Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Rosa 'White Pet' (Poly)
  • RHS AGM

rose 'White Pet'

Compact, bushy old garden rose about 60cm tall and wide, with reddish stems bearing neat, glossy dark green foliage. Large clusters of lightly fragrant, rosette-shaped, pompon-like, double white blooms 4cm across, opening from red buds, almost continuously in flower in summer and autumn; USA c. 1879

Synonyms
Rosa 'Little White Pet'
Buy this plant
Size
Ultimate height
0.5–1 metres
Time to ultimate height
2–5 years
Ultimate spread
0.5–1 metres
Growing conditions
Chalk
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained, Well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Green
Summer White Green
Autumn White Green
Winter
Position
  • Full sun
  • Partial shade
Aspect

South–facing or West–facing or East–facing

Exposure
Exposed or Sheltered
Hardiness
H6
Botanical details
Family
Rosaceae
Native to the UK
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Potentially harmful
Fruit are ornamental - not to be eaten. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling
Genus

Rosa can be deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs or scrambling climbers, with usually thorny stems bearing compound pinnate leaves and solitary or clustered flowers. Flowers may be followed by showy red or purple fruits in some varieties.

Name status

Accepted

Horticultural Group
Polyantha roses are compact shrubs with thorny stems bearing glossy foliage and sprays of single or double unscented flowers intermittently in summer and autumn

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in full sun with fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil. For best flowering apply a balanced fertiliser and mulch in late winter or early spring and a balanced fertiliser again in early summer - see rose cultivation. Tolerant of poor soil and part shade

Propagation

Propagate by softwood cuttings in early to mid spring, hardwood cuttings in late summer to autumn or by chip budding in summer

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Patio and container plants
  • Ground cover
  • Flower borders and beds
Pruning

See pruning group 22 (patio and miniature roses)

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, rose leafhopper, glasshouse red spider mite, scale insects, caterpillars, large rose sawfly, rose slugworm sawfly and rose leaf-rolling sawfly. Deer and rabbits can cause damage

Diseases

May be susceptible to rose black spot, rose rust, replant disease, rose dieback, and rose powdery mildew and sometimes honey fungus. May also be susceptible to disorders rose blindness and flower balling

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.