Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'
-(310x410).png)
Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'• Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• common name: butterfly rose
• flowering season: throughout summer
• height: 3 to 6 feet
• Light requirements: sun
• Soil requirements: average soil that is well drained
• Water requirments: undemanding; during especially dry summers regular watering is recommended
• Growth habit: bushy growth
• How to propagate: tip cuttings in early summer
• Leaf type: reddish tinged green leaves
• Ways to use it: as a long-blooming highlight; a group of several plants makes a colorful hedge
• Special characteristics: it blooms for a very long time in the garden
• Other points of interests: a good cut-flower
Flowering all summer long, this shrub rose grows to three feet tall in northern climates and to six feet tall in southern climates.Young shoots are purplish and the new leaves are coppery. Its flowers change color as they age and are unscented. The unopened buds are apricot-pink, then open to buff, next becoming a mixture of apricot, rose, and crimson. Each flower is two to three inches across. Sometimes called the butterfly rose, it was brought back from China during the Victorian era and has had a variety of names over the years. Today it is thought to be a cross of Rosa chinensis with Rosa gigantea. To some degree it is evergreen, with leaves remaining on the branches over winter. Do not prune it hard, but only enough to keep it within bounds or to remove dead wood. Winter hardy to USDA Zone 6.