Rose Rises to a Heated Challenge

Mulched and watered, my roses have endured 100-plus-degree temperatures with mixed results. The sun drains color from some blooms, fries the leaf edges of others. All you can do is baby them through this blast furnace.

One new rose I'm watching is Tom Carruth's 'Memorial Day'. A hybrid tea with rich pink-lavender blooms and a heady damask fragrance, 'Memorial Day' is among the three All-America Rose Selections for 2004. It will be in nurseries by December or January.

'Memorial Day' has tolerated the heat well, considering that I planted it in February and its root system is still maturing. It has wave after wave of blooms, and its foliage is abundant, if not the deep, glossy green some prefer.

This is the fifth AARS winner for Carruth, a hybridizer for Weeks Roses. Last year, Carruth gave us the award-winning 'Hot Cocoa', a floribunda.

AARS winners have been judged to be the very best of introductions. The roses already have undergone two years of intensive garden testing. The two other 2004 AARS winners are:

• 'Day Breaker'. A compact floribunda (3 feet by 3 feet wide) with clusters of multicolored yellow-pink-apricot) blooms and dark green, glossy foliage. Moderate tea fragrance.

• 'Honey Perfume'. Another compact floribunda (3-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet). Apricot yellow blooms and dark green, glossy foliage. It has a spicy fragrance and is resistant to rust and powdery mildew.