|
Choosing a Rose
A rose is a rose is a
rose, but all roses are not created equal. The rose family is huge; and, I
feel, it is a much misunderstood plant group. It has vast genetic
differences not only in the characteristics usually considered by the
average consumer: bloom color, fragrance and flower form, but also in
those characteristics usually overlooked; vigor, disease resistance,
hardiness and plant habit.
 Almost everything written about roses is meant for a nationwide audience:
books, catalogs, magazine articles even the picture tags. Yet, roses do
not perform equally well throughout the country. A particular rose that
does really well in one part of the country may perform poorly elsewhere.
Growing roses on the east coast is particularly challenging; blackspot
fungus disease is a much greater problem here than elsewhere. With one
notable exception, roses are insufficiently tested in blackspot-prone
areas. One of the biggest and most famous rose growers does no testing at
all in areas where blackspot is especially troublesome. In short, there
is more to selecting a rose than looking at a picture tag and there is not
a lot of competent, easily accessible help to be had.
I have received several requests to explain the various classes of roses,
and what each requires in terms of care. I have purposely chosen
here not to cover specialty roses like antiques, climbers, ground covers
and miniatures. Even so, this is a complex subject about which large
books are written; the risk of oversimplification is great. Within
each group, I am listing some of my favorites for garden performance based
upon my experience in the mid-Atlantic area.
Most important, just
as in choosing a pet, you need to ask yourself how committed you are to a
regular care (spray) program for your rose. If your lifestyle does not
permit weekly or bi-weekly rose care, you need to choose accordingly.
Hybrid Teas & Grandifloras
Hybrid teas and grandifloras are the roses so
well known for elegance and beauty of bud and bloom. They are ideal for
cutting, exhibition, and garden display. Hybrid teas bear large flowers
individually on long stems. Grandiflora blooms are often borne in clusters
and often are more vigorous and very tall-growing. In all other
characteristics, they are very similar to hybrid tea roses. While many
people feel these roses have the most beautiful blooms of all roses, they
require the most maintenance. None of the hybrid teas and grandifloras are
particularly low care, however some of those we have observed to be
reliable performers are Colleen Mary (fragrant red hybrid tea), Earth Song
(pink grandiflora), Elina (cream hybrid tea), Great Century and New
Zealand (both pastel pink hybrid teas), Opening Night (red hybrid tea),
Stephens' Big Purple (maroon) and Voodoo (yellow-orange hybrid tea). With
the exception of Earth Song, none do well without a regular (3 to 4 times
a month) spray program for fungus diseases. If neglected, the leaves will
fall off from blackspot and the plant will weaken and winterkill from lack
of leaves. These roses can be planted individually, but provide the best
landscape display and ease of care when planted 36 inches apart either in
small groups or large formal plantings, often surrounded by low hedges.
Floribundas
Modern floribunda roses combine the
ever-blooming, cluster-blooming characteristics of low growing polyantha
roses with the broad color palette and bloom quality of hybrid teas.
Floribundas provide a prolific, summer-long floral display on sturdy,
bushy plants. In general, floribunda roses are somewhat shorter than
hybrid teas and much shorter than grandifloras. Plant them 30 inches
apart. While all floribundas are cluster blooming, many of the newest
have 4” blossoms of perfect hybrid tea form on longer stems that are
excellent for cutting. The buds and the blooms of the smaller flowered
varieties make excellent corsages and mini-arrangements. In general,
floribundas are medium maintenance roses and can get by with an irregular
(once or twice a month) spray program. Based on their growth habit and
outstanding disease resistance, we include some roses technically
classified as floribundas (Iceberg and Livin Easy) with the low
maintenance shrub roses. Three other reliable floribundas are
Europeana (red),
Spartan (coral) and
Sunsprite (fragrant yellow).
 English Roses by David Austin
This recently developed class of roses is
the result of crossing antique roses with modern roses, particularly
floribundas. David Austin has achieved the best of both: rich fragrance,
repeat-flowering, old-fashioned, full-petalled form, broad color range,
and hardiness. English roses should be considered medium to high
maintenance roses. Two of the most reliable English roses are
Abraham Darby (pastel peach climber) and
Heritage (shell pink).
Romantica Roses by the House of
Meilland
Like the English roses, the French
Romantica roses are modern roses crossed with antique roses. However the
hybrid tea influence is much greater in the Romantica series. Whereas
David Austin’s roses show a predominant antique rose influence, the
Romanticas are much closer to modern hybrid teas and floribundas in habit,
with evidence of antique roses showing up mostly in the flower form.
Compared to English roses, Romanticas tend to be more floriferous, with
stronger cutting-length stems, and have lusher, more disease-resistant
foliage. An irregular spray program (averaging every 3 weeks) will
suffice. Consider the best of the Romanticas low to medium maintenance
roses. Romanticas perform better in the South than the English roses,
which tend not to flower well in the hotter areas in summer. English
roses, as a class, are more fragrant, and the plant habit, not just the
bloom, is reminiscent of the large shrub-like growth of antique roses. In
my experience,
Traviata (red) is the best of the Romantica roses. A very close
second would be Francois Rabelais (red) and Peter Mayle (very fragrant
fuchsia pink).
