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dublinbay

Let's talk hybrid musks

dublinbay z6 (KS)
13 years ago

Not sure, but I'm worried my Pink Prosperity may have RRD. While I keep a close eye on it, I'm wondering about other hybrid musks I might plant there instead. I never was overwhelmed with Pink Prosperity, though it was starting to shape up pretty good its 5th year.

So, as alternatives for next spring, what are your favorite hybrid musks?

I'm looking for one that grows maybe 5-6 ft tall and wide, has good bloom/rebloom, and good disease-resistance. I'm open to color, although I think white may be rather low on my list of preferences.

I already have a Buff Beauty, so looking for something else to replace Pink Prosperity.

Pics would be nice along with your recommendations.

Thanks, everyone.

Kate

Comments (41)

  • aimeekitty
    13 years ago

    I can't speak to their other qualities as I haven't grown any long enough (or ever) and I have no idea what their sizes or disease resistance would be like in your area...
    but purely based on subjective beauty,...

    Bishop Darlington - I love the color on it... slightly peachy, sometimes yellowy... interesting slightly not quite single look. Very luminous!

    Clytemnestra, Cornelia and Felicia : just beautiful double HMs

    Lavender Lassie and Penelope, be still my heart! I think these two are just so so charming and smells nice, too., even though they're very different from each other.
    You can find really good photos of all of these on helpmefind, but here's some I've taken. :)

    Lavender Lassie at Descanso Gardens this spring
    {{gwi:211664}}
    {{gwi:211666}}
    {{gwi:211668}}

    Penelope at Descanso this spring:
    {{gwi:211670}}
    {{gwi:211671}}
    {{gwi:211672}}

  • rjlinva
    13 years ago

    How about Daphne?

  • lavender_lass
    13 years ago

    I agree with Aimeekitty, those are both excellent choices...beautiful pictures, too :)

    Trier might be a nice choice, although it's more of a creamy/white, it reblooms very well. It's also supposed to be very winter hardy, down to zone 4.

  • harborrose_pnw
    13 years ago

    Kate, you might like Bouquet Parfait, a hybrid musk from Louis Lens. I don't have a picture of mine, but there is a nice pic of Berndoodle's on the Antique Gallery on one of her threads on favorite roses.

    It's rated down to zone 5b and very disease resistant, acc to hmf. It's been really good for me in the PNW; I'd have a pic except a passing deer ate the last bloom cluster that I had before I got to it. :(

    I like Felicia and Cornelia. If you like singles, Lyda Rose is very pretty. Hybrid musks do a lot better up here than they did in Alabama; they seem to like the cooler temps.

    Lyda Rose

    {{gwi:301396}}

  • melissa_thefarm
    13 years ago

    My favorites are 'Cornelia' and 'Francesca', though I never met a Pemberton Hybrid Musk I didn't like. I wish I could get some of the rarer ones like the 'Daphne' Robert mentions. I've never gotten hold of 'Kathleen' for some reason, and every time I've seen it I've admired it.
    Melissa

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    I grow a few hybrid musks and plan on getting a few more. I posted pics of mine in Gallery (link bellow), I grow:

    Ghislaine de Feligonde - orangy, fades to white, the one I saw in local Rosarium can get at least to 3 meters high, nice shruby climber it seems. Healthy here, although probably gets too much shade from butterfly bush gone wild (she is still small).

    Felicia - really love this one, bloom form is a bit more tea-shape-ish, also she has apricot tan to it.

    Cornelia - mostly pink, does quite ok in a lot of shade.

    Ballerina - rather bright pink, large clusters of single blooms, also seems to attract some bees.

    Bouquet Parfait - really lovely musk, huge clusters of full blossoms, which have shades of pink and apricot. Tidy and nice growing rose.

    Plaisanterie - it is a bit different kind of hybrid musk, a lot of small blossoms on rather unrully and prickly shrub, but the shading of blooms is really pretty and interesting.

    Paul's Himalayan Musk - monstrous rambler, breath taking when in bloom, but otherwise plant on own risk. :D

    I also plan to get in the autumn Buff Beauty and Nur Mahal, also maybe Feeling - another of Lens musks, I really liked it in local Rosarium, it has that a bit of glowing look.

    Here is a link that might be useful: My musks in gallery

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    13 years ago

    I like Penelope. Bubble Bath is new, but a very nice rose. It spreads low at this time, but Penelope will grow tall.

    Ballerina is ok. I think I need to understand her more.

    Sammy

  • mendocino_rose
    13 years ago

    Excellence von Shubert is pretty and fragrant. Mine is planted next to Thisbe. The light purple and yellow are nice together.

  • aimeekitty
    13 years ago

    Ballerina is lovely and gets covered in blooms, but like with a lot of roses like her... you'd have to deadhead because then she's covered in brown blooms later.

