Hannah Gordon is a beauty but it appears there is some controversy over its name and categorisation.

I instinctively tagged this rose ‘Floribunda’ and then went looking for entries in my catalogues only to find it categorised as a ‘Hybrid Tea’.  Sceptical though I was, I changed the tag.  I then did a Google search and found it under ‘Floribunda’.

I read that  “The descriptor of Floribunda and Hybrid Tea to describe cultivated roses is less and less reliable as hybrids are continually ‘crossing the line’ and defy accurate description”. Maybe Hannah Gordon is caught in this situation.

The article then advised not to get too hung up by reading from one source that a rose cultivar is a Floribunda and then in another that the same cultivar is a Hybrid Tea … so I won’t.

The rose exhibits characteristics of a Floribunda. It is a healthy, compact  shrub (mine is 1.1 metres high) and flowers in large clusters.

Hannah Gordon is synonymous with Raspberry Ice and, in some circles, Tabris, and is different from Nicole.  It was introduced in 1983 by Kordes.

Hannah Gordon was named after the Scottish actress.

Hannah Gordon is bi-coloured white and cerise pink.  The pink is the strongest I have seen in a rose.  It flowers in large clusters and is suited to a warm dry climate.  It is disease resistant.  In Western Australia, it flowers from spring to early winter.

Hannah Gordon is definitely up there as one of my favourite roses.