Carefree Roses
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Roses as beautiful as these don't have to be a hassle to grow. Here, 'Queen Elizabeth'.
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by Mary C. Weaver
special to HGTV.com An armload of long-stemmed hybrid teas makes the ultimate bouquet. But for ongoing garden thrills, I prefer roses that aren't so high maintenance. I love the chi-chi beauties, but let's just say they aren't at their best in my garden. Caring for them isn't complicated, but some roses--hybrid teas among them--need to be sprayed weekly to keep fungal diseases at bay. Despite my good intentions, I'm usually not motivated enough to put on a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, chemical gloves and goggles and tote a heavy plant sprayer through the garden every Saturday morning just to keep the fussier roses content. Fortunately, plenty of roses perform admirably without spraying and may be grown with a minimum of effort. Given good soil at planting time, six or more hours of daily sun, sufficient water and a dose of fertilizer now and then, they'll delight you throughout the growing season. Here's a bouquet of carefree cultivars to try, whether you're new to roses or an old hand.
'Rosa Mundi' (also called Rosa gallica versicolor): This venerable grandmother has been in cultivation since at least 1581 and perhaps long before. Her look is anything but stodgy, however: 'Rosa Mundi' bears large, fragrant semidouble blooms that are striped and splashed in white, pink and rose-red, with glowing yellow stamens. Her medium-green foliage is disease-resistant, and there are few prickles (thorns). In fall the plant forms attractive red hips. Like the other roses in the gallica class, 'Rosa Mundi' blooms just once per season, in early spring. In that one generous flowering, however, established plants yield as many blossoms as repeat-blooming roses do all season. This garden classic makes an excellent low hedge and looks great in both formal and cottage gardens. Hardy to Zone 4. Reaches 3 to 4 feet in height and width.
'Alba Semi-Plena' (also called 'The White Rose of York'): If fragrance is important to you, make room for this exquisitely scented variety, which has been cultivated for the production of attar (fragrant essential oil) of roses. An alba--one of the most cold-hardy and disease-free classes--'Alba Semi-Plena' bears large, semidouble milk-white flowers with showy stamens in spring and a good crop of red hips in fall. The blooms' grace and purity is matchless, and the grayish-green foliage is disease-resistant. It has long prickles, so don't site this substantial shrub where you'll brush up against it. Cultivated before 1867. Hardy to Zone 3 or 4. A spreading shrub 5 to 7 feet in height and width.
'The Fairy': With a name like that, you might think 'The Fairy' delicate. Don't let this polyantha's diminutive, cupped double pink blooms fool you: this plant is nearly indestructible. Introduced in 1932 by Ann Bentall of England, one of the few female hybridizers in the rose world, 'The Fairy' begins blooming somewhat late in the season but keeps on going into fall. Clusters of blooms form along the entire length of the shrub's prickly canes. The foliage is tiny, medium-green, glossy and disease-resistant. If you live in a warm climate, make sure 'The Fairy' gets some afternoon shade--the soft-pink flowers will fade in hot sun. Hardy to Zone 4. A low and spreading shrub 2 to 3 feet in height and 3 to 4 feet in width.
'New Dawn': If you've oohed and aahed at photographs of pale pink roses clambering romantically over white trellises, chances are good you've seen 'New Dawn'. A large-flowered climber introduced in 1930, it produces a generous supply of medium-sized, cupped, double soft-pink flowers that fade to soft white. The plant is a repeat-blooming sport of 'Dr. W. Van Fleet', although in hot climates flowering will slow or stop at the height of summer. Blooms have a light apple fragrance and an old-fashioned, cottagey look. The plant bears large prickles and dark-green glossy foliage with very good disease-resistance. It can tolerate some shade and perform well with 4 to 5 hours of daily sun. 'New Dawn' was named World's Favorite Rose in 1997. Hardy to Zone 4 or 5. Reaches 12 to 20 feet in height.
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Roses as beautiful as these don't have to be a hassle to grow. Here, 'Queen Elizabeth'.
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'Queen Elizabeth': This regal beauty was the first rose introduced in the grandiflora class in 1954. Its large and fragrant medium-pink blooms are cupped, double and loosely informal, and repeat bloom is reliable. 'Queen Elizabeth' is good for cutting, as the stems are long and the blooms fairly long-lasting. The plant is vigorous and upright, with dark-green, leathery, disease-resistant foliage. An easy beginner's rose, 'Queen Elizabeth' has won numerous honors, including the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) designation, Britain's Royal National Rose Society President's International Trophy and World's Favorite Rose. Hardy to Zone 6. Reaches 5 to 7 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in width.
