Osiria Rose Care – How to Take Care of Osiria Rose Bushes

Find out why you might have trouble with this pretty rose that took the internet by storm a few years ago with these Osiria Rose care tips. The two toned color of the rose is highly desirable, but the rose is finicky at best.

Photos of this hybrid tea rose with a lovely white center and red brimmed leaf edges are all the rage with rose growers and gardeners. When planting Osiria rose bushes, you might end up disappointed that your plant doesn’t look like the photos.

Finding this pretty Osiria rose for sale might also be a challenge for you, since many growers don’t stock it. And don’t think that Osiria rose seeds will give you the look you want, either. Reviews that I have read show that they don’t germinate well.

This lovely rose was created by cross breeding hybrid roses with tea roses. Eventually this gave rise to a rose with petals that are red with white interiors and bright red edges.

Red roses have long been used as a way to show deep love and passion for another person. Find out what the other rose colors mean in this post.

Osiria Rose Meaning

The meaning of the name Osiria rose has several possibilities. It’s origin doesn’t give much insight into the name. This stunning rose was originally bred by Reimer Kordes in 1978 in Germany and then introduced to France, who started calling them Osiria.

To get more of an idea of the name, we can go back in time. Some think that the term Osiria is loosely linked to Egyptian mythology. Osiris was the god of the dead and the judge of the underworld. Having the stark combination of red and white colors together on one rose gives the impression of blood to the rose.

Some others believe that the rose is named after a sunken island similar to Atlantis named Osiria. Whichever you believe, the lore behind the name is as alluring as the rose itself..

Osiria Rose Care

Osiria Rose care can be a bit of a challenge. Not only is this rose with its white center and rimmed edges quite hard to find here in the USA, it also tends to be a bit on the weak side. The beauty and fragrance of this rose makes it worth the extra time and patience that it requires though..

All roses are gorgeous, but some, like this fragrant Osiria rose, just take your breath away. If you love growing perennials, you are probably looking for unusual roses when you shop for new plants.

The osiria rose has become something of a social media icon, and the image is shared on Facebook, Pinterest and Stumble upon often. This post is one of the most popular ones on my website. Osiria rose care is also quite difficult, since this rose is a challenge to grow.

Unfortunately, many of the images, on the internet, of the rose are highly photo shopped for dramatic purposes. The colors in real life are not quite so dramatic, it seems.

The photo at the top of this post is one from a reader that shows the true colors and the photo below is one that travels the internet which I believe to be heavily photo shopped.

Photo credit Imgur (Most likely heavily photoshopped)

Osiria Rose care can be quite a challenge and the rose is difficult to find for sale.

When you can find it for sale, Osiria is described as a hybrid tea rose. (affiliate link) This links to an Amazon page where the rose looks similar to the photo below from Garden Web but it is not labeled Osiria. It is a very large flowered bush rose with dark green leaves.

In summer and autumn, the fragrant, double flowers come out. They are just stunning. I have seen this rose, with this picture, offered for sale as rose seeds on Amazon, but the reviews on it are not very good.

Osiria Rose Care Problems

Palatine nursery used to sell this rose, but has recently discontinued production of the rose for these reasons:

Many internet photos of Osiria are highly photo shopped, so the plant can be disappointing in true color
The rose itself often has poor plant health
It has very few flowers
It is slow to re-bloom.

For these reasons, the suppliers at Palatine nursery were concerned that gardeners new to rose culture would be so disappointed in the rose that they would not try other varieties of it in future so they discontinued production of it completely.

Where to buy seed

If you are still interested in trying to grow this rose in spite of the shortcomings on it, you can buy Osiria rose seed here. I have not tested the seed to see how it grows, but the images are mainly photo shopped, so buyer beware.

I think that it is unlikely that the seeds will grow from the reviews but if you do grow it with success, please email me to let me know. I would love to see a photo of it too.

Osiria Rose Seed Giveaway

One of my readers, Tracee, has emailed me to tell me that she has some Osiria rose seeds. If you email her, she will give you her address so that you can send a small self addressed stamped envelope to her. She will send the first 9 people who reply a package of 10 Osiiria rose seeds to try for free.

Tracee is also going to try to sprout 10 herself. If you do this and they work for you, I would love to see your photos!

Information on Osiria Rose Care:

If you decide to try growing Osiria, these rose care tips will help.

Size of the rose bush

Osiria rose bushes will grow to about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide (the size of many normal rose bushes.) It can take 2-5 years for a bush to get to its mature size.

How was Osiria created?

The rose bush was initially produced by cross breeding two different types of roses – hybrids and tea roses.

Diseases and problems for Osiria rose

The rose bush is susceptible to the insects aphids, caterpillars, spider mites and leaf hoppers. It is also prone to developing black spot, powdery mildew and rose rust.

This is quite a long list of problems that you may encounter and one of the reasons that many rose growers won’t stock it for sale.

