COLORAMA® – red-yellow hybrid tea rose – Meilland
Step outside after a shower and let COLORAMA® bring that same sense of gentle, rain-washed contentment to your Irish garden: large, beautifully shaped blooms in glowing red and yellow, held on straight, elegant stems for the perfect cottage-style romance. Bred by Meilland for reliable flowering, it repeats in generous flushes even when summers feel short and unsettled, coping well with damp days and the kind of cool, moisture-laden air that so often defines our weather along the Atlantic, where good air movement and careful watering help it shrug off fungal challenges. Its naturally robust health keeps care pleasantly simple, while the own-root plants settle in steadily for a long-lived, stable structure. In the first year it quietly builds roots, the second brings stronger shoots, and by the third season you can enjoy its full ornamental impact in borders, front gardens or generous containers.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Front-of-house feature rose |
Ideal as a welcoming focal point by your front door or low wall, thanks to its upright, compact habit and striking bi-coloured blooms that stay neat rather than sprawling into paths, suiting busy homeowners who want instant kerbside charm for the family gardener. |
| Cut-flower and vase use |
Bred as an exhibition-style hybrid tea, COLORAMA® produces long, straight stems with large, high-centred blooms that last well when cut, making it an easy way to bring home-grown bouquets indoors without any specialist floristry skills for the home decorator. |
| Low-maintenance mixed border |
With strong disease resistance to black spot, mildew and rust, this rose keeps its dark foliage clean and attractive with minimal spraying, so it slips into mixed borders as a reliable backbone plant that will not add to your weekend workload as a time-poor gardener. |
| Irish cottage-style planting |
The warm red-and-cream colour play fits naturally among perennials and grasses, echoing traditional cottage borders while staying tidy and upright; pair with soft pinks and dusky purples for a relaxed, “girly” feel that still looks intentional for the cottage enthusiast. |
| Small family garden rose bed |
Reaching about 70–100 cm with a 50–70 cm spread, it fits well into small suburban beds, allowing several bushes at the recommended spacing without overwhelming play areas, so families can enjoy colour and scent without sacrificing usable space for the urban family. |
| Container and patio planting |
Performs well in a large container of at least 40–50 litres with good drainage, giving balcony and terrace gardens a classic rose presence; own-root resilience helps it recover better from occasional drying out than many grafted plants for the balcony gardener. |
| Long-season colour display |
Its remontant habit brings repeated flushes of large flowers from early summer into autumn, so a single bush offers months of interest rather than a brief show, particularly valuable where short, cool summers might limit other shrubs, suiting the value-seeker. |
| Long-term structural planting |
As an own-root rose, the plant keeps its variety-true growth even if stems die back, regenerating reliably from below ground and maintaining shape and colour in the long run, an advantage when planning durable plantings for the low-maintenance planner. |
Styling ideas
- Cottage Glow – weave COLORAMA® through a loose border with dwarf Heuchera and soft pink perennials to create a cheerful, feminine cottage look – ideal for romantic front gardens.
- Terrace Classic – plant one bush in a 50-litre terracotta pot with trailing thyme to frame a patio door and enjoy easy-to-reach cutting stems – perfect for apartment or terrace dwellers.
- Kerb Appeal – line a short front path with evenly spaced plants for a smart, low hedge of repeating red-yellow blooms – suited to homeowners seeking tidy, low-effort structure.
- Soft Contrast – combine with Carex flacca ‘Blue Zinger’ and pale cream roses for a calm red–blue–neutral palette that feels both modern and cottagey – attractive to design-conscious gardeners.
- Family Corner – set a single specimen near a seating area, underplanted with dwarf coral bells, to keep blooms at eye level for evening scent and colour – great for busy family gardens.
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose, registered as MEIrigalu, marketed as Colorama® Hybrid tea rose MEIrigalu; American Rose Society exhibition name Colorama; commercial group Rós taehibride, premium bronze merit rating. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Marie-Louise Meilland in France from cross ‘Suspense’ × ‘Confidence’; breeding year 1967, registered 1968, introduced by URS – Meilland in France in 1979 for garden and cut-flower use. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Upright hybrid tea reaching about 70–100 cm high and 50–70 cm spread, medium-density dark green foliage (RHS 137A), moderately thorny stems, forming a neat, structured bush suitable for borders or specimen planting. |
| Flower morphology |
Large double, cup-shaped blooms 7–10 cm across, 26–39 petals, mainly solitary on stems, classic high-centred hybrid tea form; remontant flowering, giving a generous second flush and further blooms in suitable conditions. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Two-toned red-yellow flowers, ARS code rb, RHS 10C outer, 45A inner; buds deep red over golden yellow; colours shift from bright red and creamy yellow to coral and brick red with cream to off-white reverses as blooms age. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Medium-strength, clearly perceptible scent with a delicately sweet character; noticeable at close range and on cut stems indoors, adding traditional rose fragrance without becoming overpowering in smaller garden spaces. |
| Hip characteristics |
Due to the double flower form, hip set is usually light; where present, hips are ellipsoidal, around 8–12 mm diameter, orange-red (RHS 40A), providing modest late-season interest without significant self-seeding. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Rated resistant to powdery mildew, black spot and rust under normal cultivation; winter hardy to about –15 to –12 °C (RHS H6, Swedish zone 2, USDA 7b), suiting most mild to moderately cold Irish garden conditions. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Best in full sun with fertile, well-drained soil; ideal for borders, specimen, cut flowers and large containers; spacing 35–65 cm depending on use, plant 5.7–6.6 plants/m² in mass; low maintenance with routine pruning and mulching. |
COLORAMA® – red-yellow hybrid tea rose – Meilland offers long-season repeat flowering, reliable disease resistance and durable own-root growth, making it a thoughtful choice for adding colour and structure to everyday Irish gardens.
