Rose Shangri-La!

Florists rose with excellent pure purple colour. Embodiment of the classical Hybrid Tea rose, with very neat and perfectly shaped high-centered flowers. Blooms abundantly and continuously, and due to its long lastingness will be a good choice for a bouquet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

FLOWERING
This variety is mainly bred for production of cut flowers in greenhouse conditions and has the ability to produce flowers year-round. In the garden blooms in flushes from summer until frosts.

In one year, ‘Shangri-La!’ is able to produce about 200-220 flowers per square meter of planted plants in artificial light substrate in a greenhouse.

Flower bud:
The flower buds are large and tall. Before the calix starts to break the flower buds have medium green colour. When the sepals half open the bud colour is deep purple, the height of the bud is about 5 – 6 cm.

The flowering stems are strong and erect, have medium green colour. The length of the stem is ranges from 50 to 90 cm.

Bloom:
The flowers are large, the average diameter of the fully open flower is about 10 – 12 cm. Upon opening the flower have high-centered shape, which persists until the end, the outer petals curl back, the center of the flowers persists closed. The flowers are full, under normal growing conditions there are usually about 45-55 petals per flower.

When the flower just opens the colour is purple with slight pink-silver shades on the reverse side of the petals. The most inner petals have slightly lighter colour on the very edges of the petals. As the flower ages, the colour becomes lighter closer to the center of the flower, having more mauve and pink undertones.

The flowers of ‘Shangri-La!’ show very good lastingness on a plant – about 10 – 12 day, and as a cut flower about 9 – 10 days under normal growing conditions.

PLANT
This rose is classified as Rosa hybrida cultivar, Hybrid Tea rose cultivar used for production of the cut flowers.

Forms upright and compact plant, with moderately vigorous growth habit. The mature plant height is about 60 to 100 cm, and the width is about 40 - 50 cm.

Foliage:
The number of leaflets on the normal mid stem leaves is 5. The foliage has medium green colour, semi-glossy and leathery texture. The edges serrated, the type of serration is single and medium.

Prickles:
There are very few prickles on the main canes and on the laterals from the main canes.

Disease resistance:
The rose variety ‘Shangri-La!’, when grown in a garden have medium resistance to black spots and mildew, the resistance to botrytis and rust good.

Shangri-La in Tibetan means “Shang Mountain Pass,” from Shang, the name of a region in Tibet; ri means “mountain,” and la means “pass.”.

In modern culture it is used as synonymous with any ‘earthly paradise’. First was mentioned in this meaning as fictional place described in the 1933 novel ‘Lost Horizon’ by British author James Hilton.

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

USDA zone 7 and warmer