Rosa x moschata Machera - Musk rose

The 'Machera®' Rose, like many hybrid musk roses, offers an abundant flowering in clusters that renew themselves from June to October. Its double and light corollas, with a slight herbaceous fragrance, open in apricot yellow then fade to cream, revealing their pretty bouquet of stamens. A charming, generous rose, easy to to grow in any type of soil, even in partial shade.

This rose belongs to the Rosaceae family. Selected by Lens Roses in Belgium and introduced in 2023, it is registered under the cultivar name 'VEL21mgeli'; Machera pays tribute to Grevenmacher, in Luxembourg, where it was christened.
The bush forms an upright, bushy habit reaching 80 to 100 cm in height with a similar spread. Its stems bear prickles and deciduous foliage, of a medium green, glossy, formed of lanceolate leaflets. The opulent, ramified inflorescences carry very numerous flowers approximately 7 cm in diameter, semi-double to double; the buds and young corollas are a soft apricot yellow, then quickly turn to buff before finishing white cream. The flower colour is more pronounced late in the season, when the nights cool down. The flower opens flat, revealing golden stamens. The rather discreet fragrance reveals herbaceous notes. Flowering begins in June and renews itself until October in successive waves; if not cut, some flowers produce small hips late in the season. The plant is hardy down to −15 °C, it appreciates non-scorching sun or partial shade (at least three hours of sun per day), and thrives in ordinary, well-drained soil. It tolerates dry conditions once established, but its flowering will diminish.

Place the 'Machera' shrub rose in a border in groups of three young plants or integrate it into a small informal hedge. Its very natural style pairs well with the light flowering of Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ and with blue hardy geraniums. Also combine it with shrubby cinquefoils in orange or white and other musk roses like 'Waterloo' (white), 'Apricot Bells'  (pinky yellow) or 'Kathleen'  (with decorative fruiting). You can also grow it in a large 30-litre pot to decorate your terrace.

The name of this rose evokes the history of Grevenmacher, a Moselle town in France known for its vineyards; the soft hue of its flowers recalls the white wines of the valley, a nod to the terroir that witnessed the christening of the cultivar.