Rosa Sibelius - Hybrid Musk Rose

Rosa Sibelius, like all of Louis Lens's creations, possesses many charming qualities. This hybrid musk rose has a very natural habit that blooms generously several times between June and September. Its small semi-double flowers are rich in shades of magenta, fuchsia, violet, lilac, lavender and mauve, gathered in round clusters along gracefully bending stems. The plant also produces lovely red hips at the end of the season and its autumn foliage is beautifully coloured. This rose can form a beautiful, almost ground-covering, bush and it tolerates difficult growing conditions. Well worth discovering!

While modern roses are often criticized for their stiffness and weak disease resistance, Louis Lens's creations embody a completely different approach that promotes simplicity, generosity, and robustness. This variety, Sibelius 'LENbar', created by L. Lens in 1984, is a hybrid of the musk rose (Rosa x moschata), probably originating from Asia Minor or the Middle East. Similar to polyanthas and floribundas, roses from this family produce flowers gathered in clusters, but their colours are more refined and they have a more flexible and graceful habit. This rose forms a small bushy, spreading shrub, with flexible branches. It will reach at least 90 cm (35in) tall and 1.20 m (4ft) wide, sometimes up to 1.50 m (5ft) high depending on how it is pruned. Its foliage is divided into fairly dark green, matte leaflets with veins. Overall healthy, it can be susceptible to rose black spot disease at the end of the season or in humid climates. It has deciduous foliage that turns red and yellow before falling in autumn. The flowering is more or less continuous between June and September-October depending on the climate and soil moisture. Removing faded flowers promotes the production of new flowers. Each flower forms a semi-double cup of 3 cm (1in) in diameter. The colour palette is similar to that of the Veilchenblau rose. The heart of the flowers is open to bees and other pollinating insects. This rose is scented, but the scent is just around the flowers. If the flowers are not pruned from August, they transform into small round hips that turn red in autumn. The hardiness of this rose is estimated at -20°C (-4°F).

This little-known Sibelius rose is decorative from spring to autumn and deserves to be planted more. It is a very attractive plant to place at the back of perennial borders, in a large border, or even in a low shrub bed. It pairs well with many easy-to-grow plants such as perennial geraniums (Geranium Blue Cloud, Anne Folkard, Nimbus, Orion), campanulas, nepetas, ground-cover roses in a harmonious colour scheme... Left to its own devices, it will form a flowery dome with soft shapes that will perfectly highlight the opulent flowering of old roses like Charles de Mills, Jenny Duval, or William Lobb. Also consider planting it with a small herbaceous clematis with white, pink, or blue flowers.

Award: Bronze Medal at Baden-Baden in 1981.