NEPTUNE – mauve-lilac hybrid tea rose – pharmaROSA® NEONATAL
Neptune offers professionally attractive flower and colour quality in pharmaROSA® NEONATAL own-root form, delivering a stable base for premium container production and exclusive retail ranges. Its hybrid-tea form, XL blooms and rich fragrance support higher price points in 5–7 L and larger containers, while fade-resistant petal quality secures a reliable show value for thematic rose gardens and collection plantings. The cultivar’s documented black spot, powdery mildew and rust resistance, together with H6 winter hardiness, provide predictable performance under UK nursery conditions, including more exposed northern and inland sites that combine winter cold with regular wind. Own-root NEONATAL material builds long-lived, regenerating bushes that progress from root establishment in year one to structural shoot build-up in year two and full ornamental expression by year three, aligning well with planned finishing schedules and wholesale stocking. With bushy, upright growth and dark glossy foliage, Neptune is a strong option for growers aiming to anchor an exclusive mauve-lilac cut-flower style hybrid tea in a dependable, scalable propagation platform.
Usage options
Finished-product ideas
- Premium 5–7 L scented hybrid tea line – Focus on XL, high-centred, strongly fragrant blooms finished in 5–7 L pots from bush-trained NEONATAL stock, positioned as an exclusive mauve-lilac feature rose – target audience/channel: premium retail and specialist resellers.
- Exhibition and cut-style showcase series – Select the best-formed buds and blooms to present Neptune as an exhibition-capable hybrid tea, using uniform own-root plants to support high show quality – target audience/channel: rose societies, exhibitors and high-end mail-order partners.
- Mauve-lilac thematic garden collection – Incorporate Neptune as the colour anchor in curated mauve and lavender collections, relying on fade-resistant petals and good disease resistance for long-term displays – target audience/channel: show gardens, public-realm contractors and destination retail benches.
- Fragrant feature container programme – Step selected plants from 5–7 L into 40–50 L containers to create high-impact, scented focal points, using own-root resilience to tolerate repeated pruning and shaping – target audience/channel: garden centres, landscape display areas and event hire suppliers.
- Low–medium maintenance rose bed assortment – Build mixed assortments where Neptune provides strong fragrance and disease resistance within a low–medium care profile, grown from NEONATAL trays for homogeneous field or container beds – target audience/channel: nurseries supplying municipalities and institutional clients.
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose collection cultivar, registered as WEKhilpurnil, marketed as Neptune hybrid tea rose by Tom Carruth, with ARS exhibition category as hybrid tea, cut flower and bedding rose. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Tom Carruth at Weeks Wholesale Rose Grower, Inc. (USA) from (‘Blueberry Hill’ × ‘Stephen’s Big Purple’) × ‘Blue Nile’; introduced 2003 with protection in Australia and the United States. |
| Awards and recognition |
Recipient of a Rose Hills Gold Medal at the Rose Hills International Rose Trials, Pageant of Roses Garden, Whittier, USA, confirming recognised ornamental and garden performance under trial conditions. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Bushy, erect habit forming clump-like bushes with moderately dense, dark green glossy foliage and moderate prickliness, suitable for structured container production and formal flowerbed or specimen applications. |
| Flower morphology |
Very large, double, 26–39 petalled, high-centred, pointed-budded hybrid tea flowers, remontant with abundant second flush, typically borne in clusters of three to five blooms per stem for strong display value. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Lavender–mauve ground colour with smoky violet-lilac rim, ARS MP, RHS 62C–62D; colour is described as fade-resistant, maintaining tone in strong sun with only moderate lightening through the bloom’s life. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Strong, distinct fragrance with a rich, slightly sweet rose-citrus and mildly fruity character; showy scented blooms attract bees and butterflies, though forage is limited by the very double flower form. |
| Hip characteristics |
Produces small hips around 5–10 mm diameter; no detailed data on shape or colour available, and hips are not a primary ornamental or commercial feature for this cultivar in professional production. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Rated resistant to powdery mildew, black spot and rust, with H6 hardiness (approx. -21 to -18 °C), Swedish zone 3 and USDA 6b; tolerates heat and moderate drought but benefits from watering in prolonged dry periods. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited to flowerbeds, specimen, exhibition and container use; recommended as a low–medium maintenance, bush-trained plant with 3–5 strong canes, finished mainly via premium container routes in 5–7 L pots. |
Neptune combines XL high-centred mauve-lilac blooms, strong fragrance and reliable disease resistance on long-lived, regenerating own-root bushes, offering predictable, premium container performance that merits a detailed capacity and scheduling discussion.
