2020 Rose Review
by Jeff Garrett
As we anticipate the
coming rose season, let’s start by taking a look back at how some of our roses
performed the previous season. For
this article, I will limit my review to standard roses that have been growing in
our garden for three years or less. However,
not all of these roses are new to the market.
Alfred
Sisley -
is a shrub named after impressionist painter Alfred Sisley. Bred by Delbard and
introduced in the United States by Certified Roses, the eye catching blooms
have orange-pink stripes with a yellow reverse. Our 2nd year plant improved significantly
from last year and we got some very eye-catching blooms. Looking forward to seeing how it does in year
three.
All Dressed
Up – is
a medium pink grandiflora bred by Christian Bedard of Weeks Roses. While our 3rd year plant did improve from
last year, this variety just does not excite us and we will probably discard
it. Our plant is not nearly big enough
for a grandiflora and the blooms are generally
small.
Arctic Blue – is a mauve floribunda
from Christian Bedard at Weeks Roses. We are growing it in our ‘no-spray’ test
area, where it has some
blackspot but not enough to defoliate
the plant. Our 3rd year bush is rather
compact and the attractive lavender blooms have a nice white reverse with mild
fragrance. If you don’t spray
fungicides, you might want to check this variety out.
At Last – is an apricot blend
floribunda introduced in the United States by White Flower Farm. We are growing this variety in our ‘no spray’
test area. After 3 years, we just can’t
get this variety to grow. We have grown
it on its own roots as well as on multiflora
rootstock. The attractive apricot blooms
have lots of petals, but it just will not grow.
Time to discard and move on.
Bleeding
Heart -
is a red blend floribunda from Dave Bang.
The blooms have attractive red and white stripes with generally good
form. Our 2nd year bush improved some
but it is still a pretty small plant.
Since we love the blooms, we will continue to work with it in hopes that
the plant vigor will improve and the blooms will get larger.
Bordeaux - is a medium red
floribunda from Tim Kordes. Our 1st year plant produced an abundance of red blooms with
lots of petals. This appears to be a
good variety to grow in a container, as it is a compact grower. It is advertised as having good disease
resistance, so we will move it to our ’no-spray’ test area this spring.
Burst of
Joy - is
a new orange blend floribunda bred by Tom Carruth. The hybrid tea form
blooms have orange petals with a yellow reverse. Our 1st year plant grew well but we are not
sure this variety likes our summer heat.
The blooms are eye-catching, but time will tell.
Camille Pissaro - is a new floribunda bred by Delbard
from France. It is being introduced in
the United States by Certified Roses.
All of the blooms are a different combination of yellow, red, pink and
white. Our 1st year plant was medium
height and produced some very attractive blooms.
Carmella
Fairy Tale - is a medium yellow shrub bred by William Kordes. This vigorous plant is growing in our
‘no-spray’ test area. Our 2nd year plant
did have some issue with blackspot and is very slow
to repeat bloom. Generally
nice blooms but certainly not enough of them.
Celestial
Night –
is a mauve floribunda bred by Christian Bedard. This plant is growing in our ‘no spray’ test
area. The ruffled blooms have a nice
rich purple color and lots of petals.
The color is definitely better in cooler weather. Our 3rd year bush continued to show
reasonably good resistance to blackspot.
Clair Elyse - is a wonderful hybrid
tea from John Smith. New to our garden
this year, the orange-red blooms are very attractive. They have good form with plenty of petals and
good size. The plant grows well and
throws nice long stems. Adding more of this variety.
Crazy Love
(La Villa Cotta) - is a orange blend shrub bred by Tim Kordes. This is
another variety that we have in our ‘no-spray’ test area. Our 2nd year plant is very vigorous and the
blooms are nice and fragrant. So far, it
has shown good resistance to disease while producing some very eye-catching
blooms. Good variety!
Darcy Bussell – is a red blend shrub from David Austin Roses. In its 3rd year in our garden, this appears
to be a rather compact plant that produces lots of nice clusters of deep crimson
blooms with old fashioned form. This is a good plant for
containers or where a compact bush is desirable.
