'Elfi von Dassanowsky' is a warmly coloured floribunda, blending shades of light peach, apricots, yellows and soft pink. The plant is strong and robust, with wonderful healthy foliage to set up the elegant flowers. Her fragrance is sweet and alluring, almost citrus-like. 'Elfi' flowers well all season long with both single stems and clusters of bloom. She is an easy to grow rose that also makes a wonderful cutting flower. Our customers will be able to buy this rose during our bare-root season fall 2010 or potted spring 2011 as the first roses are off to the former Imperial Palace in Vienna!

'Elfi von Dassanowsky' was commissioned by the son of the famous opera singer, film producer, musician, and humanitarian. He was very careful in finding just the right rose to honour his mother and her accomplishments in life. A foundation in her name contributes grants to national and international charitable / non-profit organizations representing women in the arts, cultural and educational programs, and humanitarian efforts.

Mr. Dassanowsky reserved the very first 'Elfi von Dassanowsky' plants to be donated to the rose garden of the former Imperial Palace in Vienna. I'm personally thrilled to know that one of my roses has been chosen to honour such an amazing artist! Born in Vienna, Elfi (Elfriede) von Dassanowsky was, at age 15, the youngest woman admitted to Vienna's  Academy of Music and Performing Arts to that date, as a student of voice and as the protégée of famed German concert pianist, Emil von Sauer, a pupil of Franz Liszt. Her studies and her budding operatic career were abruptly halted for extended labor service when she openly rejected membership in Nazi organizations. But her talent allowed her a second chance; in 1946, Elfi von Dassanowsky made her opera debut in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

Recognized for her unique work as a pioneering woman in film production and as a multi-talent in postwar Austrian arts and culture, Elfi von Dassanowsky is the only Austrian to receive the Women’s International Center’s prestigious Living Legacy Award, and has been honored with the UNESCO Mozart Medal for her work in "promoting world peace through music and the arts," the French Order of Arts and Letters, and by the State of California. Her influential work has been hailed by such figures as President Clinton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sir George Solti and the late Princess Diana. As the international press has often noted, Elfi von Dassanowsky will remain an international role model to women in the arts and society.