PERLA NEGRA – dark red hybrid tea rose - Delbard
Bring a touch of theatrical velvet romance to your Irish cottage or city-front garden with PERLA NEGRA, a classic hybrid tea whose high-centred blooms hold their rich, dark red colour with excellent stability, even in summer sun. This is a rose for relaxed moments rather than hard work: medium-care needs, reliable remontant flowering, and a compact, upright habit that suits smaller family plots. Its own-root form builds long-term resilience, quietly regenerating after pruning or weather damage, so you can enjoy steady ornamental value for many years. In our short, changeable summers, it rewards you with elegant cut flowers and a calm, matt green backdrop, coping well with wind and rain that often bring humidity and higher fungal pressure along Ireland’s coasts. Plant once and let it settle in gently – Year 1 for roots, Year 2 for stronger shoots, Year 3 for full garden presence and a rich display. Ideal for those who love classic hybrid tea blooms, subtle fragrance and a quietly sophisticated look right by the front path.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Feature rose by the front door or garden gate |
The strong, velvety dark-red flowers read beautifully at eye level, and the bushy, upright habit keeps the plant tidy in a narrow space, creating a welcoming focus for everyday arrivals and visitors – ideal for the busy urban homeowner. |
| Cutting bed for home bouquets |
High-centred, long-stemmed blooms make classic exhibition-style cut flowers, while the repeat-flowering habit means you can harvest stems through the season without stripping the bush, perfect for the hobby gardener. |
| Small bed in a family back garden |
Medium maintenance with moderate disease resistance suits those who can manage simple deadheading and occasional spraying, rewarding that light effort with reliable flowering and a smart structure for the family garden. |
| Container planting near a sunny terrace |
The upright, compact growth works well in a substantial 40–50 litre pot, where deep, stable soil volume supports root health and long-term flowering, ideal for a paved or rented-space balcony-owner. |
| Romantic Irish cottage-style border |
The velvety dark blooms sit beautifully among airy perennials, and own-root planting supports a long-lived framework that regenerates after hard winters, suiting the long-view, nature-oriented planter. |
| Structure planting in a mixed shrub border |
The matt, dark green foliage and upright outline add year-round form, while the remontant flowering threads colour through other shrubs, coping steadily with coastal conditions where frequent rain brings higher humidity for the relaxed-country resident. |
| Lightly shaded, warm side of a Dublin terrace |
Good tolerance of partial shade and heat allows the flowers to colour well even in courtyard aspects, while the compact spread fits narrow plots, attractive for the time-pressed city-front gardener. |
| Statement specimen in a lawn or gravel strip |
Planted as a single specimen with correct spacing, the medium-height, upright form and steady colour retention become a long-term visual anchor, especially once own-root strength is established, suiting the design-conscious beginner. |
Styling ideas
- Cottage Drama – Pair PERLA NEGRA with yellow yarrow and blue verbena in a loose, billowy border so the velvety blooms glow against soft textures – ideal for relaxed cottage-garden lovers.
- Front-Door Focus – Underplant with low lavender or catmint to frame the upright rose and create a scented, easy-care welcome – suited to busy households wanting quick impact.
- Elegant Cutting Row – Line a narrow bed with evenly spaced bushes for long-stemmed blooms you can pick all summer – perfect for home florists and bouquet enthusiasts.
- Potted Statement – Grow one plant in a 40–50 litre terracotta pot with fine gravel mulch to showcase the dark flowers by a sunny seating area – great for terrace and balcony owners.
- Evening Highlight – Set against pale walls or light gravel so the dark petals stand out in low light, adding quiet drama to after-work garden time – ideal for working gardeners unwinding outdoors.
Technical cultivar profile
| Feature |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Hybrid tea rose, registered as DELurt, marketed as Perla Negra Hybrid tea rose DELurt, with ARS exhibition name Perle Noire, belonging to the Rós taehibride commercial group. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Georges Delbard, Roseraies Georges Delbard, France, from complex hybrid tea parentage, introduced and registered in 1976, combining classic form with deep, velvety dark red colour. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Bushy, upright shrub reaching about 85–115 cm in height and 50–70 cm spread, with moderately dense, matte dark green foliage and moderate prickliness, forming a tidy, vertical garden presence. |
| Flower morphology |
Large, 7–10 cm, high-centred, pointed buds opening to double, 26–39 petalled hybrid tea blooms, produced mainly singly on stems, offering classic cut-rose style and suitable exhibition form. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Very dark crimson to ruby red with blackish overtones; ARS code dR, RHS 187A and 53B; excellent colour retention, minimal fading, remontant with a strong second flush in suitable conditions. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Delicate rosy fragrance of very weak intensity, often barely noticeable in outdoor conditions, intended primarily for visual effect rather than strong scent, yet pleasant at close range on still days. |
| Hip characteristics |
Rose hips form only occasionally due to double flowers; where present they are ellipsoid, orange-red, around 10–14 mm in diameter, adding modest late-season interest without heavy seeding. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Moderate overall disease resistance with good black-spot resistance, some susceptibility to mildew and rust; hardy approximately to −21 to −18 °C, classed RHS H7, USDA zone 6b, Swedish zone 3. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited to beds, specimens, hedging and large containers; spacing 50–90 cm depending on use, 2.8–3.2 plants/m²; requires light pruning, deadheading and occasional plant protection for best display. |
PERLA NEGRA rewards you with long-stemmed, velvety dark blooms, compact upright growth and reliable remontant flowering, while its own-root form supports long-lived, regenerating plants that justify a thoughtful place in your garden.