'Sunsprite': Yellow roses often have a reputation as disease magnets because the gene responsible for adding yellow to modern cultivars' color palette also brought high sensitivity to blackspot fungus. 'Sunsprite'--a floribunda introduced in 1977 by Kordes of Germany, a hybridizer known for its healthy roses--doesn't deserve this rap. This sturdy rose produces large, flat, double sunny yellow blooms with a strong scent that some liken to cinnamon toast. Moderately prickly, it has light-green, glossy , disease-resistant leaflets. Considered by many the best yellow floribunda, 'Sunsprite' is one of a select few roses to win the American Rose Society's James Alexander Gamble Rose Fragrance Award . Hardy to Zone 5. About 3 feet in height and width.
'Showbiz': Not for the shy, retiring garden, this red, red rose makes a terrific visual impact in the landscape. A floribunda introduced in 1981, 'Showbiz' produces medium-sized, semidouble intense-scarlet flowers with a hint of orange, blooming in large sprays. Repeat is reliable and rapid, for a shrub that's constantly in bloom. The semiglossy, disease-resistant foliage is very dark green, for an appealing contrast with the blooms. 'Showbiz' won an AARS award in 1985. Hardy to Zone 5. Compact and bushy, reaching a height of around 3 feet.
'Bonica': A sweetheart of a rose, 'Bonica' combines both virtue and popularity. It was the first cultivar in the shrub group to win AARS honors (in 1987), and its success helped create a market for the many easy-care shrubs now available. The green-apple-scented blooms are small, cupped, double rosettes with medium-pink centers and lighter edges, borne in graceful clusters. If not deadheaded, 'Bonica' sets hips in fall. She's constantly in bloom, with small, dark, semiglossy, disease-resistant foliage. Give her some afternoon shade in warm climates: blooms fade to white in hotter regions. Hardy to Zone 4 or 5. Vigorous, upright, somewhat spreading shrub, reaching 3 to 5 feet in height.
'Buff Beauty': Few blooms have the distinctive buffy apricot-yellow color of this tough but graceful hybrid musk rose. Medium-sized double flowers with a tea-rose fragrance are produced in large clusters, with reliable repeat. The foliage is large, thick, medium-green and semiglossy, with good disease resistance. Canes are moderately prickly, and new growth in spring is colored plum-red, creating a beautiful contrast with the first flush of bloom. Introduced in 1939, 'Buff Beauty' was hybridized by Ann Bentall. Hardy to Zone 5 or 6. Vigorous, rather horizontal spreading growth, reaching a height of about 6 feet.
'Carefree Beauty': This shrub rose's hybridizer, Dr. Griffith Buck of Iowa State University, once said it needed "no more care than a peony." Like all of Buck's roses, 'Carefree Beauty', introduced in 1977, is tough and cold-hardy. Its large semidouble pale-rose flowers are lightly fragrant, and the plant is reliably reblooming. The small olive-green leaflets have excellent disease-resistance. Hardy to Zone 4 or 5. Vigorous, upright and spreading, reaching a height of 5 to 6 feet.
'Pink Meidiland': A compelling argument for the charm of single roses, 'Pink Meidiland ' is as rugged as its blooms are delicate. The medium-sized warm-pink flowers have a showy white eye and yellow stamens and are borne in clusters. This vigorous shrub repeats reliably, but bloom is somewhat sparse between spring and late-summer flushes . 'Pink Meidiland' has small, medium-green, semiglossy, disease-resistant leaflets and sets hips in fall if not deadheaded. Hardy to Zone 5. Rather upright; reaches 4 to 5 feet in height.
Here's a bonus rose to round out the baker's dozen: 'Jens Munk': This vigorous shrub, a hybrid rugosa, is one of the excellent Canadian Explorer series hybridized by Agriculture Canada. As you'd expect, it's extremely cold-hardy, as well as disease-resistant. 'Jens Munk' blooms continuously, producing medium-sized semidouble lilac-pink blooms with yellow stamens; some petals are marked by a white streak. The fragrance is light and spicy. Leaflets are small, medium green and characteristically rugose ("wrinkled"), and plants bear a small crop of hips if not deadheaded. Hardy to Zone 2 or 3. Forms an upright shrub 4 to 5 feet tall; makes a good hedge. Mary C. Weaver writes and gardens in Knoxville, Tennessee, and adores roses that reward the lazy gardener. Her book Roses: A Growing Guide for Easy, Colorful Gardens (Hungry Minds Inc.) was published in 1998. Photographs: 'Rosa Mundi', 'Alba Semi-Plena', 'Sunsprite', 'Showbiz', 'Mutabilis', 'Buff Beauty', 'Jens Munk'--Peter Haring
'Queen Elizabeth', 'The Fairy', 'Blanc Double de Coubert'--Wayside Gardens
'Bonica', 'Pink Meidiland', 'Carefree Beauty'--Conard-Pyle
Resources 500 Roses for American Gardeners
(ISBN: 0764108514)
Barrons Educational Series; (March 1999)
Availabe at book stores
Roses: A Growing Guide for Easy, Colorful Gardens
by Mary C. Weaver (ISBN: 0028626362)
Hungry Minds, Inc; (December 1998)
Available at book stores Wayside Gardens
Wayside Gardens
Website: www.waysidegardens.com | |
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