Back Issue
November/December 1996

Easier Care Roses
by Donna J. Fuss

Notice the title — “Easier Care” Roses — not “Care-Free” Roses. “Care-free roses” is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as a care-free rose. However, there are roses that require less care than others.

A rose must have at least one of the following characteristics for me to classify it as an easier-care rose: It must be either winter hardy, self-cleaning or disease-resistant. Note the term again, “disease-resistant,” not “disease-free.” At the moment, there are no disease-free roses.

Let me clarify what I mean by “self-cleaning.” With most roses, one has to remove the spent blooms to encourage new growth. But you don’t have to do this with self-cleaning roses, because the petals of the old blooms neatly fall off. This means that self-cleaning roses bloom almost continuously.

Recommended Buck Roses
‘Earth Song’
‘Serendipity’
‘Prairie Harvest’
‘Golden Unicorn’

Dr. Griffith Buck was a professor of horticulture at Iowa State university who spent much of his research time developing roses that don’t require winter protection. He developed many lovely roses with attractive foliage and growth that are not affected by cold and he was even able to breed some yellow tones into his program.

My all-time favorite Buck rose is ‘Earth Song’. It’s a deep pink grandiflora, with lovely form, and a very vigorous grower with a fairly fast repeat bloom. There are many lovely Buck roses on the market, but ‘Earth Song’ is still my favorite.

Recommended Rugosa Roses
R. rugosa
R. rugosa alba
R. rugosa rubra
‘Blanc Double de Coubert’
‘Fru Dagmar Hastrup’
‘Hansa’
‘F.J. Grootendorst’
‘Fimbriata’

Rugosas are the “beach roses” and their hybrids, a large group of roses that is still increasing in number. This group of roses came to the United States from Japan, but they have naturalized so well here that we claim them for our own.

The three species of rugosas are R. rugosa, R. rugosa alba and R. rugosa rubra. More roses have been bred from these three species than from any other group of roses. Many rugosa hybrids are just as easy to grow as their species ancestors. I personally enjoy the Grootendorst series.

What is so special about rugosas? Put quite simply, they are tough. The species rugosas are winter hardy, disease-resistant, vigorous, repeat blooming, fragrant, large shrubs. I should clarify disease-resistant here. My experience is that they still get disease, but disease doesn’t kill them and they continue to bloom. Actually, they don’t like being fussed over once they are established. Don’t spray them because their foliage will turn brown. When someone asks me to recommend a rose to them that they can pretty much ignore I always tell them to try a rugosa. Their only downside is that they get to be large shrubs (6 to 8 feet tall) and are not appropriate for a small garden.

Recommended Shrub Roses
‘Carefree Wonder’
‘Cape Cod’
‘Martha’s Vineyard’
‘Augusta’
‘Carefree Delight’
‘The Fairy’
‘Lady of the Dawn’

When it comes to disease-resistance, you can’t beat many of the new shrub roses. Most, but not all, are also fairly winter hardy. They still need to be sprayed, just not as often. Some folks claim that they never spray them and that these shrub roses do not get disease. I don’t think that I really believe them; however, I have seen some very clean foliage on some pretty neglected plants. Most of these shrubs have pretty, shiny foliage, repeat bloom and are self-cleaning.

‘Carefree Delight’ is a 1996 All America Rose Selection. Wow! What a rose! It is the most disease-resistant and carefree rose that I have ever seen, and it blooms almost continually. It is a pink single, that is, it has five petals, with a white eye and pretty yellow stamens. I have worked with this rose in Elizabeth Park for the past four years and it has grown beautifully for me. My only caution is that one plant isn’t very impressive. I tell everyone who asks about it to plant a minimum of three together. It needs to be in a mass planting to look good.

You may be disappointed in your shrub rose after its first year in your garden. Just wait! From my experience both at home and at Elizabeth Park you need to give most of these shrubs three years in the garden before you judge them because they can take three years to establish themselves.

Recommended Meidiland Shrubs
‘Bonica’
‘Pink Meidiland’
‘Alba Meidiland’
‘Scarlet Meidiland’

This is a group of shrub roses from France called Meidiland Shrubs. I find these, as a group, to be quite satisfying. ‘Pink Meidiland’ is short and sweet. It forms a dense low shrub. ‘Alba Meidiland’ is very vigorous. It will climb once it is established. One problem with this one is keeping it in bounds.

My favorite is ‘Scarlet Meidiland’. It looks like a vigorous scarlet version of ‘The Fairy’. It is a fairly large shrub but not as rampant as ‘Alba’. Other Meidiland shrubs are lovely also, but these three are my personal favorites.

Recommended Miniature Roses
‘Minnie Pearl’
‘Jean Kennelly’
‘Hot Tamale’
‘Rainbow’s End’
‘Black Jade’
‘Magic Carousel’
‘Winsome’
‘Snow Bride’

No discussion on easier-care roses would be complete without a note about miniature roses. They are some of the easiest, most versatile roses that you can grow. Because most of them are grown on their own roots they are quite winter hardy. They are one of the first to bloom and one of the last to be affected by the frost.

I grow about 70 different mini varieties in my own garden and in pots. Miniature roses grow beautifully in pots and are perfect for terraces, porches, and other small areas.

Agriculture Canada Roses
These roses have been hybridized by the Canadian government through the Agriculture Canada program. Most Canadian roses are winter hardy and fairly disease-resistant (especially the ‘Explorer’ series.)

Shade Tolerant Roses
Most roses require a minimum of five hours of full sun. However, these easier-care roses will tolerate less sun (but need at least four hours). Miniatures as a group are shade-tolerant and will grow under a high tree canopy and filtered sun at the edge of woods, for example.

Buck Roses: ‘Summer Wind’
Rugosa Roses: Rosa rugosa, ‘Thérese Bugnet’, ‘Delicata’, ‘Magnifica’, ‘Robusta’
Shrub Roses: ‘Scarlet Meidiland’, ‘The Fairy’

The following easier-care old garden and climbing roses are shade tolerant:
Alba Roses: ‘Celestial’, ‘Maiden’s Blush’
Bourbon Roses: ‘Louise Odier’
Climbing Roses: ‘New Dawn’, ‘William Baffin’, ‘Zéphirine Drouhin’
Gallica Roses: Rosa gallica officinalis, ‘Alain Blanchard’
Species Roses: Rosa eglanteria, Rosa moyesii, Rosa rubrifolia, Rosa spinosissima, Rosa virginiana, Rosa woodsii

Donna J. Fuss is the co-founder of the Connecticut Rose Society, the consultant to the Rose Garden in Elizabeth Park for Friends of Elizabeth Park and a test garden judge for the All American Rose Selections, Inc.

Connecticut Gardener
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