The Tea Rose Variety That Adds Moody Interest And Color To Your Garden

Rose breeders have been trying to create a truly black rose for many years without much success. However, this stunning hybrid tea rose comes pretty close with its dark burgundy, almost black buds that fade as they age. In fact, the Black Baccara is receiving notoriety as the darker option compared to many other black roses that have been previously available on the market.

You definitely want to grow this gorgeous tea rose hybrid in your garden to create some moody interest and another dimension of color. It would blend perfectly with other black plants that you can grow indoors or in your garden in some regions. Black Baccara was originally bred for the florist industry because it has lovely long stems and lasts up to two weeks in a vase. As with many long-lasting roses bred for use in floristry, these lovely blooms have little, if any, fragrance. But the spectacular blooms will undoubtedly create some interesting conversations if you choose to grow this variety in your garden.

Like most tea roses, Black Baccara forms a dense bush that can reach a height of up to 5 feet. The gorgeous flowers can reach a diameter of up to 4 inches, and you'll love the sumptuous, velvety feel of the petals. This lovely rose will bloom in your garden from June through to September. Be sure to deadhead spent blooms if you haven't cut them for displaying indoors so that the plant is encouraged to produce more flowers.

This rose bush has an upright growth habit with strong stems. The foliage is dark green with semi-glossy leaves. The stunning large blooms are known as doubles due to their form and numerous tightly packed petals. The blooms usually grow as singles, but at other times, there can be two, three, or even four flowers on a single stem. This makes them ideal for cut flowers. What you'll find most intriguing is that the buds start out as a very deep burgundy color, but as the petals open further, they fade to a blood-red color. For an even more incredible explosion of color in your garden, you might like to grow a range of companion plants with your roses, such as salvia, lavender, and coneflowers.

Due to its outstanding blooms, you want to give this rose pride of place in your garden. Choose a sunny spot where you can easily appreciate those stunning flowers from late spring through to the fall. Add plenty of aged compost to the soil before planting to give your new rose bush a good head start. Black Baccara can be successfully grown in USDA hardiness zones 6 through 10. For gardeners in more humid regions, you'll appreciate the fact that this rose has good resistance to mildew, rust, and botrytis. Plus, it's somewhat resistant to black spot, although this might still be a problem during periods of high humidity. But you can save your precious roses from harmful black spot disease with a common kitchen ingredient such as baking soda.

Once planted, make sure that you give your rose plenty of moisture so that the roots can establish in the soil. Use a fairly balanced fertilizer with a higher amount of potassium to encourage plenty of blooms. Something with an NPK ratio of 5-5-7 is ideal. Feed your rose bush in early spring and then again in summer. Prune the bush in late fall or early spring as you would with any other tea roses that you might be growing. You can also grow this outstanding hybrid tea rose in a large pot on your patio, balcony, or veranda. Just make sure that it gets plenty of sunshine.