Rosa x persica 'Cream Babylon Eyes' - Miniature Rose

The 'Cream Babylon Eyes' Rose adds to the range of hybrid roses from the Persian Rose with a bright and changing colour, from yellow when it blooms to white when it ripens, its semi-double flowers displaying a red heart turning purple. It forms a not very tall but bushy shrub, resistant to diseases and flowering for 4 to 5 months. The Babylon Eyes roses have excellent tolerance to dry soils and cold weather. Particularly well adapted to dry and hot regions, this hardy variety also grows very well in large pots on the terrace or balcony in all areas.

The Rosa x persica 'Cream Babylon Eyes' or 'Interbablitlig' descends from a wild rose discovered in 1784 by the botanist André Michaux in the Zagros Mountains between Iran and Iraq. The unique feature of its bicolour flowers has since encouraged rose breeders to attempt hybridisation with other cosmopolitan species and varieties. After years of research and selection, exciting new cultivars have emerged all over Europe.

'Cream Babylon Eyes', created in the 2010s, is one of these varieties with exotic charm still little known here. It is a shrub or bush with an upright and bushy habit, rarely exceeding 1m (3ft) in height and 75 cm (30in) in width. Its branches are moderately thorny and adorned with small foliage, a slightly shiny bright green, very healthy. Flowering occurs relatively early, in May-June, and regularly repeats until September-October. The semi-double flowers, with flat cups, measure about 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3in) in diameter. The multicoloured bush is a beautiful bouquet of yellow and white flowers with vermillion and purple hearts.

'Cream Babylon Eyes' is a unique and alluring rose that can withstand difficult growing conditions. It can be planted where regular roses, like warm gardens, slopes, and rockeries, struggle to grow. This rose is almost indestructible and can tolerate dry summers and freezing winters. It is also hardy enough to withstand average winters, making it adaptable to be planted almost anywhere. In dry soil, Babylon Eyes roses can be mixed with other plants, such as garden irises, lavender, cistus, rosemary, and escallonias. Pink or white foxgloves, catmints, or pretty grasses like Muhlenbergia capillaris or Stipa capillata make great companions in cooler soil. It can be surrounded by cineraria maritima, alstroemerias, agapanthus or carnations on terraces or balconies.