William Lobb Moss Rose
William Lobb Roses
William Lobb is one of three varieties of moss roses I grow in my garden, and he is the most interesting colour. Purple? Purplish? It changes according to the amount of sunlight, and the age of the flowers. Photographers of William Lobb certainly have a challenge to record his flowers faithfully!
David Austin's website has a good colour description : 'Large, open sprays of purple magenta blooms, fading to shades of purple, mauve and violet-grey.'
My one William Lobb rose grows near the water race, where his unruly long canes arch over the water. He's a moss rose, and pleasantly perfumed, once flowering, though that isn't a problem in my country garden. I'm not sure his look would fit in a small, neat suburban plot, though. He's a bit of a straggler and spreader!
Even so, this rose is apparently grown widely in New Zealand, and is sometimes known as Old Velvet Moss. It's a joy waiting for him to flower, just the once, in early summer.
Designer Stubble!
Moss roses have a very distinctive look - at a quick glance the stems and buds seem to be riddled with insect life. Aargh! Aphids! But of course this is the furry 'moss' for which they are named. A local rose website, Wairere Nursery, cleverly describes the moss as 'designer stubble'. I couldn't have put it better!
William Lobb (1809 - 1864) was a Cornish plant collector, who introduced to England the monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) from Chile and the massive sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) from North America. The rose named for him was bred by Laffay in the 1860s.
William Lobb Moss Rose