Ultimate Roses Primer with Myth Debunking and Top 49 Varieties to Cultivate
Roses, the symbol of love and beauty, are a popular choice for gardeners around the world. These hardy and easy-to-grow plants offer a wide variety of forms, colours, and scents, making them an ideal addition to any garden.
One unique rose is Rosa 'Mrs Honey Dyson', boasting unusual soft-apricot flowers that fade to a creamy-white. This robust plant thrives in long meadow grass, growing up to an impressive 3 metres tall.
Another intriguing rose is Rosa 'Kathleen', a hybrid musk rose from the 1920s. Its silvery blush-pink flowers open from apricot buds, accompanied by a pronounced musk scent. The foliage is coppery when young and healthy, and the plant grows to a height of 2.4 metres.
For those seeking a more traditional English shrub rose, Rosa 'Honorine de Brabant' is a bourbon rose with repeating pale-pink flowers spotted and striped with darker tones of mauve to violet. While it has a coarse appearance, it is tall and healthy, making it ideal for the mid or back of the border, growing to the same height as Kathleen.
Modern roses come in various types, including hybrid teas, hybrid musk, rugosa English roses, floribundas, miniatures, polyanthas, patio roses, and groundcover or carpet types. Groundcover roses, such as the Flower Carpet Series, are modern varieties bred for their ability to spread and cover large areas, making them perfect for landscaping.
Some roses, like R. spinosissima, are used as hedges, while others, like the Flower Carpet Series, are great for groundcover. Rosa Olivia Rose Austin (= 'Ausmixture') is a particularly healthy cultivar with large, very double, soft pink flowers, repeat-flowering quickly and having a light fruity scent. It grows to a height of 1.25 metres.
Climbing roses, such as Rosa Lady of Shalott (= 'Ausnys'), can repeat-flower through the summer, while ramblers will only bloom once, in early summer. Lady of Shalott boasts large apricot-orange blooms that are produced very freely, growing to a height of 1.5 metres.
Planting and caring for roses is straightforward. They should be planted in an open position in full sun. Modern roses are usually available to buy as either pot-grown specimens or bare roots.
Roses such as R. 'Iceberg' or R. 'Bonica' can be trained as standards. Species roses, like Rosa rubiginosa, form an arching shrub some 2.4 metres high and 1.8 metres wide if allowed to go unchecked.
Old roses, bred and introduced up to the mid-19th century, include centifolias, albas, bourbons, China roses, damasks, tea roses, gallicas, noisettes, rugosas, moss, Scots, sweet briar, and Portland types. Rosa 'Madame Lauriol de Barny' is a bourbon rose that flowers only once in midsummer and is susceptible to blackspot, but it's worth persevering with for its highly scented and deeply cupped, dark-pink flowers.
Roses like Rosa 'Noisette Carnée' are old roses known for their unmistakable rich, clove fragrance. Its flowers are borne in large clusters from rosy-red buds opening to creamy-lilac, growing to a height of 1.8 metres.
Rosa 'Penelope' is a musk rose that flowers through the summer, later in the season it signs off by throwing up beautiful coloured foliage and hips. The scent, as with most musk roses, is strong and carried far on the air.
Other groundcover roses include Rosa 'Kordes' Magenta', a modern shrub rose that somewhat resembles a musk rose, and Rosa 'Geranium', a moyesii hybrid.
In conclusion, roses offer a diverse range of options for gardeners, from traditional English shrub roses like Honorine de Brabant to modern groundcover roses like those in the Flower Carpet Series. With their hardiness, ease of care, and wide variety of forms, colours, and scents, roses are a must-have for any garden.
- Groundcover roses, such as the Flower Carpet Series, are modern varieties that spread and cover large areas, making them perfect for home-and-garden landscaping.
- Climbing roses, like Rosa Lady of Shalott, can repeat-flower throughout the summer, providing a beautiful addition to gardens and adding to one's lifestyle.
- For those seeking an old rose with a rich, clove scent, Rosa 'Noisette Carnée' is an ideal choice, with its flowers borne in large clusters from rosy-red buds.
