Roots and Routes

Rosa ‘Elle’

• Introduced by Meilland International in 1999
• Co-introduced in the U.S. by Star Roses and Jackson & Perkins in 2005
• Bred by Jacques Mouchotte
• Class: Hybrid Tea
• Soft, multi-colored pastel blend of shell pink, apricot, and creamy butter undertones, often with warm orange-pink or golden shades on the reverse petals
• Zesty citrus with notes of warm aromatic spice
• Parentage: Purple Splendour X (Chicago Peace x Parador)

The Elle rose produces large, elegant hybrid tea blooms in a sophisticated blend of shell pink, apricot, yellow, and soft orange. Particularly notable is its powerful fragrance, described as a rich combination of rose, fruit, citrus, and spice, which has earned the variety several international fragrance awards.

Bred in France by Jacques Mouchotte for Meilland, Elle received the prestigious All-America Rose Selections award in 2005, recognizing its combination of beauty, fragrance, disease tolerance, and garden performance.

The rose was named for ELLE, the celebrated French fashion magazine founded in Paris by journalist Hélène Lazareff in 1945. Created in the aftermath of World War II, ELLE presented fashion, beauty, culture, and modern life to a new generation of women and eventually grew into an international publishing brand. Meilland identifies the rose as a tribute to the magazine, making its refined coloring, elegant form, and distinctly French heritage especially appropriate for a flower bearing the ELLE name.