Easter
Basket -
is a nice yellow blend floribunda from Alain Meilland. Our 2nd year plant produced lots of beautiful
creamy white blooms that have a light yellow center and are blushed with a nice
lavender-pink edge. We really like this
floribunda.
Easy Spirit – is a white floribunda
bred by Tom Carruth.
We have grown this variety for 3 years and we think it is a real
winner. It produces lots of clean white
blooms with good exhibition form. The
bush is medium height and is advertised as disease resistant. We haven’t had any blackspot
issues with this plant.
Enchanted
Peace -
is a new hybrid tea from Meilland. The blooms are an attractive yellow with
strong orange shading. So far, the form
has been a little loose and generally lacks a nice high center. Our 1st year plant was a little slow to get
started but the color combination is eye-catching. We will keep watching.
Fired Up – is an orange blend
floribunda bred by Alain Meilland. The eye-catching
blooms have about 10 petals. Bloom color
is orange with yellow stripes which are striking. It took a few years, but this variety is
finally growing and blooming well. It
does seem to grow better on multiflora rootstock than
its own roots.
Forever
Yours -
is a new red hybrid tea bred by Christian Evers of Germany. Our 1st year plant produced some nice medium
sized blooms with decent form on long strong stems. Vigorous plant, especially
for a 1st year variety.
Frida Kahlo – is a red blend floribunda from Christian Bedard
and Weeks Roses. The ruffled red striped
gold blooms finish with a red blush.
This vigorous variety is a winner in our garden. It produces lots of striking blooms on a
strong plant.
Fun in the
Sun - is
a new apricot blend grandiflora bred by Christian Bedard from Weeks Roses. The blooms are a light yellow with an apricot
center. Our 1st year bush was somewhat
short for a grandiflora, but the canes were strong
and straight. The blooms have old garden
rose form with lots of petals and good fragrance.
Golden
Fairy Tale - is a yellow blend hybrid tea by Tim Kordes. The medium yellow blooms have a hint of red
in cooler weather. Our 2nd year plant
continues to be a vigorous grower and the blooms have a nice fragrance. Could stand to bloom a
little more often.
Gypsy
Carnival - is not new to the market, but it is new to our garden. This floribunda has attractive red blooms
blushed with a yellow reverse. Our 1st
year plant grew well and we do like the blooms.
Glad we got it!
Heart of
Fire –
is a striking yellow blend floribunda from Dave Bang. It has taken 3 years for our plant to grow,
but we are finally seeing some improvement in plant vigor and bloom
production. The yellow blooms have a
rich orange edge which makes them really stand out in the garden. Not an easy variety to grow, but the
beautiful blooms are worth the effort.
Hot Prince - is a red blend hybrid
tea from Donald Johnson. A cross between
Gemini and Hot Princess, the blooms are similar to Hot Princess with more rich
red coloration. Our 2nd year plant
continues to produce some very nice exhibition quality blooms. We added another plant last year.
In Your
Eyes -
is a new yellow blend shrub bred by Tom Carruth. The relatively small blooms have only 4 to 8
petals. The blooms start out as yellow
with a red eye aging to lavender pink with a deep purple eye. Our 1st year bush was very slow to grow and
tends to be a spreader. We are hoping it
will be more vigorous in the coming season.
Love at
First Sight - is a red blend hybrid tea from Weeks Roses. The cherry red blooms with a lighter reverse
have over fifty petals. Our 1st year
plant died and we replaced it with one on multiflora
rootstock. The new plant grew better but
is still rather small. The blooms have
outstanding coloration. Hopefully it
will improve this coming season.
Maurice
Utrillo
- is a red blend floribunda by Delbard and offered by
Certified Roses. Our 2nd year plant has
a spreading growth habit. The red and
white striped blooms don’t have many petals and are rather small, even for a
floribunda. Not sure about the future of
this variety in our garden!
Melania - is a new hybrid tea from Fred Wright.
Our 2nd year plant on its own roots continued to produce some really
nice coral cream blooms with exhibition form.
We are adding more plants this coming season. Hopefully this rose will get on the market
soon, as it is definitely one to watch.