 Rugosas
Rugosa roses are sturdy, handsome shrubs.
Blossoms come in white, several shades of pink, red to almost purple,
singles and double---most showing centers of attractive yellow stamens.
But, they do not fulfill most people’s preconception of the appearance of
a rose, in either flower form or plant habit. They re-bloom
intermittently after a heavy June bloom. In autumn, many have beautiful,
orange-red hips, rich in vitamin C, that attract wildlife and are useful
for jelly. Their tough, textured, deeply veined foliage and erect, spiny
stems distinguish rugosas from other roses. Rugosas are particularly
useful for hedges and ground covers.
Rugosas are hardy to
Zone 3. Their preference for light, sandy soil in full sun to partial
shade makes them especially suited to seashore planting. They tolerate
both salt and drought. Rugosas require no spraying for disease and little
fertilization. Prune out only the old, worn-out canes. I have never seen
a true rugosa rose that was not truly carefree. Three of the best in this
class are
Blanc Double de Coubert (white),
Fru Dagmar Hastrup (pink) and
Purple Pavement (maroon).
Shrub Roses
Shrub roses have been bred over the years from the multitude of rose
species indigenous to various parts of the world. Most are of strong, but
not rambling growth. Some have the highest American Rose Society ratings
of all the many roses rated. None are powerfully fragrant; nor does any
have the spiral high centered form of the classic hybrid tea bud and
bloom. Shrub roses are useful for mass plantings, as stand-alone
specimens, as accents in perennial and shrub borders or as medium to tall
hedges. Many are hardy, durable, easy to care for and remarkably
attractive. This group needs the least maintenance of any, with the
exception of rugosa roses. Compared to other shrubs you might plant, the
small amount of effort that these roses require more than repays itself
with the long duration flower power that these roses provide. Among those
with which we have had particular success are:
Baby Love (small flowered single yellow),
Carefree Beauty,
Carefree Wonder and
Carefree Delight (various shades of pink),
Carefree Sunshine (soft yellow),
Easy Going (peach),
Livin Easy (tangerine),
Pink Flower Carpet (not a carpet; grows to 4 feet), Coral Flower
Carpet (single bloom; more restrained habit than the pink form),
Gourmet Popcorn (small flowered white),
Knockout (very deep pink; shade tolerant), Lovely Fairy (small
flowered deep pink; neat habit),
Margo Koster (small flowered deep salmon; thornless; makes a 2 foot
mound),
Pink Meidiland (single pink; shade tolerant) and
What a Peach (salmon).
If you have any top-notch performers that you would like to share with me,
I encourage you to e-mail me at
Alan@CarrollGardens.com.
Next week we will talk
about Clematis and the following week we will cover climbing and ground
cover roses.
Happy Gardening,
Alan Summers
Roses Featured Above
(click on links below for
more information) |
|
Question of the
Week
Each week, we will dig
into our mailbag and pull out one question that has general interest. We
will then include it (and the answer) as part of our weekly newsletter.
So here goes with the first question, which arrived in similar form from
several gardeners.
Question:
I am going to feed my lawn this weekend if it’s not too late. Can I also
apply
Dimension and
Confront at the same time?
Answer:
By the calendar, it is late for the end of winter application of Turf
Trust
or Turf-Tone.
However, by the weather, your timing is about perfect for zones 6 and 7.
Apply these lawn fertilizers as soon as you can, but if you can’t get to
it, remember the adage “Better late, than never”.
It’s a
little too early for Dimension crab grass pre-emergence.
Dimension is
applied when the forsythia is in full bloom and I haven’t seen even one
precocious forsythia bloom. Confront (broad leaf weed killer) is applied
once the weeds have greened up and started to make new leaves.
Confront
is particularly effective against wild violets and I have seen some of
them start to pop up in warm spots. Confront works especially well on
these particularly difficult-to-control lawn pests if it is applied on
young tender growth; followed by a second application, if necessary, in
about 5 weeks. For other weeds, wait until you see new growth, which
brings us to the essence of your question. If the weed growth calls for
Confront at the same time the forsythia bloom calls for
Dimension, both
products can be applied together--one right after the other.
Dimension
works through the soil so it goes down first. Confront works primarily
through the foliage. (On some weeds, you will get better control if you
moisten the foliage so the Confront “sticks” better). So once you apply
the Confront, you want to stay off the lawn for about a day so you don’t
knock the little Confront granules off the leaf surface of the weeds. In
short when applying, Dimension and Confront at the start the same time,
apply Dimension first and Confront second.
Hint:
If you apply
Dimension in the evening, you can often apply the
Confront
on the dew-moistened weeds early the following morning. If this is
inconvenient, or if you chose a dewless morning, you just need to lightly
moisten the weed leaves with a hose.
Click for more info:
Confront®
Dimension (TM)
Turf-Tone®
Turf Trust®
|
