Rosa "Babylon Aria Eyes", 2 l pot

• Type: Persian rose (Hulthemia) hybrid, low shrub, repeat-flowering
• Botanical name: Rosa 'Aria Babylon Eyes' (IPB1265-16)
• Breeder: Interplant, the Netherlands, before 2019
• Height and spread: 60–70 cm / 50–60 cm
• Flowering: June–October, continuous; 5–6 cm white flowers with a dark red eye
• Fragrance: light
• Light: full sun
• Soil: fertile, well-drained, never waterlogged
• Hardiness: about −20 °C (USDA 6b); needs good winter protection in Estonia
• Disease resistance: good (powdery mildew, black spot)
• Use: edging, beds, containers, balconies
• Size: potted rose plant

Planting. Choose a sunny, airy spot (at least 6 hours of sun a day) with fertile, loose, loamy soil that never stays waterlogged, pH 6–7. Dig a hole about 50×50 cm and add compost or well-rotted manure at the bottom. Set the graft union 3–5 cm below soil level – in the Estonian climate this protects it in winter. A potted plant can be planted throughout the season, from May to September; space plants 40–50 cm apart.

Watering and feeding. Water deeply but not too often – 10–15 l per plant once a week, more often in hot weather, ideally in the morning and at the base without wetting the leaves. In spring give a nitrogen-rich or complete rose fertiliser, again a complete feed when the buds form and after the first flush, and from mid-July only potassium-phosphorus feed without nitrogen so the shoots ripen before winter.

Care. In spring remove frost-damaged tips and weak shoots and shorten the rest by a third. In summer deadhead – with 'Aria Babylon Eyes' this keeps it flowering until October. Persian rose hybrids dislike excess moisture, so do not plant too densely. For winter, once light frosts have set in (around −5 °C, usually late October–November), mound dry soil or compost 20–25 cm high around the base and cover with spruce branches or horticultural fleece; remove the cover gradually in April.

Gardener's tip. The compact Babylon Eyes roses grow well in containers of 15–20 l or more: for winter sink the pot into the ground or move it to a cold unheated room (0…+5 °C) – roots in a pot freeze more easily than in the open ground.