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• Viralliance

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White, near white or white blend Shrub.
Registration name: Viralliance
Exhibition name: Ganges Mist ™

Bred by M.S. Viraraghavan (India, 2005).
Introduced in United States by Roses Unlimited in 2005 as 'Ganges Mist'.

Shrub.  

White or white blend.  Moderate fragrance.  12 to 16 petals.  Average diameter 3.5".  Large, double (17-25 petals), in small clusters bloom form.  Occasional repeat later in the season.  

Medium, upright.  Small, semi-glossy, medium green foliage.  

Height: up to 5' (up to 150cm).  

USDA zone 6b through 9b (default).  Can be used for garden, landscape or pillar.  Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom.  Prune lightly until this rose gets established (about two years), then prune it back by about a third..  Remove unproductive wood every third year or so.  

Is so named because the islands in the River Ganges are the habitat of this wild species, or rather, used to be, as development has effectively killed the species in its natural habitat -- the areas around the River Ganges, India’s most abundant and important river, which originates in the glaciers of the Himalayan mountains and flows down and in a easterly direction till it reaches the sea at the port-city of Kolkata (earlier ‘Calcutta’).
There are a few other habitats for R.clinophylla, like Mount Abu in the desert state of Rajasthan, and the forests of Bihar State in north-central India, but I have been successful in my breeding only with what I call the ‘Bengal clone’ because the plants I work with are from the eastern state of West Bengal, whose capital is Kolkata.
The early morning, pre-dawn mist which rises from the river, gives a gauzy veil like ambience to the air.
I was happy to name my first clinophylla hybrid after what we consider our most sacred river, the river which is mentioned in all ancient Sanskrit texts and which brings prosperity to millions of Indians.