Commercially available

• Somasila
• Virsila

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Pink blend Hybrid Tea.
Registration name: Virsila
Exhibition name: Spice Trail

Bred by M.S. Viraraghavan (India, 1984).
Introduced in India by KSG Sons/KSG's Roses in 1987 as 'Spice Trail'.
Introduced in United States by Roses Unlimited in 2007 as 'Spice Trail'.

Hybrid Tea.  

Light pink, dark red blending, cream undertones.  Strong fragrance.  Average diameter 5".  Large, double (17-25 petals), borne mostly solitary bloom form.  Blooms in flushes throughout the season.  

Medium, bushy.  Medium, semi-glossy, medium green foliage.  

Height: up to 4" (up to 10cm).  Width: 3" (8cm).

USDA zone 6b through 9b (default).  Can be used for beds and borders, cut flower or garden.  Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom.  Spring Pruning: Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood and cut back canes that cross. In warmer climates, cut back the remaining canes by about one-third. In colder areas, you'll probably find you'll have to prune a little more than that.  

This variety, bred in 1987, was released in the Indian market with the name ‘Somasila’. Somasila is a very pretty little place, nestling among low hills, part of what are called the Eastern Ghats , which are a long mountain range going down, north to south, not in a an unbroken line, but with many gaps and diversions inland, the eastern coa.st of peninsular India.
When Viru was working for the government, one of his postings was as ‘District Collector and Magistrate’. Every state in the country is divided into districts and a trained and senior official posted to be in overall charge of the district, whose main function was the collection of different kinds of government revenue, hence the designation ‘Collector’. Viru was the District Collector of a district named ‘Nellore’ which is one of the southern most districts of the State of Andhra Pradesh, in the early 1970’s. And Somasila was a part of this district. We would often go on weekend picnics to Somasila with our young children and friends, as the pretty, undulating river coursing through pristine forests had many picnic spots. ‘Soma’ in Sanskrit is the juice of a plant which was considered to be an intoxicant, and ‘sila’ means ‘rock’, and though there were many big smooth rocks in the river, we could never find the soma plant!
So when we wanted to name this rose which has soft pink with garnet shadings to the blooms, and an intoxicating fragrance, we were in a nostalgic mood, and remembered the good times we had in Somasila. Nostalgia indeed, as now there is a big dam, much concrete and little that is pristine and as Nature originally created it.
The name ‘Somasila’ is quite euphonious sounding, at least to Indian ears!
But when we were registering it with I.R.R.A, we thought a western name would be better, and as it is very fragrant with a spicy perfume, we decided on SPICE TRAIL.