What rose does my wife want?

[Gardener123]

OK, I know nothing about roses, and neither does my wife, really. She just knows that she likes the way they look. She wanted to buy roses at Costco today and I talked her out of it. I told her not to settle on any old rosé bush, but wait and get what she wants. OK, so I asked her what she wants and here is what she said ( I have no idea if this even exists ):

1. Stunning color, no wishy washy colors
2. About 3 to 4 feet high and wide when full grown
3. Zone 6 tolerant
4. Low maint.
5. Under $25 per plant for young plants
6. Safely planted in the fall - that is my concern

Any ideas on which variety to look for, and where to buy?

Thanks.

[*dim*]

Gertrude Jekyll rose bush:



http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english ... ?Showr=856

smells very good and the fragrance carries far ...(has been given a score of 9/10 for fragrance) ....

looks good and flowers 3 times a year if fertilized properly .... needs a sunny position (6hrs sun per day minimum)

[imafan26]

Peace, 1946 rose of the year. It is good for cutting and has a light fragrance.

If you want fragrance than Double Delight (smells like spice), Fragrant cloud, Honey Perfume, Memorial Day, Mr. Lincoln, Scentimental or Heritage.

If you want to get the most for your money, wait until the bare root roses come in. They are usually cheaper and you will have a better selection of roses to choose from. If you really get into roses join the local rose society. Usually you can grow roses from cuttings and society members usually share and you will learn the right way to care for your roses.

[luis_pr]

Since she did not list scent as a requirement, I would consider Knockout Roses which are available just about anywhere. For slightly smaller shrubs, consider some Carpet Roses that stay small but, if you do not prune them, can get 2-3' high. They come in several colors. These are NOT stunning but the reason for suggesting them is that stunning usually requires maintenance, has Blackspot Problem in some areas, etc. Many roses that are stunning and are locally available are hybrid teas, selected to produce nice blooms... usually above all else. So many stunning ones will suffer from fungal diseases and become maintenance problems. Below are some recommended by the American Rose Society.

http://philadelphiarosesociety.org/faq/ ... n-panjdel/

Double Delight is excellent. I had to actually buy another plant because I am addicted to its WOW-scent. But it suffers from BS here. It does stay within its height-width bounds for me. Consider it by all means if BS will not be a problem. Nice tri color blooms (white, yellow, pink-red).

Gertrude has some very nice & smelly blooms but it also has a tendency to throw some huge canes to produce a basket like shrub form. To keep it under control, you may need to prune several times thru the year. Lots of thorns and does not produce much bloomage always, meaning that it blooms in flushes and there will be times when it is green (many roses do this during hot times too). I am considering replacing it.

I also have Memorial Day, in the front entrance of my property and it smells good, has some BS but not much so I think it was suggestion. It produces more blooms more frequently than Gertrude. It self cleans and can get quite large if left unpruned. Even though I pruned down mine in January, my growing season is long and it is almost 5' high with minimal fertilizer applications. Unusually high but I do not remember it doing that before. Must have liked something this year!

Frangrant Cloud is another one I have. It has a musk-y/damask smell that is not everyone's cup of tea. Has BS Problems so I had to cover the bottom of the plant by planting small shrubs like daylilies, etc. It also comes in climber form.

Frederick Mistral is another good choice. Light pink and the scent whiffs I get when seated nearby are a plus. I do not tend to prune this one often for various reason and it got almost 8' but if you pruned it yearly, it should be fine. The blooms can look ugly if you get a spell of rain showers when it is in bloom.

I had Mr. Lincoln and recommend it but it did not produce a lot of blooms for me and died after I tried to plant it elsewhere.

The best time to buy roses locally is probably during the first half of the year if buying at Lowes, HD, local plant nurseries.

Skip yellow and white roses IF you can. Some insects are attracted to yellow and white roses while many yellow ones suffer from black spot. If you see one that you like, check to see if it is resistant to BS.