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    Personally I do not get an urge to deadhead Ballerina, since her blooms are relatively small, so you do not get huge brown blobs as an eye sore. Then again I probably would not place her in any central position in the garden, since she is relatively plain compared with the other musks.

  • jacqueline9CA
    13 years ago

    Pax (Pemberton, 1918) is one of my favorite roses, let alone hybrid musks. It is the blooms I love - they are medium sized (maybe 3 inches across), semi-double, white, and have an indescribable look I think of as "buttery". The petals are rounded, and the whole effect is charming. Beware, however, those of you in warm climates. HMF says it might get to 8'. In my front yard, in dappled partial sun for maybe 3 hours a day (the rest shade), it grew 18 ' up the house! Have no idea what it might do in full sun...

    Jackie

  • maggiepie_gw
    13 years ago

    I have a mystery hybrid musk which I think is Queen of the Musks. It grows to around 6 feet or so here but usually gets cut down to about a foot after winter.

    I absolutely love it, it is very healthy and the flowers smell wonderful.

    Early flowers
    {{gwi:301398}}

    {{gwi:301399}}

    August flowers.
    {{gwi:301400}}

    This is its 4th season for me.

  • flowerpowereverett
    13 years ago

    Felicia, Cornelia and Penelope are my favorites! However, I am very interested in getting Queen of the Musks, that's a lovely rose I've not seen before - thanks for sharing it Maggiepie.

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks everyone for all these great suggestions. Plenty for me to research while I try to decide what to do with my Pink Prosperity.

    I have an additional question. A number of the suggestions seem to be for HMs that are climbers. Can they be left to form arching shrubs? Kinda like my free-standing Buff Beauty? That is the general "look" I'm aiming for. I like that graceful, natural look--a bit "willow" like.

    Kate

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    I think they get to climbing sizes only in warm climates, overhere Cornelia, Felicia and the rest stay big shrubs, from what I grow only Ghislaine de Feligonde can be considered a climber (and PHM of course).

  • gnabonnand
    13 years ago

    I really like my Nur Mahal. If I had the space, I'd add Cornelia, which I enjoy regularly at a local public garden.

    Randy

  • zeffyrose
    13 years ago

    They do well in my shady garden----Lyda Rose looks good even has blooms during the drought----Paul's Himalayan Musk---Nur Mahal (naked right now)---Cornelia---Ghislaine de Feligonde--looks good even during this drought---Lavender Lassie is rather bare---

    Florence

  • luxrosa
    13 years ago

    I've grown 14 different Hybrid Musks and these are my favorites:
    "Cornelia" is by far my favorite pink Hybrid Musk, darling dark strawberry pink buds and Cornelias' pink blooms have a charming shape, showing golden stamens when fully open. Musky fragrance of a moderate strength.
    "Callisto" my favorite yellow rose of this class. I opine that Pemberton was a master hybridizer of this group of roses, with a nod to Lens, as well. Callisto is as fragrant as Cornelia to my nose. The problem is finding it, I've only seen it sold by vintagegardens.com
    Our "Queen of the Musks" resembles the one at san jose heritage rose garden, both plants bear round red flower buds that open to a creamy white hue, in cold weather the open blooms are edged, and sometimes washed with clear pink. I'd say it is more of a white rose than a pink, but that could be because of higher temperatures here.
    This plant grows large in California, where I've seen it reach 8' in all directions. In colder realms it is said to grow to be 3' tall.
    I also grow "Lavender Friendship" which I like for having the fastest re-bloom of any H.M. I've grown.
    Luxrosa.

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    If you were going to grow them near each other in a bed of shrubs, which is the shorter (i.e., belongs in front of the other), Cornelia or Felicia?

  • meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
    13 years ago

    Lavender Dream?

    http://giverny-impression.com/lavender-dream/

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:301395}}

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    Cornelia and Felicia are about same size, I would plant Felicia in front, as she has a bit more elaborate and bigger blossoms. Warning though, they both are not that high, but grow more to the wide, so if you plant them directly in front of each other, it may look a bit blooby, I would not do it, unless there is a lot of space in between the two.

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    Thank you elemire! I am trying to imagine two hybrid musks, one in front of the other (so I want one higher than the other) to serve as a transition between Carefree Beauty on the one side and Golden Wings on the other (with quite a bit of room between the ones in the middle and those on either side of them - this is a good sized bed with room for 2 meter sized flowering shrubs).

    What two hybrid musks do you think would work well in such a setting? I want them to offer a "bridge" of color between the pink on one side and the yellow on the other. I would be happy if the larger one was about 2-2.5 meters tall (and approximately as wide, plus or minus) while the other was more along the lines of 1.5 meters tall.

