Rosa x persica 'Trendy Babylon Eyes' - Miniature Rose

The 'Trendy Babylon Eyes' Rose is one of the best among this series of hybrid varieties of the Persian rose called 'Babylon Eyes'. This marvel bears well-opened cup-shaped, purplish-pink flowers with large central purple to violet macules that give it a lot of character. Like its siblings, the flowering of this rose is enchanting, starting early and not ending until the first frosts. Its foliage is disease-resistant, and its behaviour in dry soils is remarkable. It has a naturally compact habit allows it to be grown in a large pot to adorn the terrace or balcony.

The Rosa x persica 'Trendy Babylon Eyes' or 'Intereybabert', launched by Interplant, won the Silver Medal at the Royal International New Roses Competition in Roeulx, Belgium, in 2017 in the miniature category. It descends from a wild rose discovered in 1784 by the botanist André Michaux in the Zagros Mountains, straddling Iran and Iraq. The particularity of its bicoloured flowers with a highly contrasting heart has since prompted rose breeders to attempt hybridization with other cosmopolitan species and varieties. After years of research and selection, very interesting new cultivars have emerged all over Europe.

'Trendy Babylon Eyes', born in the 2010s, is one of these varieties with exotic charm, beautiful like hibiscus, still little known here. It is a shrub or bush with an erect and bushy habit, not exceeding 1 m (3ft) in height and 75 cm (30in) in width. Its branches are moderately thorny and adorned with small, slightly shiny, healthy green foliage. Flowering occurs quite early, in June, and regularly renews until September-October. The semi-double flowers with 8 petals in flat cups measure about 5 to 6 cm (2in) in diameter. The changing colour of the flowers makes this wonderful bush a bouquet where different shades of pink, from purplish pink to tender pink to white pink, are highlighted by the central macules that become more violet at maturity. The foliage is deciduous, and it falls in autumn.

'Trendy Babylon Eyes', delightful under its bicoloured corollas, is an almost "indestructible" rose that will seduce gardeners with gardens or those who struggle with ungrateful soil, dry in summer, frozen in winter. It will be adopted more than any other in a Southern garden, in sandy, rocky soil, or on a slope, in a large rock garden, wherever other 'classic' roses would sulk. Babylon Eyes roses can be combined with each other and with many other plants, such as garden irises, lavender, rockroses, rosemary, gauras, oregano, teucriums, and sedums 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 coastal cineraria, alstroemerias, silver baskets or sweet williams.