Plant of the Week: Ringo™ Rosa

Ringo™ rose

This week Jane writes about a "new" rose we're introducing called Ringo™. I say "new" because even though we are just introducing it to growers this year, and you won't see it at garden centers until 2020, it has been winning awards overseas since 2014.

Ringo™ Rosa has been honored with the Public Award and a Second Class Certificate at the Hague Rose trials in the Netherlands, it earned a Novelty Award at the New Zealand Rose Trials, 1st prize at the Lyon Rose Trials in France, and in the UK, a Gold Standard certification at the Gold Standard Rose Trials, and a Certificate of Merit at the Royal National Rose Society Show. Whew! I'm excited to see how it performs in the US...time will tell!

Hulthemia Persica (Rosa persica). Baikonur, Kazakhstan 

One thing I've learned from Ringo™ rose is (and this probably won't come as a surprise to my garden writer friends) that this particular rose is a hybrid of the species Rosa persica - a species in subgenus Hulthemia. (Pictured, right.) This is a tough little thorny plant that is native to eastern Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan. It is really thought of as a low-spreading weed, that only blooms once a season. But that bloom is what gives this rose its distinctive red center or "blotch" as it's characteristically described. In simple terms, the breeding of Chris Warner has taken that tough, drought-tolerant plant with a beautiful bloom and crossed it with a shrub rose, turning Ringo™ Rosa into a repeat bloomer with glossy, compound foliage on a bushy, compact, habit. The best of both worlds.

So, enjoy this post about one of my favorite new introductions, Ringo™ Rosa. 

- Natalie 

It's Ringo™!

The human Ringo, part of pop music's British Invasion, appeared with the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show over 50 years ago this week.

We don't have an Ed Sullivan show for plants, but Ringo™ the rose has won a number of awards. It's just as fun and flashy as its namesake - the bright yellow flowers have brilliant red centers.

Ringo™ rose has good disease resistance and also reblooms through the season. The bright yellow flowers will mellow to cream with a hot pink eye; you'll often see several different shades of bloom on the plant at the same time. This is a fun little plant with lots of garden appeal.

Ringo™ Rosa, it's just fun to say...

It is hardy to USDA Zone 4 and grows 3-4' tall and wide. Like other roses, it will do best in full sun.

The British (rose) invasion.
Many of our beautiful roses come from the efforts of British rose breeders.

Ringo™ is the work of Chris Warner, who also developed Suñorita™ and many of our Oso Easy® roses:

• Oso Easy® Paprika
• Oso Easy® Peachy Cream
• Oso Easy® Urban Legend®
• Oso Easy® Pink Cupcake
• Oso Easy® Mango Salsa
• Oso Easy Lemon Zest™
• Oso Easy® Italian Ice®

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris several years ago, and he is a delightful man - and very, very British.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.

Note from Natalie: Want to know a little more about Chris Warner? Read Tim Wood's post "Breeding a Better Rose - UK Travels continued" on The Plant Hunter. It's a little older, but there are a couple nice pics of Chris and his rose beds on there. See you next week!