You might think The Fairy to be a fragile pink rose, but in the 1960 Roses of Yesterday and Today catalog this sturdy polyantha is described as ‘unexcelled for vigor, spreading growth, perfect health and hardiness, and its superability to produce those charming pink rosette type blossoms in constant abundance, – each a fair flower, crisp and waxen like a pink sea shell.” The Fairy has proved herself to be a stalwart star of my mixed border for the past dozen years or more. She needs no fussing  at all.

Like all polyanthas, she is a small shrub, usually less than two feet tall, with a generous spread, and dense clusters of small flowers on short stems. The word polyantha means ‘many flowers’. In my garden she begins to bloom when the other roses are beginning to loose their oomph and she continues all summer.

You can still buy The Fairy at Roses of Yesterday and Today, as well as at many garden centers and other rose catalog companies.