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    I think Felicia would work better there, as she is a bit peachy for me, while Cornelia is more clear pink, at least in the shady-ish area. You could plant Penelope behind Felicia, she is bigger and blooms are more white, but otherwise might be a good option. Same for Moonlight, it is white and bigger. My friend also grows Ghislaine de Feligonde as free standing shrub in the back of the border, works rather nice and he does not even prune her that much, if at all in some years. Our season is from end May till October, quite cool usually, so if you have hotter and longer it may get bit bigger for you, but overall musks seem to be not overly vigorous.

    If you like Cornelia more, what probably could work Cornelia in the back and Ballerina in front (here ballerina is healthy, but there are accounts of it getting bs).

    Also there are modern Lens musks, Plaisanterie could work in the back, I really like it, but it is messy and thorny shrub (does not care about shade though). Bouquet Parfait is nice too, but I think it gets same size as Cornelia/Felicia (although seems to be more dense and upright than those). It might work as transition shrub, as it has pink and peach tones, but it has a bit of modern/pollyantha look, so might be a bit "too many notes".

  • meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
    13 years ago

    Ah, I should probably note that Lavender Dream isn't really a hybrid musk, is it?

    Sorry :) It works so well in the shade, etc. that it's still my recommendation, but I'd better be more careful!

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    Too purple. I'm looking for a shrub rose (5'-7') that blends pink and yellow.

    (Having said that, based on the pictures posted at Help Me Find I can see why you recommend it. Nice rose!)

  • mashamcl
    13 years ago

    York-rose, I assembled some pictures of hybrid musks. There are not many but it can give you some idea of how some bushes look overall, and perhaps how they will blend. I hope it helps a little.

    Masha

    Here is a link that might be useful: Some HM pictures

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    Thank you, Masha! You reminded me of Nymphenburg. I think that might work well.

    Perhaps with Ballerina in front of it, no?

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    Thank you, Masha! You reminded me of Nymphenburg. I think that might work well.

    Perhaps with Ballerina in front of it, no?

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    How did that double post happen??

  • elemire
    13 years ago

    Ballerina is rather pink, sometimes a bit on a border of florescent pink, but it may work, as the flowers are small, so it is not annoying. Also she sets tiny bright hips, which are rather nice in autumn/winter.

    here she is:
    {{gwi:301401}}
    Young bloom in my garden, half shade.

    {{gwi:301402}}
    Established plant in full sun in local rosarium.

    {{gwi:301403}}
    Planted in rosarium in 1992, about 1.50 m high.

    {{gwi:301404}}
    Hips

  • erasmus_gw
    13 years ago

    Kevin,
    I love that picture of Felicia!! Some people think Felicia is more fragrant than Abraham Darby. I guess it's my favorite HM. ANyone grow Walferdange? Looks luscious on RV's site, but more solid pink on HMF.

  • meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
    13 years ago

    Wow! I really need Felicia, looks like. How far do y'all think I can get her to climb here in z7btoa, NC?

    Or can she be cut small and manageable? (I prefer her to climb).

  • sanrosa
    13 years ago

    OH! All these beautiful photos! Now I want them all myself! Felicia is stunning. Ballerina charming, Queen of the Musks lovely, and Penelope is wow!
    Thanks for sharing, everyone. I don't know how Kate will choose!
    Sandra

    Here is a link that might be useful: Roses, Color, and Light

  • sanrosa
    13 years ago

    Oh, and Lavendar Lassie! Already on my wish list. Gorgeous! Thanks for all the photos.
    Sandra

  • melissa_thefarm
    13 years ago

    I believe 'Felicia' is somewhat fussier and more disease-prone than most of the Hybrid Musks, but second what Kevin in Ireland says about her fragrance, to my nose one of the best of all roses'. It's a mixture of old rose and musk, and floats in the air.
    Melissa

  • kevin_mcl
    13 years ago

    Disease resistance of Felicia is often described as 'average' - which usually means that in my damp climate, I need to spray every couple of weeks from May on to keep it clear of black spot.
    However, I have always regarded Felicia as one of those roses that is worth the effort.

  • landperson
    13 years ago

    Are there any pruning guidelines that apply specifically to Hybrid Musks?

  • york_rose
    13 years ago

    Who has grown or seen both Nymphenberg and David Austin's Alexandra Rose?

    Which of the two is larger? Would they work well next to each other?

  • landperson
    13 years ago

    Okay, this isn't what you asked, but let me just throw in that I do grow the Alexandra Rose. She is on her own roots and at the merge of two walkways. Even though she is lax and outreaching in her habits, and although she does send up suckers, I still haven't found it necessary to move her elsewhere. I just keep shortening her even during the season and she keeps right on blooming. I think she is lovely. If I had had my wits about me (ha!!) I probably would have put her back farther, but that is the story of my life in roses....

  • User
    13 years ago

    Eva is also a beauty and not that common it catches my eye every year at the NY Botanical Gardens.
    I have Ballerina also got rid of Francesca nice blooms the one I had did'nt have much vigor & was rather spindly
    {{gwi:301406}}