By Delilah Onofrey, Suntory Flowers
Photographs courtesy of Suntory Flowers
Roses reign as the top floral gift purchased each Valentine’s Day. Imagine if that beautiful bouquet also came with a gift card to purchase shrub roses from a favorite garden retailer? It’s a great idea for local florists to partner with local garden centers and premium online retailers.
Bred for disease resistance, Brindabella Roses are a modern shrub rose line with fully-petaled flower forms and perfume. While the darker colors have the classic rose scent, lighter colors are more citrusy. Purple Prince has been a superstar, earning landscape performance and fragrance awards from two national rose trialing organizations – American Garden Rose Selections and American Rose Trials for Sustainability.
Customers have been leaving rave reviews. A Washington state gardener is impressed by Purple Prince’s beauty and vigor. “It blooms profusely, perfect buds opening to gorgeous roses, wonderful, strong old rose fragrance, and only troubled a bit by aphids, which are easily eliminated with Neem oil,” she says. “I do not have a green thumb, which is a testament to this magnificent rose's ability to thrive. Truly sets the bar for other roses to live up to!”
Another in Florida, a diagonally opposite climate, was impressed with disease resistance. “Tallahassee is notorious for its hot, humid summers so I was very surprised that Purple Prince has never once had a bit of black spot. It has been lush with foliage and bloomed constantly since it was planted.”
Brindabella Pink Princess
Brindabella Roses come in seven scentsational colors – Purple Prince, Pink Princess, Dawn, First Lady, Empress and Touch of Pink. Pink Princess, a sport of Purple Prince, has been demonstrating promising landscape results.
Brindabella Crimson Knight
The new Crimson Knight is the most romantic yet. Buds start out a deep blackish red and then open to reveal vibrant, nonfading red petals. “The big selling point of this rose is the black overlay in the flower color,” the breeder, John Gray says. “Black in roses is highly sought after. There is a whole cult of folks out there who are turned on by it.”
If you want your love to last past Valentine’s Day, plant Brindabella Roses!
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