We grow 'Mutabilis' in the garden (Lakeland Florida). It grows to be quite large, so I don't know how well it might do in a container, or as far as taking up a lot of space on your rooftop. It is virtually never out of flower.

Thank you @malcolm_manners !

Great to know Mutabilis does well in your Florida heat and reblooms well!

Is there any fragrance? I am reading conflicting reports about that.

HMF (which in my experience usually underestimates the size of roses in warm climates) says Plaisenterie will grow to 10' by 10'. There are many pictures of it on HMF doing just that. I would never try a rose that big in a container, personally.

Mutabilis can also get quite huge in a warm climate. The one I had did bloom all of the time. The only thing it hated was being pruned - the gardener almost killed it one year because he treated it as if it were a HT.

Could you post a picture of your rooftop garden and the spot you want to put a rose? That would help everyone on here to understand what you are doing better, and of course we LOVE pictures of other people's gardens!

Jackie

If you can provide a HUGE tub for it, 'Mutabilis' is one of the most graceful, charming roses ever. It should love your climate/conditions. And no, it does not have any appreciable fragrance, as far as I can tell.

Mutabilis wants to be HUGE. You CAN whack the heck out of it in an attempt to keep it small and in a warm climate with sufficient water, it should continue thumbing its nose at you and pushing flowers. The blooms themselves have little scent, but the peduncles, ovaries and sepals have a sweet-peppery scent which will perfume your hands after you've groomed it. It will set hips and you can find the occasional seed in them. Sometimes they even germinate. If you're going to try breeding with it, you will have greater success using its pollen on proven seed parents. It has refused EVERY pollen I have ever tried on it. One of the things I used to love showing people shopping the roses at the nurseries was picking spent flower heads, gently rolling them between my flattened palms then having them smell the plant parts. No one failed to detect the sweet-peppery scent. You can easily grow Mutabilis, Plasianterie and the other hybrids (including Rayon Butterflies and Mateo's Silk Butterflies) as free standing shrubs but I wouldn't try it in anything other than the open ground. They all want to be larger plants, and obtaining containers sufficiently larger and keeping that volume of soil on a roof or balcony, particularly when wet, would concern me. Plus, keep in mind that the potting soil WILL deteriorate over time and require you remove that prickly mountain from the container and replenish the soil. That is a job I do NOT wish to contemplate. The larger plants in fifteen gallons here are sufficiently painful and awkward. Anything larger is out of the question.

I wasn't familiar with Eclat de Rire but it seems as if it might be suitable for your purpose. There are other similar color change singles (remember Playboy?) which would also work. Joseph's Coat isn't related but also shifts color. It can mildew and black spot and it is a rather prickly monster. It's probably not a good idea for a large pot. If you can find Jacob's Robe, avoid it! Nice rose but ENORMOUS and even more horribly armed.

Thank you all so much for these replies! I think I am getting that the keyword for Mutabilis is HUGE!

Well, at least I am warned now, not like when I got Teasing Georgia thinking she'd be a cute little shrub... Ha! If only I had known about this forum and HMF back then!

@User

Mutabilis looks like a really special rose! I'm glad it would like this climate. There is something uniquely whimsical about the color-changing single flowers.

I love the warmth and cheerfulness in those changing copper tones.

@roseseek

Thank you for the detailed reply and for that amazing description of Mutabilis' hidden scent! That kind of makes up for less fragrant flowers, and makes me even more curious about this rose!

I will avoid Joseph's Coat. I can't find a seller in Europe that ships bare roots for Rayon Butterflies, but I might have found one for Mateo's Silk Butterflies, so I'll look into it!

It seems the reasonable choice would be either Silk Butterflies or Eclat de Rire. I wish there was something sized in between those small shrubs and the giants.

I do have a few large containers: My grapevine is growing in a 76 liter (20 gallon pot), and the dwarf palm and the olive trees get 40 or 50 liters (10-13 gallons). I have mapped out where the load-bearing walls are, and only place very heavy pots directly on top of them. This gives the garden a very linear, geometric look, which I don't really like, but at least there's no risk of the roof collapsing!

