Rosa x persica Glorious Babylon Eyes - Persian Rose

The 'Glorious Babylon Eyes' Rose offers the eye its bouquets of cream-yellow flowers with a magnificent red heart, as bright as they are light. Just like its brothers from the astonishing Babylon Eyes series, it is living proof that the queen of flowers still has surprises in store for us. Derived, among others, from the mysterious Persian rose, this hybrid with clustered flowers has both early and abundant flowering, great robustness, and good natural resistance to rose diseases. The plant withstands water scarcity well and has beautiful glossy foliage. With a compact habit, this very pretty rose is suitable for gardens of all sizes and for cultivation in large pots.

The Rosa x persica 'Glorious Babylon Eyes' descends, among others, from a wild rose discovered in 1784 by botanist André Michaux in the Zagros Mountains, straddling Iran and Iraq. The unique feature of its bicoloured flowers has since encouraged rose breeders to attempt hybridisation with other cosmopolitan species and varieties. After years of research and selection, very interesting new cultivars have emerged all over Europe. 'Glorious Babylon Eyes', born in the 2010s, is one of these varieties with exotic charm, still little known in our region. It is a shrub with an upright and bushy habit, forming a ball, rarely exceeding 70 cm (28in) in all directions. Its branches are moderately prickly and adorned with small foliage, slightly shiny and very healthy. Flowering starts quite early, in May-June, sometimes as early as April in warm climates. It is abundant and then more or less regular until September-October, if the soil is not too dry in the heart of summer. The semi-double flowers, in bicolored cups, measure 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3in) in diameter. They are often visited by bees. The plant is leafless in winter.

Exotic, hardy, and not very water-demanding, 'Glorious Babylon Eyes' is a rose full of advantages that will seduce gardeners without a garden or those who struggle with dry soil in summer and frost in winter. It can be adopted from the North to the South of our region, in a large border, in a flowerbed, or in a large rockery. Babylon Eyes roses can be paired with each other and with many other plants such as garden irises, lavender, rockroses, rosemary, and catmints in dry soil. In cooler soil, it can be accompanied, for example, by pink or white foxgloves, catmints, or pretty grasses like Muhlenbergia capillaris or Stipa capillata. On the terrace or balcony, it can be surrounded, for example, by seaside cineraria, alstroemerias, agapanthus, or pinks.

Obtained by Robert Ilsink for Interplant in 2006 - The 'Glorious Babylon Eyes' rose was awarded First Laureate 'International Novelties' at the International New Roses Competition in 2018, as well as the First Award 'Journalist' at the International New Roses Competition in 2018.