ILVO347

Rose of Sharon

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Minrosa' (Rose Satin)

Summary: The growth habit of the plants of 'ILVO347' is semi-upright to spreading whereas the growth habit of 'Minrosa' is upright. The branching of the plants of 'ILVO347' is medium to dense whereas the branching of 'Minrosa' is sparse to medium density. The leaf blade of 'ILVO347' is longer than the leaf blade of 'Minrosa'. The upper side of the leaf blade of 'ILVO347' is medium green whereas the leaf blade of 'Minrosa' is dark green. The lobing of the leaf blade of 'ILVO347' is shallow to medium depth whereas the lobing is deep for 'Minrosa'. The leaf blade of 'ILVO347' has fewer incisions of the margin than the leaf blade of 'Minrosa'. Relative to the petal, the size of the eye zone, excluding the extensions, is medium to large for 'ILVO347' whereas the eye zone of 'Minrosa' is small. The extensions of the eye zone on the inner side of the petal of 'ILVO347' are long whereas the extensions of the eye zone of 'Minrosa' are short. The eye zone on the inner side of the petal of 'ILVO347' is dark purple red whereas the eye zone of 'Minrosa' is darker purple red. The undulation of the petal margin is absent or very weak for 'ILVO347' whereas undulation of the petal margin of 'Minrosa' is weak to medium.

Description:

PLANT: semi-upright to spreading growth habit, medium to dense branching
CURRENT-YEAR-SHOOT: brownish

LEAF BLADE: length to width ratio is moderately elongated, cuneate base, medium green on upper side, shallow to medium lobing, absent to weak undulation of margin, few incisions of margin, no variegation

FLOWER: single type
OUTERMOST PETAL: moderately ascending attitude, touching or slightly overlapping arrangement
PETAL: moderately elongated, light blue violet (RHS 76A and 85C-D) inner side, no secondary colour, absent or very weak incisions of margin, absent or very weak undulation
EYE ZONE: medium to large relative to petal, long extensions, dark purple red (RHS 53A-B)

Origin & Breeding History: 'ILVO347' was developed by the breeder, Johan Van Huylenbroeck, an employee at the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, in Melle, Belgium. It originated from a cross made in 2000, in Melle, between a colchicine induced polyploid unnamed seedling, as the female parent, and the Hibiscus syriacus variety 'Red Heart', as the male parent. From the resulting progeny, 'ILVO347' was selected in 2003 for its plant triploidy, flower sterility, flower size and colour, and abundant flower production.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial was conducted in an outdoor irrigated container trial during the spring and summer of 2016, at BioFlora Inc., in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 12 shrubs each of the candidate and reference variety. All shrubs were grown from 5.7 cm liners, planted into 8.8 litre containers on July 15, 2015. The plants were overwintered in an un-heated polyhouse. The observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants, or parts of plants, of each variety on July 13, 2016. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'ILVO347' with reference variety 'Minrosa'

Leaf blade length (cm)

Colour of eye zone on petal (RHS)

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Rose of Sharon: 'ILVO347' (left) with reference variety 'Minrosa' (right)

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Rose of Sharon: 'ILVO347' (left) with reference variety 'Minrosa' (right)

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Rose of Sharon: 'ILVO347' (left) with reference variety 'Minrosa' (right)