A Little Allegra.

[leene_chan]

Allegra Start!, a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

I actually don't know if this flower is going to be small at all. It hasn't opened all the way, and it's going to pour rain for the next few days. I'd cut the flower for a vase, but the plant itself is about six inches tall. I don't want to introduce bacteria into its single cane and make it get canker!

Allegra is a Paul Barden Hybrid Gallica Rose with a similar parentage to my beloved Marianne, only with St. Swithun as the Austin parent instead of Abraham Darby. Some sources say it looks like Konigin von Danemark on steroids. Since my Queen of Denmark aka New Maiden's Blush hasn't bloomed yet, I wouldn't know!

Allegra sure is gorgeous, though! The buds aren't as pretty as Marianne's, but this is one tough girl to survive our horrible winter as a 6-inch band and live to produce two buds in her first spring! I think that this rose is a keeper!