@jacqueline9CA

Here is where I would like to put one of the color-changing roses, it's a tricky corner that gets exactly zero hours of direct sun between October and March, but excellent sun in the morning and from mid-afternoon the rest of the year.

(Old pic from this summer, that lemon tree has since been moved to full sun and the spot is empty.)

The area behind the short wall, where I would put her, is about 4x4 feet, but once she clears the wall she could spill over as wide as she wants, and grow as tall as she wants. I can't use that wall for trellising. Whatever grows there has to be mostly self-supporting, although I do provide staking.

I have grown Mutabilis in coastal SoCal, and in my garden it was a good 10x10 and very disease-free. (That may not be true everywhere. I have seen it troubled by fungal disease in TX).

I don't think it is suitable for pot culture, long-term.

Thanks @jerijen , I guess the 10x10 size really is the norm for Mutabilis in the heat!

Hmmm I still have a few months of bare-root season to decide. I hope I can add one of the mutabilis-like roses to my garden.

Mutabilis mildewed in Encino which indicated it needed more water. Once that was accommodated, it cleared up.

Seaside -- I really think you need to look for roses that are smaller overall.

Are you specifically looking for China crosses? For singles?

@jerijen the original question concerned roses which shift color including Mutabilis and some of its offspring. Others mentioned included Joseph's Coat and Eclat de Rire so singles may be desired, but the common thread among them is the yellowish to reddish color shift. There are MANY of those in commerce these days.

Yes. And perhaps more modestly-sized.

Fighting Mother Nature is rarely successful in the long-term.

@jerijen

Agreed! I do generally go for smaller plants on the roof. Almost all the ones in my current order get no taller than 4 or 5 feet.

For the mutabilis-like ones, I will look for the smaller color changers, but I don't want super low for that spot either . Ideally I would find one that maxes out at around 5 or 6 feet.

@roseseek

I just noticed your mention of Playboy, that one might work too! Another option I have seen is Sweet Sunset, although the color change seems to be more subtle on that one.

I will keep looking. If I find the perfect one I will post here!

@seasiderooftop have you browsed the selections of the rose nurseries there in Australia? You have access to many more really interesting things there than we have here in the US! If more double types are on your radar, how about Treloar's "Daybreaker" https://www.treloarroses.com.au/Floribunda-Bush-Roses/Daybreaker-Rose; or "Garden Delight" https://www.treloarroses.com.au/Floribunda-Bush-Roses/Garden-Delight-Rose; Wildcat looks interesting in the "sunset shades". You want to browse floribundas and shrubs for the bush type and flower size you appear interested in. HT's will likely tend to be too tall and narrow.

Hi @roseseek

Those roses are very beautiful!

But I am not in Australia, I live in Malta (EU). A lot of Maltese live in Australia, so I guess the rose lovers among them are lucky to be able to shop Treloar's amazing selection!

I am limited to roses that I can order bare root within the EU, as shipping costs are prohibitive for anything potted.

I'm not complaining, that leaves me with some excellent choices.

I have been looking at Barni's Tramonto Estivo rose. It's a little shorter than I would have wanted, but it boasts a strong fragrance (yay!) and very good disease resistance. Unfortunately the reviews on HMF are very incomplete for this rose, so I have no idea if it can handle shade, which would be essential for that spot.

https://shop.rosebarni.it/tramonto-estivo--~2105.html

@seasiderooftop my apologies, I mis remembered. You still have a pile of neat things available in the EU! I'd LOVE that selection here in the US!

Wow @jacqueline9CA that is really gorgeous!!

I love how you have the mini version at the foot of the climber!

Only the mini seems to be available in the EU though. So frustrating!

I said I would post here if I found the perfect one.

I did!

Just placed the order and will receive it in mid January!

