William Lobb - Moss Rosebush
Creator: Jean Laffay, France 1855Flowers: 7cm
Height: 2,5m
Also known as “Old Velvet” or “Duchess d’Istrie”, this beautiful musk rosebush is a robust and vigorous plant, with long branches that reaches over 2,5m tall and is recommended to shorten the new shoots, because this way the plant is kept within the desired height limits. The flowers are wide and of a rich aroma and have a brownish purple color when blossom, fading afterwards into a splendorous mauve lavender-lilac. Each flower has strong sepals with moss-like features. The buttons, also covered in moss appear in groups, in the spring, before single bloom. The leaves are wide, of a pale green, with some tendency to mildew. William Loob was an eminent botanist from Victorian times that from 1840 up to his death in 1863, explored the most isolated places in North and South America in search of rare and exotic plants. The “Auracária auracana” (Araucaria from Chile) and the “Lapageria rosea” (Chilean Bell-flower) were some of the species that he introduced and popularized in the gardens of the British Empire.
