INNOCENCIA® – white groundcover rose – Kordes (KORstarnow)
For professional growers building reliable project capacity, Innocencia® offers a uniform, tray-rooted own-root starting point that is easy to schedule into nursery beds and container programmes for landscaping stock. Its groundcover habit delivers rapid, even canopy formation for mass planting, while the dense, glossy foliage and pure white flowering give stable ornamental value in public and private schemes. The ADR-rated, disease-resistant background and H7 hardiness support predictable performance under nursery and project pressure, including sites exposed to strong winter winds in northern regions and similar demanding conditions. As an own-root shrub, it underpins long-lived, low-replacement plantings, supporting homogeneous stands and simple maintenance across landscape networks. Remontant, cluster-flowered, semi-double blooms keep beds visually active through the season with minimal deadheading, and the good self-cleaning adds further labour efficiency. Heat and drought tolerance is strong enough for exposed urban and commercial landscapes, while routine watering and minimal pruning are sufficient for ongoing care. The clear project orientation—mass planting, edging and slope coverage—fits UK landscape contractor tenders and public-realm supply chains. A 1.5–2 L route scales well into larger containers (40–50 litres and above) for park use, and the predictable growth curve from Year 1 roots to Year 2 shoots and Year 3 full ornamental value aligns with planned release calendars and wholesale commitments.
Usage options
Finished-product ideas
- 1.5–2 L project groundcover line – Uniform, dense, bush-trained plants in 1.5–2 L pots, optimised for fast canopy closure and low-maintenance groundcover in mass planting programmes – target: landscape contractor and framework-tender wholesalers
- 40–50 L pre-grown park units – Own-root, ADR-rated shrubs stepped up to 40–50 litre containers for immediate-effect coverage in parks and institutional grounds, balancing disease resistance with reliable shrub structure – target: public-realm and estate managers via project wholesalers
- Urban white bedding series – Colour-consistent, pure white flowering units trained to a compact, spreading habit for municipal bedding and formal schemes, leveraging strong disease resistance and low maintenance – target: municipal bedding contractors and regional nurseries
- Ecological corridor groundcover mix – Semi-double, pollinator-supportive white groundcover blocks integrated into biodiversity-driven mixes, built from own-root 1.5–2 L material for long-lived, low-input installations – target: ecological and infrastructure project specifiers
- Collection-grade white theme plantings – Premium silver-rated, award-winning white groundcover entries for thematic rose collections and show gardens, supplied as uniform, dense plants for design-led installations – target: show-garden organisers and specialist collection nurseries
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Innocencia® (RigoRosen® collection), registered as KORstarnow; commercial type groundcover rose within the Ground cover group, with ARS exhibition use as a shrub rose for ornamental beds. |
| Origin and breeding |
Sport of ‘Lorena®’ (KORlorena), bred by Wilhelm Kordes III at W. Kordes’ Söhne in Germany; bred and registered in 2002 and introduced to the market in 2003 by W. Kordes’ Söhne. |
| Awards and recognition |
Gold Medal Premio Roma and Silver Medals Baden-Baden and Le Roeulx in 2002, Golden Rose Hradec Králové 2007, plus National Rose Trial Garden of Australia certificate and ADR distinction in Germany in 2003. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Spreading growth habit, 45–75 cm high with 60–110 cm spread, forming dense, glossy dark green foliage; moderately thorny shoots; self-cleaning reported as good, creating an even, low groundcover canopy. |
| Flower morphology |
Semi-double, cup-shaped medium flowers (about 1.5–2.75 in) borne in clusters, with approximately 13–25 petals; remontant habit provides strong repeat flowering and an abundant second flush through the season. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Pure white blooms with slight ivory in the centre, ARS code W, RHS 155D outer and 155C inner; newly opened flowers show a warm cream tinge, ageing to a faint beige on outer petals while the white base remains stable. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Fresh, light fragrance of mild strength, offering a subtle-scented presence rather than a dominant perfume; semi-double, open flowers with accessible stamens also contribute some pollinator attraction in plantings. |
| Hip characteristics |
In autumn, a modest number of small spherical orange hips, around 6–10 mm in diameter, may appear, adding discrete seasonal interest without significantly affecting the main ornamental flowering display. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Rated resistant to powdery mildew, black spot and rust, supporting low chemical regimes; hardy to approximately −26 to −23 °C, corresponding to RHS H7, Swedish Zone 4 and USDA Zone 5b for broad regional deployment. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited for groundcover, flower beds, edging, containers, parks, urban green spaces and slopes; low maintenance with minimal pruning and routine watering, recommended as dense, bush-trained units for project mass planting. |
Innocencia® (KORstarnow) combines dense, fast groundcover, ADR-level disease resistance and climate-resilient hardiness on a predictable, long-lived own-root base; please contact us to align on volumes, timelines and integration into your project supply.
