Princess of Wales Floribunda Rose Bushes

Princess of Wales Rose

Princess of Wales is a charming floribunda rose. Pretty cream buds open to reveal full double flowers of pure white, all frills and abundance with a golden tiara of stamens at the centre of each. The flowers are held in clusters of up to nine per stem. Her scent is fresh, not overpowering, and her foliage is dark, glossy and healthy. The flowers come in flushes, from early summer right through to mid autumn or even later in a mild season. She holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, so you're pretty much guaranteed a healthy beauty. Take a look at the rest of our floribunda roses.

Royal alliances

Plant her with nepeta for a cool blue and white combo that will take your breath away, or underplant with a classic pairing of hardy geraniums, in pink, violet or blue. She looks striking planted en masse in a rose bed, perhaps with a low hedge of box or lavender around her: a smaller variety such as Hidcote is perfect.

In a pot, she must be well watered and fed to keep those gorgeous flowers coming, and mulch with well-rotted manure or garden compost at least once a year. As always, keep your roses deadheaded, and they'll perform even better.

Features of Princess of Wales

• Height: to 90cm
• Spread: to 60cm
• Colour: creamy white
• Shape of flower: double, cupped
• Size of flower: large
• Scent: light, fresh
• Flowering: repeat through summer
• Group: floribunda rose
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Did You Know...

In 1997, The British Lung Foundation asked Harkness to name a rose for its patron, Diana, Princess of Wales. Charles and Diana had divorced by this point, so Diana was no longer Princess of Wales, yet Buckingham Palace allowed the use of the title as it was for a good cause.
Diana chose the rose after looking at a selection of Harkness seedlings. For each Princess of Wales rose sold, a donation was made to the British Lung Foundation.

Just a few months later, in August, Diana died in Paris. Demand for her rose outstripped supply by ten years, and Harkness had to close its phone and fax lines. Thousands of stems of the rose were used for her funeral in Westminster Abbey.

How to plant Princess of Wales Roses

You can order bareroot roses at any time and plant them from November to April, or container roses are available all year round.

Choose a spot in the border with good light. Dig a hole large enough so your rose will be planted with the graft union at soil level and with plenty of room for its roots around the sides. Improve the soil from the hole by removing weeds, large stones, rubbish and roots and adding a shovel full of compost or rotted manure. Sprinkle Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi in the bottom of the hole so it will make contact with the roots. Potted roses should have some roots gently teased out of the rootball before planting.

Position your Absolutely Fabulous rose so its roots are spread out and backfill the hole with soil, firming it gently as you go. Water in thoroughly.

Feed and mulch with well rotted manure in spring every year and keep well watered during dry periods for the first year.

Floribundas are pruned in late winter, when the strongest shoots can be cut back to an outward facing bud 30-40 cms above soil level and the weakest shoots are removed altogether. Absolutely Fabulous should be deadheaded throughout the summer to encourage continuous flowering.