Rosomane Janon- I am in love:

https://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.40616&tab=1

That is a spectacularly lovely rose! Not readily available state-side, I gather.

I was going to weigh in, but I think that one tops (in many ways) the suggestion of Peach Drift I was going to propose.

I hope it does wonderfully for you in that spot! Feel free to post pictures of it in bloom. ;-)

Mutabilis is a tough rose. It grew big, healthy and strong in hot and dry summer (100+F) 8B Texas and it blooms most of the year for me. I've had to cut it back several times as it got really huge 7-8' x 6' with base of branches up to 2.5" thick. Unfortunately it died when we had an unusual year of drought and I neglected it.

"Life of the Party" is changeable in a good way, they say. Also said to be compact and very fragrant.

https://youtu.be/lvRW1AQFqCI

Yes, @monarda_gw I agree!

Life of the Party looks divine, thanks for the video link!

I was swooning over her when I saw her in the Tom Carruth Huntington Rose Gardens article linked in another thread!

Sadly she doesn't seem to be available in Europe. I hope more Carruth creations make it over here in the future, so many of them seem wonderful.

There's a huge Mutabilis at the Jacksonville, FL Zoo. It is very near the coast and gets lots of heat and humidity. No clue if they spray it or anything, probably not being near all the animals. I saw no fungal problems and it was loaded down with flowers. I keep meaning to get that one. I am kinda glad I waited because now I would have to move it lol. Lord knows, I have enough monster roses to move.

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)

Mutabilis really looks like a perfect rose to me, if it wasn't so big I would definitely get it! If you do get it please post pictures! I am curious to know how quickly they grow to the huge size, especially in our warm zones!

I currently grow Plaisanterie and the Bermuda yellow form of mutabilis; The latter is incredible, happy in its spot, continuously covered winter through summer through winter again with dancing floating blooms of yellow and pale delicate cream and pink; allover gorgeous shrub with the flowers complementing the foliage. Seems resistant to chili thrips which I appreciate. Does not sulk when pruned.. I've never seen fungus on it. Mine is young, perhaps 2-3 years old? about 5x5, robust but biddable; ARE says it can be kept to 6 feet hereabouts. I would not think it suited for a container, but you don't know till you try. Plaisanterie you truly don't want in a container though it is beautiful in spring; but for me larger, faster growing than mutabilis, I have it on a pillar where it kind of umbrellas out from the top, with long rambling drapy canes to 14-15 feet that snake out and infiltrate wherever it can get away with and wicked thorns that grab you from behind.if you attempt to prune it. You CAN prune it, but it will take up space no matter what. Needs to be approached slowly. Smaller roses that are color shifting maybe Emmie Gray, for me staying small, in a bad dry shady spot, about waist high and narrow after some years, but blooms are riveting, aging to a peculiarly ravishing deep deep red that does not show well in photos, different from the deepest color attained by other china roses I grow. Bermuda's Kathleen also is a manageable slower growth habit for me.

Thanks so much @Claire Fanger !

Wow, that's really surprising about Emmie Gray, I never would have guessed she would stay small: HMF has very little info about her but they give her height as 8ft!

I will look into Kathleen as well.

For now I have ordered Rosomane Janon, but aside from the color change she's really very different from the mutabilis I originally wanted. I'm kind of relieved that both you and Roseseek say that Mutabilis might be manageable with heavy pruning. I still have a few months before the end of bare-root season so I might end up ordering her too and see if I can manage her.

Thanks again for sharing your experience with her!

I recall what HMF says about Emmie Gray is "anything up to 8 feet" -- perhaps, but not everything that can attain 8 feet is necessarily a rampant grower. Some things (viz Plaisanterie) really are rampant, will grow fast and outgrow their space without assiduous attention, no matter how poor the conditions you give them. Mutabilis, in a position it likes, gets big in a soft cheery graceful way but is more manageable than Plaisanterie -- docile you might say. It does not seem intent on maiming me with its thorns in the same kind of way.