have assumed Tom Carruth (Weeks Roses), but in fact the breeder is James A. Sproul, USA (a private amateur breeder); Weeks Roses is only the distributor and introducer. Bred around 2003, with commercial introduction in 2005. Patent US PP17,822 (19.06.2007), Australian patent AU3679P (2008). Sproul's first major commercial success. Parentage: 'Stainless Steel'™ (Tom Carruth, 1991, a lavender-grey HT) × 'Singin' in the Rain' (McGredy 1991, a salmon-apricot floribunda, AARS 1995).

Significance. Honey Dijon is popular in wedding flowers: a rare 'vintage' colour that combines well with cream, powder and silver arrangements. Among the 'brown' varieties, together with Hot Cocoa (Carruth 2003, AARS 2003), Cappuccino (Tantau Evers 2005) and Guinness (Netherlands, ~2011), it forms a new commercial category of roses for unusual bouquets in the 2000s. It is an example of how private breeders can create varieties with a unique market niche, competing with the big houses.