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Features
This is a repeat-flowering ‘hybrid musk‘ rose with a relatively long flowering season well into the autumn. Salmon pink buds open into light pink flowers with a centre of yellow stamen which have a medium fragrance. The foliage is mid green and slightly glossy.
What to use it for
This arching rose is ideal for beds and borders in cottage style gardens. Can be useful as hedging/screening.
How to look after it
It’s often cheaper, and generally better, to purchase roses as bare rooted plants over the winter (their dormant season).
When planting, trim the roots back to encourage new growth. Adding mycorrhizal fungi when planting can help roses establish well. Ensure roses are well watered, particularly if they are newly planted.
Hybrid musk roses respond well to feeding, which should be done in spring and again in midsummer. Feed them with a fertiliser containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous as well as trace elements of the more minor nutrients plants require – proprietary rose compound fertilisers are available which are tailored to roses’ specific needs.
How to prune it
No pruning is required until the plant is established. At this point, prune in the dormant season (late autumn to early spring) to remove dead, diseased and damaged growth, and between one and three stems (depending on the vigour of the plant). Cut back the remaining main stems by 1/3 and side shoots by 1/2.
Roses should be deadheaded regularly to encourage further flowering.
How to propagate it
Hardwood cuttings can be taken in late summer or autumn, from this year’s growth, and planted into 20cm deep trenches, with each cutting about 15cm apart. They should be ready to be planted out the following year. Quicker results can be achieved by keeping the cuttings under cover and applying a bottom heat of 21°C.
Alternatively the rose can T-budded onto an appropriate rootstock (eg Rosa laxa) in early summer.
Common problems
Drought conditions can cause smaller flowers, although the plant itself should be able to survive short term drought conditions due to its deep tap root.
Pests including aphids, rose leafhoppers, two-spotted spider mites, scale insects, caterpillars, rose chafers, rose thrips, pollen beetles, capsid bugs, leaf-cutter bees, rose slug sawflies and rose leaf-rolling sawflies may be a problem. Rabbits and deer can also find this rose a tasty treat. Roses may suffer from rose black spot (and other leaf spots), rose rust, rose powdery mildew, grey mould, rose downy mildew, silver leaf, crown gall, rose and viruses.
Disorders can include replant sickness and nutrient deficiencies.
Other useful information
Most Hybrid Musk roses originate from the hybridisation of Rosa ‘Trier’ with various large-flowered bush roses. This hybridisation was originally done by the Rev. Joseph Hardwick Pemberton (1852-1926), a rose enthusiast, who lived in Essex, UK. His work was continued by his own gardeners after his death and by other since. He developed Rosa ‘Felicia’ by crossing R. ‘Trier’ with R. ‘Ophelia’ in 1928.
This rose has been given the Award of Garden Merit by the RHS.
