VIOLET HOOD – violet-purple park rose – Lens
Professional growers looking to extend a diverse own-root shrub offer will find Violet Hood a compact park rose that builds quickly into reliable border, specimen and low hedge material from standard 2–3 litre containers. This Hybrid Musk shrub combines compact height with moderate spread, allowing dense, homogeneous stands that are easy to schedule and bench in nursery systems where wind and winter exposure are common in many UK field sites. Semi-finished pharmaROSA® NEONATAL cuttings provide a uniform starting point for nursery propagation beds and container grow-on, supporting consistent quality for retail and reseller partners who position it as a standard finished product with reliable garden performance. The remontant, clustered flowering and good colour retention support repeat visual impact throughout the season, while own-root production underpins longevity and low replacement in landscape use. Over time, year-one root establishment, year-two structural build, and year-three full ornamental value help you plan capacity and launch windows with predictable output. Moderate disease tolerance, medium maintenance requirements and attractive hips in autumn support collection and project plantings, especially in thematic shrub borders. The semi-double, pollinator-friendly flower form and strong violet-purple colouration add character to curated ranges, while the stable, compact habit fits easily into existing production lines for park and shrub assortments.
Usage options
Finished-product ideas
- 2–3 L park-border shrub line – Compact, bush-trained shrubs in standard 2–3 litre pots, using the uniform habit and remontant flowering for repeat seasonal colour in retail park-border assortments – garden-centre and reseller programmes
- Low hedge multipacks – Bundled 2–3 litre plants optimised for low hedges, exploiting the compact structure and own-root durability to give landscapers and municipalities predictable, repeatable hedge units – landscape contractor and public-realm supply
- Thematic violet collection feature – Curated colour-themed series where Violet Hood provides intense purple interest, backed by reliable garden performance and medium maintenance needs in standard containers – specialist nurseries and show-garden partners
- Autumn-interest shrub promotion – Seasonal offer highlighting hip display and attractive colour fade, built on long-lived own-root stands from 2–3 litre production for dependable repeat sales – seasonal retail promotions and mail-order catalogues
- Pollinator-aware mixed shrub combo – Mixed trolleys combining partially pollinator-friendly shrubs, with Violet Hood contributing semi-double blooms and steady structure from the standard container route – multiple-outlet nursery and integrator networks
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Violet Hood is a shrub, Hybrid Musk park rose marketed as Violet Hood Park - shrub rose Lens, with American Rose Society approved exhibition name Violet Hood and no separate registered cultivar name. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Louis Lens in Belgium from ‘Robin Hood’ × ‘Baby Faurax’, breeding year 1973, introduced and registered in 1975 by Lens Roses N.V. and Pépinières Louis Lens SA, reflecting classic Hybrid Musk shrub breeding. |
| Awards and recognition |
Awarded a Silver Medal at the Kortrijk International Rose Exhibition in 1978, providing historic third-party validation that can support positioning in thematic or collection-focused shrub rose ranges. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Compact shrub with 90–140 cm height and 50–80 cm spread, moderately dense, slightly glossy dark green foliage with a brownish tinge, and moderate prickliness; petals fall and hips form in autumn, self-cleaning level otherwise not provided. |
| Flower morphology |
Semi-double, flat flowers in clusters, petal count 13–25, small blooms about 0.5–1.5 inches in diameter, remontant habit with an abundant second flush, providing repeated ornamental impact across the growing season. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Closed buds are deep, almost black purple; newly opened flowers intense velvety lavender purple, maturing to matte purple with lightened edges, then to brownish-mauve, with good colour retention; classified as purple-lilac with ARS m and RHS 79A/79B codes. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
No noticeable fragrance is reported; the rose is considered scentless while still offering moderate pollinator interest through semi-double flowers with limited but present stamen accessibility. |
| Hip characteristics |
In autumn it may produce many small, spherical red hips 6–10 mm in diameter, which contribute additional ornamental interest and extend the landscape value of plantings beyond the main flowering period. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Medium disease resistance overall, with medium susceptibility to powdery mildew and black spot but resistant to rust; hardy to around -21 to -18 °C, Swedish Zone 3 and USDA Zone 6b; no specific heat or drought data are provided. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suggested for borders, specimen roles, hedges, containers and some cut use; medium maintenance with occasional pest and disease control; recommended as a bush-trained, compact plant for standard container production in 2–3 litre pots. |
Violet Hood offers compact, remontant shrub performance with strong visual colour, medium disease stability and own-root longevity for predictable, low-replacement stands; please contact us to align capacities, timing and assortment fit.
