Commercially available

• Virmanipuri

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Light pink Hybrid Gigantea.
Registration name: Virmanipuri
Exhibition name: Alister's Gift ™

Bred by M.S. Viraraghavan (India, 2006).
Introduced in United States by Roses Unlimited in 2007 as 'Alister's Gift'.

Hybrid Gigantea.  

Light pink.  Light pink upper; medium pink reverse.  Moderate fragrance.  Average diameter 5".  Large, double (17-25 petals), cluster-flowered, in small clusters, high-centered bloom form.  Blooms in flushes throughout the season.  Long buds.  

Bushy.  Large, semi-glossy, medium green foliage.  

Height: 4' to 6' (120 to 185cm).  Width: 8' to 10' (245 to 305cm).

USDA zone 6b through 9b (default).  Can be used for cut flower, garden or landscape.  Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom.  

A continuation of the gigantea line of Alister Clark of Australia

I have been reading up and following the breeding programs and strategies of all hybridizers who have worked with R.gigantea in the past –Father Schoener of California, Alister Clark of Australia and Cayeux of Portugal. Unfortunately, very, very few of Fr. Schoener’s gigantea hybrids are available, and only a couple perhaps of Cayeux’s. But Alister Clark’s gigantea roses are still grown in Australia, indeed there has been such a resurgence of interest in all of his roses, a kind of nationalistic fervor, that these roses are easily available there. When I was invited to speak at the Heritage Roses Incorporated of Australia conference at Hahndorf, in 2001, in South Australia, as the first ‘Roy Rumsey Memorial Speaker’ on my breeding work, I thought it was a heaven sent opportunity to see as many of the Clark gigantea roses as possible and talk to people about these roses. The one person who is considered an authority on Alister Clark roses, and who is assiduously collecting them all, is Mr. John Nieuwesteeg of Nieuwesteeg Nursery, outside Melbourne, Victoria State. We visited him and had a long chat. He told me that if I wanted to work with Clark giganteas I should try his ‘Lady Mann’ rather than ‘Nancy Hayward’ or ‘Lorraine Lee’ or any of the other gigantea hybrids released by Alister Clark. And he was kind enough to give me a small cutting of ‘Lady Mann’.
I grew this cutting into a plant and as soon as it flowered, crossed it with my own gigantea hybrid, ‘Naga Belle’. The result was a sturdy branching shrub, with well shaped HT form dusky pink flowers, with good foliage, and Tea fragrance. I was happy to see that it was continuous flowering.
As a token of my gratitude to Alister Clark, who is a beacon to Rosa gigantea breeders , we gave this rose the name ‘Alister’s Gift’.