Rosa Sunny Sky

Rosa Sunny Sky is an excellent variety with complex, changing, and fruity yellow flowers. This disease-resistant variety is easy to grow. It forms an upright bush with lush foliage. It bears large double roses with a modern shape. They are initially honey-yellow, fading to cream-yellow before wilting. Their fragrance is light, with fruity notes. Its long, sturdy stems carrying 1 to 3 long-lasting flowers look wonderful in a vase. This repeat-flowering variety is easy to grow, making it perfect for beginner gardeners.

Rosa Sunny Sky is from the ELEGANZA® series. It was registered by German rose breeder Kordes in 1999. It is an A.D.R.-certified* variety, distinguished by its disease-resistant foliage and good hardiness. Sunny Sky is a modern hybrid tea rose. It forms a beautiful, upright, bushy shrub with vigorous and rapid growth, thorny stems, and deciduous green foliage that is tinged with red when opening. It will reach about 1.2m (4ft) in height and 60cm (24in) in width. From mid-May until late in the season, its particularly bright roses, with double, slightly globular cups, 10cm (4in) wide, bloom solitarily or in groups of 2 or 3 on sturdy peduncles. The flower is an apricot hue at first, then it opens to honey-yellow and straw-yellow, and is invaded by a white-cream tone, while revealing an orange heart. Before wilting, the edges of the petals take on a pastel pink hue. The fruity accents of its fragrance are revealed with the arrival of sunlight. Although subtle, the unusual scent is present, especially in the evening.

With its vigour, impeccable appearance, and fruity cheerfulness, Rosa Sunny Sky will find its place in a large monochrome rose bed, or paired with white or mauve roses like Blue Girl or Sissi, in a mixed hedge, or even as a solitary plant in a well-maintained garden. It adapts to all climates and to all soils that are not too dry. It pairs perfectly with pretty and easy-to-grow perennials such as perennial geraniums (Geranium 'Blue Cloud', G. 'Anne Folkard', G. 'Nimbus', G. 'Orion'), bellflowers (lactiflora, rapunculoides), catmints, snapdragons, foxgloves, and grasses (stipa, miscanthus).

*The A.D.R. label is awarded each year by the German Federation of Rose Breeders to exceptional roses. They are judged on various criteria: the beauty of the plant, its fragrance, its habit, the abundance of its flowering, its hardiness, and its disease resistance. Since the creation of this highly selective label, more than 1700 roses have been tested and examined, but only 183 have obtained the label.