I purchased this rose in 2022 and by summer 2023 it was fully grown and blooming those lovely flowers. This year is even better. I'm zone 6a that was previously a zone 5. I was worried about hardiness in harsh Midwestern winters but so far it has held up wonderfully.

While in the ground less than 6 months, the rose has taken off. Beautiful healthy foliage and loaded with buds. I've already doubled the size of the rose bed and purchased another Variegata de Bologna ! The fish emulsion fertilizer is stunning. Using on older roses with marked improvement in growth. Zone 9a, planted eastern side home. I feel like this could become an obsession ;-)

This rose is described as "moderately fragrant" but I find it one of the most fragrant roses I have ever grown. The blossoms themselves, though gorgeous in a bouquet, are fragile and not long-lived. I rarely get more than one bloom from the bush per year. And yet this is a hardy rose that has survived neglect on a rural property in zone 7a for more than 20 years, and the blossoms are among the most beautiful of any rose I have grown, if not the most beautiful.

I made a point of tracking down "Variegata di Bologna" when I saw it in bloom in a heritage rose garden many years ago, simply on the beauty and scent of the blossom. I wasn't expecting it to be such a survivor, though. It requires little care, although it's particularly tasty to rabbits and does better with a small wire cage at its base to keep it from being eaten and nibbled down. It also likes a bit of support (mine is growing on a chicken wire fence). Because I hear it does well in containers, I've just bought two more for a small city house where space and sun for roses is fairly limited----when there's such little space for a rose, it's hard to choose, and yet, if I could grow only one rose (apart from the stellar "New Dawn,' beloved by all) I think it might be this one.

This rose is indestructible. Because of its upright habit you can place it into a corner of the border without taking over the entire bed. Seems like it would be a good climber with support. One bonus I have found with my VB is that I get branches that revert to huge blooms of solid purple with amazing fragrance. I am going to try to root a cutting of the solid purple reversion to see if I can get an all-purple rose, I remember reading that Variegata di Bologna is a sport of a purple rose so it might already be a named variety. A great example of why we should grow old garden roses!