How to use Osiria Rose in the Garden

Plant osiria in beds and borders. It is lovely in a cottage garden and the flowers are great for cut flowers in vases and for flower arranging.

Sunlight Needs

Like most rosebushes, Osiria rose does best in full sun. Even with idea sun conditions, the rose is quite slow growing and has a limited output of flowers.

When to prune

Prune Osiria in the spring before the plant starts actively growing. When you prune be sure to remove some of the inner branches to allow for good air flow to throughout the plant. See my tips for pruning here.

Also take care to deadhead regularly. This helps the whole plant to look better and promotes the healthy new growth. Not keen on deadheading? See these plants that don’t need to be deadheaded and still look great.

Cold Hardiness for Osiria Rose

Osiria Rose is cold hardy in zones 6b to 10b. It will over winter and start growing again in the spring. Mulch well to protect from the cold.

When to fertilize

Fertilize osiria rose bushes with Rose fertilizer in early spring and then again in mid summer.

Alternatives to Osiria Rose

If you are an experienced rose grower, you may not find the problems associated with Osiria a problem and may want to try growing it.

For those less experienced, these roses offer similar coloring with less pest and disease problems. Not all are the bright red and white colors that Osiria has but all are bi-color and more strong.

Nostalgie Rose

This hybrid tea rose has creamy white petals that are edged with cherry red borders. It has a lovely fragrance and blooms throughout the growing season. See nostalgie rose for sale at Gardening Express.

Photo credit Wikimedia commons

Gemini Rose

This patented rose has creamy white centers with a coral edge. Each flower takes on a perfect form. The colors of the flowers intensify with age and it has long stems. Very light fragrance. See Gemini Rose for sale at Edmunds Roses.

Photo Credit Wikimedia Commons

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Coretta Scott King Rose

This grandiflora rose has paler colors than osiria but still with the two toned look to the petals. It is hardy in zones 4-10 and has creamy white with coral orange tips. The rose blooms with a moderate fragrance.

photo credit Amazon

Dream Come True Rose

This bushy and vigorous rose is a prolific bloomer. The bicolor combination for this version is yellow blooms that are edged in ruby red. The rose will bloom with larger flowers if you give it cooler temperatures. See this rose for sale at Week’s Roses.

PHoto credit Drew Avery on Flickr

Photo of Osiria that has not been photo shopped: (to my knowledge) More photos of it on this link too!

Photo credit: Garden Web

Magic Garden Roses stocks a red and white variety, too. A photo of their variety of Osiria is quite different from the photo shopped internet version of it but still lovely. The colors are much more muted.

Photo credit Magic Garden Roses

Update. One of our readers Carl H. Purchased a rooted cane from Roses Unlimited. He was on the waiting list for a few months before they shipped to him. When it arrived, it was a small cane with three buds on it.

Carl said ” We moved it to a larger pot using Miracle Grow potting soil and added some B1 when watering it in. Even though it’s small, some buds are starting.” Here are two photos showing the Osiria ruby rose as it grew.

And another as it started to open. Not the dramatic photo shopped look, but still a pretty rose.

Here is an update on Carl’s Osiria rose. One of my readers just shared this photo and some more information on Osiria rose care. Carl says that the rose seems to be putting it’s energy into blooms.

The plant is quite small and Carl has almost lost it a couple of times to black spot and mites. The bloom in the picture reached over four inches and lasted several days as a cut flower.

Carl thinks it will take a couple more years before he feels it is safe to plant outside. And he adds” I can understand now the comments that it’s a difficult plant to grow. Thanks for sharing this Carl.

This is a photo from a reader Tom. He purchased his from Palatine but is a bit disappointed in the color since it is not what he expected, but he says it has a great fragrance.

One of my readers, Pam has grown this Osiria Rose. She told me that this is an original plant from 1940’s that came out of her Grandfather’s garden in Birmingham, AL. She transferred it to Washington state. It looks as though is loves its new home Pam!

Here is another photo of an untouched Osiria rose submitted by Tammy B. I love the way the colors show on opposite sides. So pretty! Tammy said that all she had to do to get this gorgeous thing to grow was to water it, prune it and put down mulch.

Rooting Osiria rose from cuttings

Several of my readers have emailed me to tell me that they have gotten Osiria roses in bunches of cut flowers from Walmart stores around the country. Roses will root from cuttings, so if you are lucky to find Osiria rose as a cut flower, you could try growing them this way.

One note though: Most roses are grafted onto root stock that is different from the rose on top, so the end result might not be anything like your cut flower in appearance.

If you do have luck this way, please send some photos and I’ll add them to the post with your tips.

If you have grown this rose with success, please let us know, in the comments below, where you purchased it and also how it grew for you.

Pin Osiria Rose Care Tips for later

Would you like a reminder of these tips for growing Osiria rose? Just pin this image to one of your flower boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

Yield: A stunning focal point in the garden