Rosa Kew Gardens - Hybrid Musk Rose

The Kew Gardens English rose is certainly one of the best, in more ways than one. Its beautiful pure white dog roses, warmed by a very soft lemon yellow centre, decorate a large, upright, plump bush, absolutely devoid of thorns. Draped in beautiful, disease-free foliage, with an excellent ability to flower throughout the summer with panache and generosity, this variety will certainly become, quite simply, the most beautiful rose in your garden.

This rose forms a large bush, at least 1.50 m (5ft) tall and 1 m (3ft) in diameter. It has an upright habit and thornless branches, covered with exceptionally healthy dark green foliage. Its flowers, arranged in large clusters, bloom almost continuously from the beginning of summer until the first frost. The buds, in a very soft pale apricot shade, open into dog roses composed of 5 pure white petals, around a sweet lemon yellow centre. The flowering is followed by the formation of a few small hips, which it is preferable to remove to encourage new blooms.

Its upright habit and vigorous growth make this Kew Gardens rose a perfect candidate to provide a backdrop, behind borders of perennials or light annuals such as baby's breath, tall phlox or love-in-a-mist. It copes well with the competition from the roots of other plants, which allows it to be associated with a border of flowering shrubs, the sumptuous foliage of the purple Cotinus 'Grace' or even a landscape hedge. In a countryside-inspired scene, it can be combined with other English roses such as 'Benjamin Britten' (pink), 'Crown Princess Margareta' (apricot), 'Eglantyne' (pink), 'Gertrude Jekill' (intense pink), with delphiniums, deutzias, foxgloves, willowherbs, perennial geraniums, and many others.

This rose is named after the famous Kew Gardens botanical gardens, in southwest London, which celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2011.

Created by David Austin in 2010.