Roses in my garden are blooming like crazy with very little disease problems and no Japanese beetles, yet!  This seems to be an especially good spring for roses, most likely due to our mild winter and plentiful rainfall and they are showing off.  I choose to grow roses that are full of personalities like Brindabella’s floribunda, ‘Purple Prince’ with its dark, purple-pink flowers and its amazing scent that permeates throughout our front yard.  Or my Proven Winner’s shrub rose ‘Ringo’ with its many single, bright, yellow flowers with red centers aging to a soft, yellow and cream with pink centers that can’t be missed when strolling through the back yard.  But my favorite is the ‘Butterfly Rose’ for it is unlike any other rose!

It is an heirloom shrub rose, Rosa Chinensis ‘Mutabilis, commonly known as the ‘Butterfly Rose’, ‘China Rose’, or ‘Chinese Rose’ native to southwest China.  While formally introduced to the horticulture world by Swiss botanist Henri Correvon around 1934, it was developed before 1894, breeder unknown.  He was gifted the rose by Prince Gilberto Borromeo who grew it on his estate at Lake Maggiore, Italy.  Correvon gave it the Latin name ‘Mutabilis’ for its color-changing nature.  It is prized for the unusual qualities of its flowers, which bloom continuously from spring until the first hard frost.  The single 2” slightly scented flowers open a creamy yellow, change to amber, then deep pink and finally crimson and sometimes a combination of colors; and, when the wind blows it gives the appearance of a kaleidoscope of butterflies covering the bush.  But don’t be fooled, some are real, for the nectar of the flower attracts many butterflies and both the nectar and pollen are loved by honeybees! 

We are fortunate to live in the South for it is not a very hardy rose in colder areas, growing best in USDA Zones 6-9…we are zone 7b-8.  In my garden, two are planted, one with all day sun growing to about 6 feet by 5 feet blooming continuously and the other in more shade growing to about 3 feet by 3 with irregular blooming…it should be moved.  But I do use it for propagation which is easy to do in the spring with its soft, new growth.  The butterfly rose is very disease resistant for an heirloom rose tolerating our humidity but can develop a few black spots.   Removing the diseased leaves is usually sufficient.  If not, I make an organic milk spray that works on all roses:  mix fat-free milk with water in a 1:1 ratio and apply it to both sides of the leaves with a spray bottle…done!  The milk and water solution coats the leaves causing the growth of an invisible fungus that fights off black spots.  The cause is a deficiency of potassium that makes roses more vulnerable to this disease.  So, I regularly add sulphate of potash, potassium (K), around my roses in spring, summer, and autumn.

‘Mutabilis’, butterfly rose is a large shrub rose growing 6 to 8 feet and should be treated as a specimen plant.  You can plant it any time of the year, digging a hole twice as wide, amending with organic matter, loosening the bottom roots, and positioning the shrub slightly above the soil line.  Be sure the location has good drainage and at least 6 hours of sun.  Like any rose it does like to be watered during drought times.  I prune and fertilize in March with my own formula:  10-10-10, slow-release fertilizer, and lime 1:1:1 ratio.  It is important to lime all roses for general health and leaf strength.  You don’t have to deadhead but it will encourage more prolific flowering if you do. 

I have chosen to avoid the use of pesticides and my roses are covered with butterflies, hummingbirds and honeybees.  But even if they weren’t, the ‘Butterfly Rose’ gives me great pleasure with its long blooming time, ever-changing colors, and blossoms resembling butterflies.  It is unlike any other rose!●