Jean Cocteau

Where to plant. Formal borders, mono-terracotta groups, containers on a terrace, low hedges; one of the rare floribundas in a terracotta-ochre palette, pairing well with Just Joey as a 'duo of two warm apricot tones'.

Climate. Down to −20 °C. In Ukraine: the south and centre without protection, the north with moderate protection.

Care. Minimal: spring pruning; few worries thanks to high disease resistance (5/5, Label Rouge).

Name. The rose is named after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), the French poet, playwright, painter and film director, a key figure of the French avant-garde of the twentieth century. Author of 'Les Enfants Terribles', 'La Belle et la Bête' and 'Orphée'. He was friends with Picasso, Modigliani and Stravinsky: a man of his era. Meilland chose the warm terracotta-ochre tone as the 'artist's palette of the twentieth century'.

Breeding. Bred by Alain Meilland at Meilland International (Provence, France), 2006-2007; market launch in France 2009; Germany and the USA 2011. Code MEIkokan. US Patent PP 21,271 (7 September 2010). Parentage: Singin' in the Rain × (La Sevillana × Centenaire de Lourdes).

Significance. 5 international awards: Bagatelle Paris Certificate (2007), Monza Gold Medal + Rose of the Year (2008), Lyon 'Grande Rose du Siècle' (2009: the 'Great Rose of the Century'), Asheville Best Shrub Rose (2014), Adelaide Best Shrub Rose + Silver (2015). In France it carries the Label Rouge certificate (high garden quality) and the concept 'Rose sans souci': 'a rose without worries'. It is often wrongly attributed to Delbard because of their 'Painters Collection' featuring Cocteau; this is Meilland, not Delbard. Not to be confused with the historic variety 'Charleston' (Meilland 1963, MEIridge, yellow-red Floribunda): that is a different rose. The modern Charleston® = Jean Cocteau = MEIkokan.