[tomc]

search for and attend your local rose society.

[imafan26]

Black spot is an issue for a lot of roses that is why it is important to make sure they are spaced well and watered from below. The knockout and carefree roses are good choices many of them are floribundas which will produce a lot of blooms. I don't care for them myself because I like urn shaped long stemmed roses.

The kind you get depends on what you like. Cutting roses or lots of roses on the bush, fragrant or not, and they do come in an array of solid and multicolored forms. Bloom size can be 1 inch miniatures to 6 inches. Petal counts matter if you want a rose to look full once it opens.

Floribunda and grandifloras give you a lot of roses in flushes. Tea roses are the prima donna's of the rose world and take more babying. Roses in general are not low maintenance. They require pruning and if the buds do not fall off cleanly, then they have to be dead headed. I plant garlic, sweet alyssum, and four o'clocks near the roses to deter bugs and I flood irrigate them once a week. Mulch helps to retain moisture. Roses are heavy feeders and I give them a slow release fertilizer every 3-4 months and occasionally they get miracle grow. I used to use miracle grow on my whole yard every 2 weeks but I rarely do that now. Roses get chlorosis so they need to have a fertilizer containing micro nutrients especially iron. When the rainy weather comes, it is best to fungicide the roses as a preventive. It is much easier to prevent fungal problems than to try to fix it later. Make sure the tools are sterilized to prevent spreading disease. This is true for whatever plants you have, the tools need to be sharp and clean.

I live in a humid climate, so I choose roses that have glossy leaves as they usually are more resistant to black spot than roses with matte leaves.

I have baby blanket which is a landscape rose. The roses are small only 1 1/2 inches and pink but they do have a nice form in bud. It is not fragrant. They are short up about 3 ft but will spread and they are pretty carefree. I do not have to spray them and they are not bothered by black spot, mildew or rose beetles.

I love Mr Lincoln and I also have Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin rose. They are beautiful but as previously mentioned you did specify short plants. Mr Lincoln can get canes up to 6 ft and Gertrude Jekyll will not bloom short and the canes are more than 6 ft tall.

The shorter roses for the most part will be floribundas that can produce a lot of flowers but will be on the smallish side around 1 1/2 - 3 inches in diameter. There are a lot of choices within this group.

I do disagree though about yellow and white roses. Iceberg is the highest rated rose 9/10 it is a grandiflora white rose. It does grow tall though about 5 feet but it is productive and disease resistant.
New Day and sunsprite are yellow roses that fit the height requirements and are productive and not any fussier than other roses.

The fussiest rose I ever had was Sterling Silver, but it is so beautiful, it was worth it.

[Gardener123]

search for and attend your local rose society.

See, I didn't even know such a thing existed......

Thanks, all!

[applestar]

If this is your first rose, I would definitely consider resistance to the several common rose diseases as top priority, unless you are willing to stick to a serious spray and pruning regimen.

I can't recommend roses cultivars because I'm only just thinking about getting back to growing them, but my lone survivor after years of neglect is Abraham Darby (it's actually another David Austin English Rose... I did have Gertrude Jekyll at one time and yes, it had lovely blooms and scent as well) My Abraham Darby is huge though, since I haven't been pruning at all.

[Gardener123]

Well, not our first rose, but may as well be.... We had disastrous results with the one we had before, but we didn't actually ever do anything to it except prune it was back in the fall.

[tomc]

search for and attend your local rose society.

See, I didn't even know such a thing existed......

Thanks, all!

Rose (like bonsai), er, new rose growers do better with a mentor. You'll kill a lot fewer roses that-a-way.

Been there, done that...

[tomc]

If you do locate a rose society (and your near philadelphia), also the national arboratum on NY Ave on Rt # 50 going into DC; who should be able to help. Your adventure will make a good story for here...

Just a hint

[imafan26]

If you want to streamline some of your maintenance issues, make sure the roses have enough space between them for good aeration. There is no getting around it, you do need to prune them and it is best to do that after every bloom cycle to maintain height and a nice vase shape.

