About the name
Name. 'Iceberg' means 'iceberg' in English. A descriptive name that conveys the cool whiteness and the continuous, abundant flowering (like an iceberg made of blooms). In other languages the variety is sold under different 'snow' names: Schneewittchen® (German, 'Snow White'), Fée des Neiges (French, 'Snow Fairy'), Sneeuwwitje (Dutch, 'Snow White').
Breeding. Bred by Reimer Kordes (W. Kordes' Söhne, Sparrieshoop, Germany), 1958. Code KORbin. Parentage: 'Robin Hood' (Hybrid Musk, Pemberton 1927) × 'Virgo' (Hybrid Tea, Mallerin 1947). The Climbing-type form was found as a spontaneous sport by Cants of Colchester (England) in 1968; it is a separate variety with the same name. Reimer Kordes was the son of Wilhelm Kordes II and the father of Reimer-junior; he later bred 'Friesia' (1973), also a WFRS Hall of Fame variety.
Significance. One of the earliest varieties in the WFRS Rose Hall of Fame (WFRS HoF, 1983), third after Peace (Meilland 1945) and Queen Elizabeth (Lammerts 1954). Other honours: RNRS Gold Medal 1958, ADR 1960 (withdrawn 2004, a nuance), RHS Award of Garden Merit 1993. One of the best-known white varieties of the twentieth century and still a top seller worldwide. In our catalogue it is an important parent line: Iceberg is the parent (through the Wife of Bath line) of several legendary Austin English Roses: Heritage (1984), Mary Rose (1983), Wife of Bath (1969), Gertrude Jekyll (1986). Without Iceberg, English Roses would not look the way we know them.