MAURICE UTRILLO – pink-yellow tea-hybrid rose - Delbard
Blending painterly colour with classic hybrid-tea elegance, Maurice Utrillo brings a romantic, storybook ambience to family gardens, echoing French art in every striped bloom. Its upright, compact habit makes it ideal for smaller borders or as a standout feature in a cottage-style setting, while own-root robustness supports a long, reliable garden life with fewer replacements. Container-grown in the pharmaROSA® ORIGINAL 2-litre format, it is easy to plant and establish even in busier urban plots, and it copes well with breezier sites and typical British weather when drainage is sensibly managed. Over time, this dependable rose settles into your planting scheme, offering repeat-flowering impact, medium-care maintenance needs and scope for flexible pruning to suit your preferred look.
Usage options
| Target area | Reasoning |
|---|
| Feature rose in a small cottage-style front garden |
The strong, upright habit and dense, glossy foliage allow Maurice Utrillo to stand as a single focal plant near an entrance or path without dominating a modest front plot. Its painterly striped blooms create instant character, and the own-root form means the plant knits into the scene for many years with minimal intervention, ideal for homeowners |
| Mixed flower border in an average-sized family garden |
With a height of around 85–120 cm and a similar spread, this cultivar slots neatly into mixed borders amongst perennials and low shrubs, adding vertical interest and repeat colour. The remontant flowering habit provides several flushes through the season, so the border rarely looks bare, while the medium maintenance requirement is manageable alongside work and family life for busy-gardeners |
| Cutting patch near the kitchen garden |
As a hybrid tea originally bred for cutting, Maurice Utrillo offers long, straight stems and generous, large blooms that hold their form well in a vase. The subtle, fresh, fruity fragrance suits indoors without overwhelming smaller rooms, and repeat flowering keeps a steady supply of stems through summer for informal bouquets, particularly appealing to hobby-florists |
| Specimen rose in a large container on patio or terrace |
Its upright, compact structure makes it a good choice for a single, statement plant in a large 40–50 litre container on a terrace or paved area. Own-root resilience supports recovery if containers dry out occasionally, and you can position the pot for best sun and viewing. This offers classic garden-rose charm even where ground space is limited for urban-owners |
| Informal rose and grass combination in cottage borders |
The vivid red, cream and yellow striping pairs well with softly moving grasses such as Carex and low groundcovers like creeping phlox. Medium disease resistance means the foliage generally remains attractive when combined with airier plants, and the colour pattern brings a playful, “girly” note without demanding complex care from style-lovers |
| Small family back garden with typical mixed soil |
This rose tolerates a range of garden conditions, including cooler, breezier British sites where, once drainage is sensibly managed, it copes well with changeable weather and occasional strong winds. Own-root structure builds a solid framework below ground, helping it anchor and perform consistently over the years, a reassuring choice for families |
| Borders where flexible pruning is preferred |
Maurice Utrillo responds well to different pruning approaches, from a traditional hybrid-tea cut for long stems to a lighter trim that preserves height for screening or backdrop use. This flexibility suits gardeners who may vary their layout over time, and own-root growth supports regeneration after harder cuts, offering confidence to beginners |
| Long-term planting schemes with low replacement rates |
Supplied as an own-root plant, it does not depend on a graft union, so the rose ages steadily and can regenerate from its base if winter damage or pruning goes too far. This underpins a long-lived display with stable ornamental value, reducing the need to replant and fitting well into quietly evolving gardens for long-term-planners |
Styling ideas
- Painter’s-Border – weave Maurice Utrillo through a narrow front border with lavender and catmint to echo its painterly stripes – ideal for colour-loving cottage gardeners
- Kitchen-Posy – position a short row beside herbs and vegetables for easy cutting of striped blooms to mix with home-grown foliage – perfect for home cooks who enjoy simple arrangements
- Patio-Gallery – grow a single plant in a 50-litre terracotta pot with trailing thyme at the base for a gallery-like focus by the back door – suited to terrace dwellers and townhouse owners
- Soft-Contrast – combine with pale pink spurges, gypsophila and glaucous sedges to soften the vivid flowers within a romantic, airy border – attractive to lovers of gentle, feminine schemes
- Storybook-Arch – set two plants flanking a light metal arch and underplant with creeping phlox to frame a path with striped colour – appealing to families creating a fairy-tale garden feel
Technical cultivar profile
| Property | Data |
|---|
| Name and registration |
Maurice Utrillo (Les Roses de Peintres®), hybrid tea rose, registered as DELstavo, exhibition category cut-flower tea hybrid; American Rose Society exhibition name Maurice Utrillo. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Georges Delbard in France, 2004; parentage unknown. Introduced after 2004 by Pepinières & Roseraies Georges Delbard, combining exhibition form with strong garden appeal. |
| Awards and recognition |
Recognised in competition with a Certificate of Merit at Lyon in 2000 and a Gold Medal at Rose Hills in 2005, reflecting both quality of bloom and overall garden performance. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Upright, bushy habit reaching about 85–120 cm high and 70–95 cm wide, with dense, glossy dark-green foliage and moderate prickliness; weak self-cleaning, so benefits from regular deadheading. |
| Flower morphology |
Large, semi-double, cup-shaped blooms with 17–25 petals; clustered inflorescences; remontant with an abundant second flush, providing repeated decorative value throughout the main growing season. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Bright red base lavishly striped with butter-yellow and creamy white; ARS rb, RHS 46A outer, 5C inner. Colour may partially fade and striping pale in strong sun, but remains distinctive overall. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
Mild, fresh, fruity fragrance that is noticeable at close range but not overpowering, making it suitable for seating areas and for use as cut flowers indoors, including smaller, enclosed rooms. |
| Hip characteristics |
Rose-hip set generally poor due to doubled blooms; where present, small ellipsoid orange-red hips around 10–15 mm offer modest late-season interest but are not a primary ornamental feature. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Medium resistance to black spot, powdery mildew and rust; benefits from basic monitoring. Hardy to approximately –21 to –18 °C (RHS H7, USDA 6b), suitable for most UK garden conditions. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Best in full sun; plant 50–55 cm apart in groups, 90 cm as specimen. Medium maintenance, requiring watering in prolonged dry spells and periodic deadheading to sustain flowering and appearance. |
Maurice Utrillo DELstavo offers striking striped blooms, compact border-friendly growth and flexible pruning in a durable own-root form that suits long-term, easy-care planting; consider it where you want lasting colour with manageable effort.
