HelpfulGardener.com

Good evening all,
I have just joined the forum and would like some advice. I'm planning to plant some roses, chiefly for scent, in my south facing front garden. The existing plants I have are five Fuchsia, a Honeysuckle, and some Rosemary bushes, I have some white Lavendar that I'm going to plant, and maybe buy some Sage as well.

I don't mind any colour, but can't abide climbers/ramblers , basically big blooms, loads of scent, disease resistant, and as few thorns as possible!

Gosh , don't want much do I?
Can anyone help me?

Thanks in advance,
Nikki

Hi Nikki,

A year ago, I was also a beginner with roses too. I have picked up a lot of precious helpful tips and warm friends in this forum.

I advise you to plan where you wish to plant your rose first. Usually roses like red, orange that need more sunlight which pink, white and cream colours need lesser. Planting them at the wrong site will actually result in an unconsistant bloom colour later.

Next, I suggest that you flip through the rose catalog on some reputable rose company in your country to have a breif idea of what you are going to get. Gather those that you prefer and plan according to their suitable site, taking attention to their height. Make sure the tall rose will not block the sight of shorter ones.

Lastly, always leave enough space between each other in case you pop up with a rose you meet later that match well with those that you had already planted before.

For me, I like to match my roses from dark colours to light. In this case, I can have various species and do not need to get a few of the same species to look massy togather.

Nikki, you should not include as few thorns as possible as one of the consideration too. There are very few roses like ZEPHIRINE DROUHIN with almost no thorn. You will spoil the joy of growing roses if you put too many criteria ahead you in the end.

Well, these are some tips from me who is still a beginner. Hope it helps.

Pixi

Merci, PIXI!

'Zephrine Drouhin' is a climber, but a very old one and one to make you change your mind about ramblers and such...

The only rose I have might just be the one for you; 'Therese Bugnet' is a rugosa hybrid that has few thorns, soft pink flowers (good with the rest of the pallette you have chosen), and a dead easy one to grow.

Seems she has a little sister I was unaware of named 'Marie Bugnet' . Hmmm.

[url]https://www.growquest.com/rose%20section/rugosa%20therese_bugnet.htm[/url]

Scott

Hiya Scott,

I have choosen 'Zephrine Drouhin' to put outside my bedroom because that site is north facing, and we do not get enough sunlight to obtain enough flowers for other roses. Will certainly search around for the rose you have recommended.

Merci Scott!

Pixi

Not knowing what you climate is, it is difficult to recommend a specific rose, and be sure that it will be good for you. However, I can give you a couple that are very strongly scented, very few thorns, and quite well behaved.
- Barbra Streisand - this is the most strongly scented rose in my garden, and it is beautiful. This is a hybrid tea, that is a dark pinkish lavender in color. It has large flowers ( 4-5 inches) and grows up to 4 feet tall. Very few thorns

- Fragrant Cloud - Also known as Duftwolke, is also a very strongly scented hybrid tea rose in my garden, and has actually won many awards for it's scent. It is a deep red/orange, with large flowers (5") and grows up to 5 feet tall.

- Rosemary Harkness - This is also a very strongly scented hybrid tea rose that I have in my garden, apricot blend in color, with large flowers (4") but a little shorter, 30".

- Felicia - This is a shrub rose, with a very sweet strong scent. It has 2-3" flowers that are a light peach in color, and it grows to 5 feet.

- Martin Frobisher - This is a shrub rose, with a very strong sweet scent. It has 3" flowers that are pale pink in color, and it grows to 5-6 feet tall.

I have all of these roses in my gardens, and I am in Zone 4a, so if you aren't in a harsher zone than that, you should be okay with these. If you can give us more information as to what climate you are in, and what kind of care you are prepared to give them, I could give you several more suggestions.
Certainly follow JPIXI's advice as well - she's been a fast learner,and has done well with her roses!
Feel free to stop and ask more questions if you need to!

Val

Scott - "Marie Bugnet" is also a rugosa hybrid that was bred in 1963, thirteen years after Therese Bugnet by Georges Bugnet of Alberta, Canada, who actually bred only four roses.
Marie Bugnet's parentage is Therese Bugnet X Pink Grootendorst, and has a very short bloodline of 15. Her flowers are pure white in color, with full ruffled papery petals. The flowers are 3.5", and the shrub grows to 3.5 feet. She has a very strong sweet scent.

Val

Dear all,
thanks very much for the advice. As you can see, I am no longer a woman of mystery. I live in the Essex countryside, my front garden is quite a mess at present, I've dug the flower beds and one half of the garden is given over to parking. I want the other half to be colourful and full of scent to make up for the huge black people carrier my partner drives.

I intend to dig in well rotted manure, and bone meal into the soil, and once the hybrid teas and shrub roses are flowering and established, to deadhead, I want to avoid chemical spraying as much as possible, because my partner has asthma, hence the lavander bushes between the roses, hopefully ladybirds will eat the aphids.

Can anyone suggest any more companions to roses that help attract helpful insects to eat rose munching pests?


Thanks.

Nikki

Hi Nikki,

I have also planned to have lavender with my roses before too.

But the idea went away when I notice lavender attracts a lot of bees. Some pregnant mother bees tend to cut small holes in leaf for their baby bedding.

The lavender fragrance will be affected if you water them during the harvest season when they are in full bloom during the hottest season of the year when the roses need a lot of water to avoid catching diseases. Some detailss that you might wish to consider.

I have grown some garlics and ginger beside my roses to act as a natural pests repellent. Yet to see if it works this Spring and Summer.

Amitié,
Pixi

Hi Nikki! Glad to hear you are going the organic way! There are some good posts on the Organic Rose Care forum as well that you might take a look at.
Some plants that will help attract beneficial insects to your garden are Tansy, dill, fennel, yarrow, butterfly weed, coreopsis, gaillardia, asters, marigolds and goldenrod. If you are concerned about the invasiveness of tansy, yarrow or goldenrod, they can be kept in control by planting them in deep bottomless pots to keep the roots from spreading.
Hope this helps!

Val

My recommendation for a companion plant for roses is Calamintha nepeta, a non-invasive mint relative that flowers most of the summer with airy white blooms that attract everything, including LOTS of syrphid flies, parasitic wasps; that sort of bug. Good stuff and it looks stellar with roses...

HG