SELECTING ROSES FOR 2008

by Ann Hooper

Another gardening season is almost upon us, and the 2008 rose catalogs are beckoning!  It's a good thing we can fit lots of rose plants into a small space because the new varieties keep getting easier to grow and harder to resist!

There are roses to fit every landscape plan, from the endearing miniatures to the large magnificent shrubs and climbers, and everything in between.  I love them all, and tend to buy every rose that strikes my fancy, no matter what category it fits into.  Plants that turn out to be too big or too small can be moved to another spot, and plants that I just don't like get shovel-pruned.

But rosarians who are more practical than I are wise to select plants that will fit your climate, your landscape, and your rose requirements.  It's best to decide exactly what you're able to offer your roses, and what you want them to do for you.  The first consideration is climate.  Most all modern roses can be grown in all climates, but may require different levels of care.  If you live in a climate where winters are cold, there are lots of roses available that don't require winter protection.  But nearly all hybrid teas and many floribundas will need a shovelful of soil over the crown of the plant in late fall.  Look for "own-root" roses if you're not inclined to provide winter protection.

Consider your micro-climate as well because roses need as close to full sun as possible.  Don't plant roses where they won't get at least 6 hours each day.  If your yard is protected from winter winds, you can get away with less winter protection.

So what type of rose do you want?  There are some considerations there, too.  First, it's most important to select roses you love.  A rose that makes your heart sing may not be the most carefree one-- which is fine, but be prepared to expend a little extra effort to keep it happy.  For example, the hybrid teas, with their huge, perfect flowers on long cutting stems are my favorite roses, and I grow a couple of hundred of them.  But I live in cold Massachusetts, next to a pasture where the winter winds can desiccate rose canes in no time flat.  So I spend a lot of time protecting them from winter's wrath.  But I consider the results-- armloads of magnificent blooms every day, all summer long-- well worth the effort.

Then there's spraying.  Spraying roses really isn't a big deal.  The newer spray materials are used less frequently, are more effective, and are very safe to use.  But if you really, really don't want to do any spraying, select disease-free (or nearly disease-free) varieties.  The lovely rich red 'Home Run' is one of the few roses that are completely disease free in all climates.

On the other hand, remember that roses grow and bloom throughout the entire growing season, unlike most other perennials.  That continuous flower production is what makes roses so desirable.  But it also makes them perfect targets for a season's worth of garden pests.  Even roses that are listed as disease resistant, with only a couple of exceptions, will most likely get some blackspot during long, cool wet-weather periods, or a touch of powdery mildew in hot, dry climates.  You probably spray an insecticide or insecticidal soap on all of your plantings anyway, so it's easy to add a little fungicide to the mix.

Grow the roses you love.  Otherwise, why bother?  But roses can be functional, too.  There are hundreds of miniature rose varieties, for example.  Miniature climbers can grow twelve feet tall, and micro-minis might grow to only three inches tall, but all mini roses have small flowers and leaves that are in perfect proportion.  Mini climbers are perfect for anywhere you'd plant a climbing rose.  Micro-minis are superb at the front of the perennial border, while regular minis fit nicely toward the front of the bed, in containers, or where a low-height mass planting would be effective.  A new miniature rose that has a very unusual, but absolutely endearing smoky reddish-orange color, is 'Coffee Bean.'  Its photos never do it justice, but if you need a foot-high rosebush that will bloom all the time and shake up your color senses, try 'Coffee Bean!'

Climbers solve a myriad of garden problems.  Large-flowered climbers can be used on fences or trellises to make great walls of flowers that might screen a dubious view or to enhance an entranceway.  Remember that climbing roses don't have tendrils that grab onto their support, as morning glories and other vines do. They have to be tied onto a fence or trellis, which makes them amazingly trainable and very versatile. Tie the canes horizontally to a fence and the flowers will form along the entire length of the cane. A spectacular display!  The world's newest climber is 'Candy Land,' which grows 10- to 12-foot canes and has perfectly formed pink and white striped hybrid tea-type flowers. It is to die for! If you need a wildly colorful climber, try the new 'Jacob's Robe,' with its clusters of multi-colored flowers. Wow!

But the closest to my heart are two new hybrid teas. Hybrid teas tend to grow tall and upright and have fewer, but bigger flowers, so they're best in a cutting garden or mixed in with the more floriferous floribundas. You'll fall in love with 'Falling in Love.' Even in cold climates, this hybrid tea is a vigorous grower. You won't believe that those delicate-looking, heart-rendingly beautiful, huge and perfectly formed pink and porcelain blooms grow on such a sturdy, hardy plant!

And then there's 'Dream Come True.'  It's a strikingly handsome hybrid tea that has exquisitely formed yellow blooms with a ruby red blush on each petal's edge.  It's an All-America Rose Selection award winner for 2008.

There truly is a rose for every purpose, so choose your 2008 roses to achieve your all your purposes.  Or just buy the ones you love.

Ann Hooper is a certified American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian, who grows nearly 400 rosebushes at her home near Boston.  She is the owner of Primary Products, a mail-order supplier of everything needed to grow fabulous roses.  Visit the Primary Products website at www.primaryproducts.com.  Ann will always answer your rose culture questions.  E-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .