Rosa x floribunda Greensleeves

The 'Greensleeves' Rose is a delightfully unique variety, rarely offered for sale. This creation, credited to the English rose grower Darkness, produces successive waves of bouquets with unusual, changing, semi-double flowers that are as light as butterflies. They open with a very soft old pink hue, then quickly fade to a pale white-cream with hints of pale yellow, subtly tinged with chartreuse green, and sometimes speckled with pink-purple along the edges. This variety is not very large, but forms a lovely flowering bush from June to October, even in hot climates, and its beautiful dark green foliage is resistant to rose diseases. Stand out by adopting it in your garden or on your terrace, in a carefully chosen large pot!

The clustered-flowered rose 'Greensleeves' is part of the floribunda roses, obtained through the hybridisation of polyantha roses and tea roses. These plants are characterised by their long and abundant flowering, in the form of clusters of larger flowers than those of polyantha roses.

'Greensleeves' forms a small bush that is approximately 75 cm (30in) tall and 1 m (3ft) wide, with a slightly spreading and flexible habit, good vigour, and abundant, healthy foliage that is slightly glossy and dark green. Its flowering period is long, lasting 4 to 5 months, in bloom from June to October. This bush produces medium-sized roses (6 cm (2in) in diameter), in the form of semi-double, informal corollas composed of 8 to 15 slightly frizzled petals. They are gathered in generous terminal clusters. The tightly closed buds, with a salmon pink color tinged with yellow, open into roses with a casual appearance, slightly fragrant. The petals quickly turn white-cream infused with a hint of anise green, then become white with a pink-purple reverse. Some flowers have small pink-purple spots along the edges. The stamens, yellow-green when fully open, quickly take on a grey-brown hue. On the clusters of flowers at different stages of ripeness, all these shades mix, creating a bouquet with unusual and particularly refined pastel hues. It should be noted that this rose, hardy up to -15°C (5°F), is often recommended for warm regions (e.g. California).

The 'Greensleeves' Rose, abundantly flowering and devilishly romantic, is particularly well-suited for cultivation in pots, but also thrives in flowerbeds, in the company of perennials such as nepetas, perennial geraniums, valerians, and foxgloves. Floribunda roses can be used to create beautiful small hedges, planted in mixtures at the edge of the terrace or in small shrub beds. Pair them with abelias, perovskias, or caryopteris, for example. They are good companions for phlox paniculata and tall baby's breath. They can also be planted in groups of 5 as standalone plants in a small garden; surrounded by a border of bear's breeches, irises, mulleins, or carnations, they will form a very beautiful and interesting flower mass throughout the entire season. The flowers of Greensleeves are wonderful in bouquets, accompanied by white or blue bellflowers and inflorescences of feather grass, for example.

Breeder: Harkness (UK) in 1980.