Rosa Jingle Bells

The 'Jingle Bells' Rose should appeal to critics of large red-flowered roses. Its old-fashioned blooms are irresistible: round but beautifully curved, double but not heavy, they are a refined magenta red, doubled with pale pink and slightly fading over time. They open in richly nuanced clusters and with a sumptuous fragrance. This small bush is robust and adorned with beautiful dark green glossy foliage that is not very susceptible to rose diseases. Superb in a flowerbed and well suited to small spaces and container gardening, this romantic variety also makes a sensational cut flower.

'Jingle Bells' or 'Nirphabels'' is a modern shrub with large flowers related to hybrid tea roses, recently registered by NIRP International. This variety, which brings something new to the range of red roses, is very little known. It is a small, bushy, upright shrub reaching about 75cm (30in) in height and 60cm (24in) spread at maturity, with rapid growth in rich, moist soil. It produces long thorny branches that bear elegant foliage, composed of large glossy leaflets, dark green, which resist diseases if the growing conditions are adequate. This deciduous foliage falls in autumn. Throughout the summer, if faded flowers are removed, their pretty, barely double flowers appear in rounded cups composed of petal shells. Their colour is a magenta red without vulgarity, with pinker on the reverse. They are grouped in small clusters and carried at the tips of the current year's shoots or emerging on 2-year-old stems. Their perfume is pronounced, sweet and captivating. The flowering, perpetual, extends from June until the first frost.

This 'Jingle Bells' Rose, with its delicious roses and magnificent fragrance, deserves a prominent place: place it, for example, in groups of 3 plants in the centre of a small flowerbed, close to the house or in a beautiful pot on the terrace. Place silver baskets, perennial geraniums and nepetas at its feet, for example. It blends well in flowerbeds with light perennials and annuals such as baby's breath, lady's mantle, lamb's ears or tall foxgloves. White roses like 'Mémoire' or 'Virgo' accompany it. Its pairing with mauve or pink roses is also exquisite: cultivars like The Fairy, 'Blue Girl' or 'Claude Brasseur' will enhance its beautiful flowering without overshadowing it. Also, create bouquets with flowers for someone special to you.