Rose Ballerina

Introduced in 1937, ‘Ballerina’ is a classic Hybrid Musk rose, celebrated for its extraordinary floriferousness and its restrained, harmonious habit. During flowering, the plant is enveloped in vast clusters of small, graceful blooms - so abundant that they nearly conceal the foliage. Healthy, reliable, and remarkably decorative, this variety remains attractive throughout the year. In autumn, its arching branches are further enhanced by clusters of bright orange rose hips. Loved by pollinators, lightly fragrant, and easy to cultivate, ‘Ballerina’ is a carefree landscape rose of exceptional charm, equally suitable for garden beds, containers, and cutting.

The buds are elongated and pointed. Flowers are single, with 4 - 8 petals, flat to saucer-shaped, and delicately colored soft pink with a contrasting white center and prominent golden stamens. As they age, the petals gradually fade to a pale pinkish white. Individual flowers are small, measuring 3 - 5 cm (approximately 1.2 - 2 inches) in diameter, but they are produced in enormous clusters of 15 - 100 blooms on slender yet strong, gracefully arching shoots. Sepals and pedicels are pubescent. The fragrance is light, pleasant, and musky, and is particularly attractive to insects.

Flowering is extremely abundant, long-lasting, and recurrent throughout the season, continuing until the first frosts. After flowering, the plant sets small, round, red rose hips, which are highly decorative in autumn and persist into winter.

The plant of rose variety ‘Ballerina’ is large yet compact, dense, and naturally rounded. It typically forms a plant about 100 - 120 cm (approximately 3.3 - 3.9 ft) in diameter, and under favorable conditions can reach up to 185 cm (approximately 6.1 ft) in height and 150 cm (approximately 4.9 ft) in width. The shoots are drooping and arching, bearing sparse red thorns or sometimes none at all. The foliage is abundant, leathery, slightly glossy, and medium green, providing an attractive backdrop to the massed blooms.

With timely removal of spent flower clusters, ‘Ballerina’ reblooms readily. It can be grown directly in the ground, where it excels in mixed borders, or cultivated successfully in containers (which require winter protection). The variety is shade-tolerant, though it flowers most profusely in full sun. It is frost-resistant (through climates similar to USDA Zones 4a - 10b) but benefits from protection against late spring frosts. Disease resistance is generally good; however, under unfavorable conditions it may be susceptible to black spot.

‘Ballerina’ is particularly renowned for its spectacular, long-lasting flowering. The countless delicate pink blooms, uniform in appearance and packed into dense, multi-flowered clusters, often resemble the flower heads of hydrangeas rather than typical roses. The plant develops into an energetic yet compact shrub with a rounded outline and attractive light green foliage, making it one of the most effective and enduring ornamental roses for landscape use.

Unfortunately we do not have information about the origin of the name of this rose.

Award of Garden Merit

Information about the parantage of this rose is not available or commecrically protected.

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