Sweet Willamina Bare Root Rose Bush

About Sweet Willamina Bare Root Rose Bush

Sweet Willamina
🧬 Breeder: Brad Jalbert, Canada
🌹 Introduced: 2026
🌹 Rose Type: Hybrid Tea
💜 A romantic new lilac-pink rose whose color shifts with the temperature, finished with a whisper of vanilla fragrance.

Meet Sweet Willamina, a captivating new rose from Canadian hybridizer Brad Jalbert.

Introduced in 2026, this Hybrid Tea has an almost ethereal quality. Its beautifully formed, full double flowers blend delicate shades of lilac and soft pink, with the exact coloring changing as temperatures shift throughout the season.

That means Sweet Willamina may never look exactly the same twice.

Its flowers are set beautifully against deep, glossy green foliage, creating a dramatic backdrop for those unusually soft lilac-pink tones.

Then lean in.

The flowers carry a gentle Tea rose fragrance touched with subtle vanilla.

And for gardeners who love cutting roses, there's another wonderful surprise:

Sweet Willamina has very few thorns.

💐 Plant & Flower Traits

🌹 Rose Type: Hybrid Tea
🎨 Color: Soft lilac-pink with shades that shift according to seasonal temperatures
🌸 Bloom Form: Full, double, beautifully formed flowers
🌺 Fragrance: Gentle Tea rose fragrance with subtle hints of vanilla
🌡️ Color Character: Temperature-responsive coloring creates variations of lilac and tender pink throughout the season
🌿 Foliage: Lush, deep glossy green
🌵 Thorns: Low thorn count
✂️ Cut Flower: Excellent — the combination of elegant flowers, fragrance, and fewer thorns makes Sweet Willamina especially appealing for bouquets

🏡 Growth & Garden Habits

🌱 Growth Habit: Neat, refined Hybrid Tea habit
↕️ Height: Approximately 3 feet
💐 Best For: Cutting gardens, fragrance gardens, rose beds, mixed borders, containers, and specimen plantings
❄️ Hardiness: Not specified by the breeder at this time

💜 A Rose That Changes With the Weather

One of the most intriguing characteristics of Sweet Willamina is its color.

This isn't simply a pink rose.

And it isn't quite lavender.

Instead, the flowers move between soft lilac and tender pink, with temperature influencing which tones become most prominent.

Cooler and warmer periods can subtly change the appearance of the flowers, giving each flush its own personality.

Against the rose's deep glossy foliage, those nuanced colors become even more noticeable.

For gardeners who collect roses with unusual coloring, Sweet Willamina is one to watch.

🍦 Tea Rose + Vanilla

The fragrance is every bit as delicate as the coloring.

Sweet Willamina carries a gentle Tea rose perfume with subtle hints of vanilla.

It's not meant to be an overpowering fragrance.

Instead, it's soft and refined—the kind of scent that rewards you for leaning close to the flower.

Tea.

A touch of vanilla.

And a lilac-pink rose.

Very sweet indeed.

✂️ Made for Bouquets

Sweet Willamina has another characteristic that immediately caught our attention:

Very few thorns.

For anyone who grows roses specifically for cutting, that's a wonderful trait.

Its beautifully formed Hybrid Tea flowers, subtle fragrance, glossy foliage, and low thorn count make it especially well suited to bouquets and arrangements.

Plant it in the garden.

Then bring armfuls inside.

No wrestling match required.

💛 Why Grace Rose Farm Loves It

Sweet Willamina is exactly the kind of rose collectors love discovering first.

It's new.

It's unusual.

And it has personality.

We love that its color isn't completely predictable. Depending on the temperature, the flowers can move between soft pink and dreamy lilac, giving the plant a slightly different appearance as the season progresses.

Then Brad Jalbert added that lovely Tea-and-vanilla fragrance.

And very few thorns.

And glossy dark foliage.

And kept the plant to a wonderfully manageable three feet tall.

There's a lot packed into this sweet little rose.

We have a feeling Willamina is going to make quite a few wish lists.

🌿 Growing & Care Recommendations

Planting Site: Plant in a sunny location with fertile, well-drained soil.

Watering: Water deeply after planting and maintain consistent moisture while your bare-root rose develops its new root system.

Air Circulation: Give the plant adequate space from neighboring roses and shrubs to encourage airflow around its glossy foliage.

Pruning: As a Hybrid Tea, prune in late winter or early spring to remove dead, damaged, or weak growth and encourage strong new flowering stems.

Cutting Garden: Take advantage of the naturally low thorn count. Sweet Willamina is an especially appealing choice for gardeners who regularly harvest roses for bouquets.

Watch the Weather: Pay attention to the flowers as temperatures change. Part of the fun of growing Sweet Willamina will be seeing how its lilac and pink coloring responds throughout the season.