Miss Shelby – is a pink blend hybrid
tea from Fred Wright. The blooms are
white with rich pink edges. Our 3rd year
plant is growing and blooming well. The
blooms are just a little small and can be a little flat.
Orange
Crush -
is an orange blend hybrid tea from the florist industry. The rich orange blooms really stand out,
especially in the cooler times of the year.
Our 1st year plant was a maiden on multiflora
rootstock, so it took some time to get growing, but by fall it was growing and
blooming well. Not yet sure about
exhibition potential, but we are certainly looking forward to seeing more of
this variety.
Pinkerbelle – is a pink blend hybrid tea from Meilland. The delicate white blooms are blushed with a
pink edge. However, after growing this
variety for 3 years we have decided to discard it as it just does not like our
summer heat. The blooms are small and
the plant sulks in the heat.
Polar
Express
- is a white shrub from Tim Kordes. Our 2nd year plant is growing in our ‘no-spray’
test area and has shown decent resistance to blackspot. The vigorous grower is a stingy bloomer and
the blooms are very small. We will
probably discard this variety.
Princess
Charlene de Monaco - is an apricot blend hybrid tea bred by Alain Meilland. The blooms have 40 plus petals and are very
fragrant. We like this variety so well
that it has found a permanent home in our garden. This bush has good vigor and bloom
power. The large blooms have old garden
rose form and are fragrant.
Rio Samba - is a yellow blend
hybrid tea bred by Bill Warriner. We have only had this older variety for 2
seasons in our garden. The yellow blooms
with red edges age to red. The blooms
are eye-catching and the bush is of medium height. While not particularly good for exhibition,
this variety is still nice for the garden, as it draws lots of attention from
visitors to the garden.
Rose of
Hope -
is floribunda bred by Tiim Kordes. The light yellow blooms are blushed with a
hint of pink. The medium sized blooms
have lots of petals. Our 1st year plant
is a compact grower and looks to be a good choice for a container, as it blooms
a lot. A portion of the proceeds from
the sale of this variety goes to help children with cancer.
Rosie the
Riveter
– is an orange blend floribunda from Christian Bedard
and Weeks Roses. While the blooms do
have striking color in the spring, the plant just doesn’t do much the rest of
the season. We discarded this variety.
Scentuous - is a light pink shrub bred by Hans Evers of
Germany. The old garden form blooms have
lots of petals with a strong fragrance.
Our 1st year plant had a nice bushy growth habit and produced lots of
blooms.
Shirley’s
Bouquet
– is a white hybrid tea bred by Pierre Orard. Our 3rd year bush continues to be a rather
compact grower, but does produce lots of small pure white blooms. We are on the fence as to whether we will
keep this variety for another year.
South
Africa—is
a deep yellow grandiflora from Kordes. Our 2nd year plant continues to be a rather
short grower and somewhat stingy bloomer.
However, the rich deep yellow blooms are absolutely beautiful. This variety has won several awards and is
a nice addition to the garden.
Sunny Sky - is a medium yellow
hybrid tea bred by Tim Kordes. Our vigorous 2nd year plant continued to grow
and produce lots of nice large blooms.
This variety has good disease resistance also. This is a very nice garden rose.
Sweet Jane - is a dark yellow
floribunda bred by Tim Kordes. The medium size blooms have 80 to 90 petals
and a light fragrance. Our 1st year bush
grew well but was a little stingy with the blooms.
Sweet
Mademoiselle – is a pink blend hybrid tea from Meilland. The large and fragrant peachy pink blooms
have old garden rose form with lots of petals.
This variety grows and blooms well.
This is a keeper in our garden!
Sweet
Spirit -
is a new red blend grandiflora bred by Alain Meilland. Our 2nd
year plant is weak and not growing well.
Not sure if we got a bad plant or this plant just won’t grow in our
climate.
Twice in a
Blue Moon – is a German rose bred by Hans Jurgen Evers and
introduced by Tantau Roses. The attractive pale lilac blooms are borne on
long stems and have a very nice fragrance.
This past spring, we moved our plant from the potted area to a permanent
spot in our garden. Our only issue with
this variety is it is a little slow to repeat bloom.