Rosa moschata Millie Fleur - Musk Rose

The 'Millie Fleur' rose bush is a vigorous, charming, and fragrant bush that combines the robustness and fragrance of the multiflora rose with the highly recurrent flowering of moschata hybrids. Its small semi-double roses, in a lilac pink color, offer their stamen hearts to bees. They form bouquets on gracefully trailing branches and produce small sought-after hips for birds in autumn. It is a naturally disease-resistant variety and very versatile in the garden: it can be used naturally in a hedge or large bed, as a climber, or as a ground cover by severely pruning the plant each year to 30 cm (12in) above the ground.

The Millie Fleur® 'VEL11btare' rose is a 2021 creation by Lens Roses with an impressive track record*. It is derived, among others, from the musk rose (Rosa (x) moschata), a spontaneous hybrid probably originating from Asia Minor or the Middle East. A bit like polyanthas and floribundas, roses in this family produce flowers grouped in bouquets, but their colors are more refined, and they have a more flexible and graceful habit. 'Millie Fleur' also possesses genes from the multiflora rose, which has passed on its floral fragrance. The bush shows rapid growth and a natural, slightly weeping habit, supported by flexible and trailing branches. Ultimately, if not pruned, it can reach up to 1.80 m (6ft) in height with a spread of 2 m (7ft). Its thorny stems bear leaves divided into shiny, disease-free, finely cut leaflets. Flowering begins in June and continues until October if the soil does not dry out too much and the faded flowers are regularly deadheaded. The flowers form bouquets of up to 34 small flowers with a diameter of 4 cm (2in). Their color is a fairly dark pink tinged with mauve. The center of the corollas, occupied by golden stamens, is readily available to bees and other pollinators. If the faded flowers are not deadheaded from August onwards, this rose produces decorative small fruits at the end of the season. Its hardiness is estimated at around -15 °C (5°F).

This 'Millie Fleur' shrub rose thrives in well-prepared soil and requires minimal pruning, except for removing the oldest branches or dead wood in late winter. Plant it in a flowering hedge or in a shrub bed with other hedge roses or sturdy flowering shrubs such as Abelias, mock oranges, Japanese quinces, lilacs, etc. Its vigour allows it to be used as a small climber by training its stems on a trellis or arch. This variety is astonishing when used as a ground cover with a herbaceous clematis or a 'Fragrant Cloud' honeysuckle, for example.

*Awards:

- Le Roeulx, 2013, Certificate of Merit
- Le Roeulx, 2014, Elite du Roeulx
- Barcelona, 2014, Association of Public Parks and Gardens Prize
- Barcelona, 2014, Best ground cover rose
- Barcelona, 2014, Prize for the most exceptional rose
- Warsaw Rose Trials, 2021, Shrub roses, Golden Rose
- Nyon (CH), 2022, Gold Medal
- Nyon (CH), 2022, 1st Prize for apprentices
- Nyon (CH), 2022, Perfume favorite