Rosa Queen of the Night - Floribunda rose

Rosa Queen of the Night is a remarkable floribunda rose, a large well-branched bush that is very floriferous with an extravagant flowering. From late spring to the first frost, without interruption, it produces a froth of semi-double, dark red flowers streaked with an almost black purple. Each branch carries bunches of many roses. Its shiny and abundant foliage is very disease-resistant. Plant it in a shrub or large perennial bed, or a large pot on the terrace.

While modern roses are often criticized for their stiffness, soulless flowers, and poor disease resistance, Queen of the Night demonstrates the opposite brilliantly.

Recently obtained by the rosarian Delbard, this shrub rose belongs to the cluster-flowered roses. It forms a superb bush with flexible branches. It will reach an average height of 1.30m (4ft) with a width of 1m (3ft). From May until the first frost if the soil remains moist, it produces bunches of more than 10 semi-double cupped, slightly informal roses, composed of 10 to 12 wavy-edged petals, 5-6 cm (2in) in diameter. Each flower is different, but all are randomly streaked with blackish purple on a red background. The red background colour becomes more purplish as time goes by. The flower's centre has a small white eye filled with a few golden yellow stamens. It is scentless. The deciduous foliage, present from spring to autumn, is divided into shiny green leaflets. This variety has excellent resistance to rust and black spot and only requires an annual pruning in late winter.

Rosa 'Queen of the Night' will set the garden ablaze throughout the summer season. It is robust and easy and thrives in any soil that is not too dry, allowing it to be grown in many regions, even at medium altitudes. It makes a beautiful subject to place in the centre of a bed of perennials, in a small garden. It can also be integrated into a large shrub bed or a hedge with Japanese quince, Berberis, Mexican orange trees, or other roses such as 'Emera', 'Opalia', 'Swany', Rosa officinalis... Its association with white flowers (lilies, foxgloves, paniculate gypsophila) or blue flowers (delphinium, perennial geranium Rozanne or Blue Cloud, Caryopteris) is always successful.