Bug and fungal control can be two fold. To deter rose beetles, plant your roses near a street light. Strong light repels them and the light needs to be on from 6p.m.-10 p.m. Companion plants help four o'clocks attract and kill any rose beetles that try to eat them, onions and garlic under the roses repel aphid.

It is difficult to control all pests and diseases like blackspot and powdery mildew on roses without resorting to chemicals. If pets and kids are not a problem Bayer tree and shrub contains merit and one application will be good for the whole year. It will keep the roses from being eaten by rose beetles and it will control black spot. It is however very toxic to bees and beneficial insects. Sytemic rose care will also do the same thing but lasts for about 6 weeks. It is still toxic while it is active, but since I don't have the problems year round, I can use the light, companion plants and preventive anti fungal sprays only when I need to, I use systemic rose care mostly for erineum gall mites on my hibiscus which is planted next to the roses and I only have to do that when the mites are active.

I have good air circulation and only grow roses with glossy leaves so I don't have much problems with powdery mildew. If weather conditions are rainy and humid, then I don't take any chances and spray the roses with sulfur or baking soda spray within 3 days of the rain stopping. If rain is off and on, then I have to spray every week until the weather is drier.

I have Peace, First Prize, Queen Elizabeth, Red Simplicity, baby blanket (landscape rose), Gertrude Jekyll, and Proud land, Robert Strauss (a new rose for me and it gets a lot of black spot), and a few others, but I lost their tags.

I have had in the past Iceberg-very disease tolerant and prolific grandiflora and the highest rated rose, but I don't like the way it opens, tropicana- large rose but weak neck, Mr Lincoln- grew well in adverse conditions in semi shade and when it rained it poured on top of it. Chrysler imperial, Red masterpiece, Double delight, love, honor, cherish, New Day, Summer fashion (I did not like this one much), Voodoo, John F Kennedy (not a very strong rose for me), Snowfire (lovely bicolor), Sunsprite- small roses but a good bloomer, Sterling Silver-fussy but worth it.

The most carefree roses I have are baby blanket, a landscape rose, and red buttons a rambler. Neither of these roses get sprayed, the beetles and aphids for the most part leave them alone and they don't get black spot. They will however root on their own and they spread. Baby blanket gets about 3 ft high but can spread 5 feet, if the branches touch the ground they can root. Flowers are urn shaped and light pink. It is good for mass planting on a sunny hillside. Red buttons is a rambler and that is exactly what it does, it is actually a weed in my back yard, it will also root when the branches touch the ground. Flowers are 1/2 inch red rosettes that look full even when fully opened and are prolific and make very good corsage and leis. The canes ramble 15-20 ft so they either need to be trellised or cut back often. Neither of these guys get any special care, no regular fertilizer, but they get a lot of water. My back yard is where my edibles are so I only use companion plants, fungicides (sulfur, baking soda spray), alcohol, very rarely insecticidal soap, but a lot of iron phosphate for slugs and snails.

[Rose bloom]

So, which Rose did you get? If you did not get a rose yet, I recommend Eden Climber.

[Gardener123]

So, which Rose did you get? If you did not get a rose yet, I recommend Eden Climber.

We decided to wait til spring, when there are more available.

[imafan26]

Bareroot roses should be available now. Roses from catalogs are more expensive but are usually no 1 grade. Some roses sold bare root from big box stores are 1-1/2 grade. Which means the have fewer large canes and the packaged roses always have most of their roots cut short. You have to look for roses that have nice thick canes 5 good canes are no 1 roses. If you have 3 or fewer canes and the canes are less than 1/2 inch it is probably either a small floribunda or a 1-1/2 grade rose. The grade should be printed on the package. Bareroot roses should not be breaking when you buy it.

Catalog companies always ship roses when it is the right time to plant in your area and usually have a support help line to call for advice.

http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/roses/c/JP-Roses/