Rosa x floribunda Hamlet

Rosa Hamlet is part of a series of modern hybrids called English Legend, which brings together varieties created in England in the 1990s by the famous breeder Robert Harkness. With their repeat-flowering and delicate scent, these slightly old-fashioned plants express all the charm of English roses. This particular rose celebrates Shakespeare's tragedy. It has a low-growing habit and disease-resistant foliage. It produces clusters of double, pompom-like flowers with a vibrant red-pink colour and a spicy fragrance that contains hints of wood. It is a highly floriferous variety from spring to the first frosts. Its dazzling flowering will be enhanced by light perennials and grasses.

Rosa Hamlet, a floribunda type, is characterised by a low, bushy, and well-branched habit. This bush reaches a height of about 60 to 70cm (24 to 28in) with a spread of 60cm (24in). Its thorny stems bear reddish young shoots that unfold into dark green, shiny leaves, divided into 5 finely toothed leaflets. The foliage is disease-resistant under good growing conditions. Its flowering is long and abundant, and it repeats in successive waves from June to October if the soil remains moist. The flowers open in small clusters of 3 to 5 units. They are 7 to 8cm (3in) wide, globular in shape, and composed of 25 to 30 petals arranged in a pompom. They are an extremely bright red with pink undertones, and their spicy fragrance is of medium intensity. It is at its peak at noon and in the evening, after a hot and sunny day.

Floribunda roses can be used to create beautiful small hedges, planted mixed at the edge of a patio, or in borders with modest-sized shrubs. They can be combined with abelias, Mexican orange trees, or caryopteris, for example. They are good companions for phlox paniculata and tall gypsophila. Hamlet will be highlighted when planted in groups of 3 plants, forming an extremely bright bush. It can be surrounded by nepetas and perennial or shrubby salvias with blue, mauve, or white flowers. It can also be paired with the silvery foliage of artemisias, chamomiles, yarrows, or small light grasses like stipa (barbata, pennata, tenuifolia). This very hardy rose requires little maintenance. It will thrive in full sun or partial shade, where it will delight all gardeners.