Sally Holmes Rose Bushes

Sally Holmes Shrub Rose

Sally Holmes is a wonderfully floriferous shrub rose with compact clusters of creamy-white single blooms that have prominent golden stamens, accessible to bees. These appear in flushes that last from early Summer for up to five months, into Autumn, and have a delicate but definite fragrance. The buds are the palest apricot-pink.

She has the advantage of nearly thornless stems and attractive, healthy, glossy dark green foliage. With her versatility, robust nature and good disease resistance, she makes the grade for the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

See our full range of shrub roses.

Features:

• Colour: Creamy-white
• Flower size: Large, single flowers
• Type: Modern shrub
• Height/spread: 150 x 150cm
• Flowering: Repeat flowering, June-October
• Fragrance: Light scent
• Thornless
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Growing Sally Holmes

This vigorous shrub rose thrives in rich, moist and well-drained soil in a sunny spot, and will tolerate poorer soils and partial shade well.

Deadhead regularly to promote prolific flowering and prune in late winter to early spring by up to one third.

Planting Companions for Sally Holmes

At 1.5 metres each way, she is ideal for the middle of a border or shrubbery, and can be used as hedging.

For a beautiful cottage border, underplant with spring bulbs like Crocuses, Daffodils and Tulips, and combine with herbaceous perennials such as Geranium, Salvia and Nepeta, especially in classic cottage border colours like purples, pinks and whites. With her open single flowers, she is perfect for a nectar border surrounded by pollinator-friendly plants like Cerinthe, Echinops, Lavender, Honeysuckle and other single-flowered shrub roses like Ballerina.

Choose a spot in the border in as close to full sun as you can, but don't worry about a bit of shade. Dig a hole deep enough to allow the graft union to finish at soil level with plenty of room for the roots. Take roots, weeds, large stones out of the soil and mix in a good measure of well-rotted compost or manure. Spread Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi over the bottom of the hole so it will make contact with the roots. Gently tease a few larger roots loose before planting pot-grown roses.

Place your rose so its roots are spread out and the union is at the right height. Backfill the hole with the planting mix, firming it down as you go. Water in thoroughly.

See our information on pruning roses here.

Did You Know?

This beautiful hybrid musk shrub rose was bred by Robert A. Holmes. A cross between Ivory Fashion (a floribunda bush) and Ballerina (a hybrid musk), she was introduced by Fryer's Roses in 1976.

Hybrid musks are wonderful in borders with their large clusters of soft shaded blooms on long, arching branches. Disease-resistant and usually with a beautiful fragrance, they are fabulously easy to garden with.

First described as 'hybrid musk' by breeder Reverend Joseph Pemberton in 1917, this group of shrub roses now includes some outstanding cultivars, many of which have bagged the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit.