Hope for Humanity can put on an amazing show and repeat two or more times a season.

For a truly outstanding spring show with some repeat of a minor nature, John Cabot or John Davis on an arbor will stop traffic with the spring show.

For more or less continuous bloom, well, repeats through the season anyway, Quadra or Ramblin' Red will produce a tall pillar or short climber with showy red blooms. However, not the spring show of JC or JD.

Regards,

Charles

I forgot Winnipeg Parks. It is a smaller plant- about 2.5ft x 2.5 ft. WP is a no problem plant that really produces large light red flowers in abundance with a quick repeat. It is a compact plant that looks good even without blooms, but you won't see that very often.

Charles

Here is my two year old John Davis. For the entire month of June it had this many blooms or more. Last year, it did not rebloom however.

Mike
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Thank you very much. I think I will try John Davis.

Kordes Robusta is zone 4 hardy. It has the most brilliant red flowers ever. And the most thorns as it is a hybrid rugosa. Repeats very well blooming all season.

Negatives. Only a single. Medium sized flowers but blooms in cluster so the impact is there. Not fragrant but when you're breeding for hardiness you can't be particular. Hard to find, wait a minute. Just checking my old CRL I see about 15 nurseries in the US and Canada offering it. Gets eome BS late in the year but doesn't affect the bloom or growth for the next year. And of course those thorns are vicious.

But over all it is one of my favorite roses. I guess I just like red roses.

Hi Kristin,

John Davis will grow to enormous proportions in a southern bed, particularly true if grown close to a south wall. JD will not suffer any dieback in zone 4a and eventually, you will need to prune it to keep it in bounds. In 3 years, a well grown specimen of JD could be 6 to 8' high and easily as wide since its growth habit tends to be arching and sprawling. It also doesn't tend to repeat really well until the 3rd year and beyond. At that point, it is mostly a continual bloomer if provided enough water and food. It likes a lot of both.

Robusta is a good choice for excellent, quick rebloom from the get go and for dramatic effect of the blooms. As Jim notes, they are very vibrant red and single. They have no fragrance however and blow quickly off the bush. I doubt you will find it very cane hardy in your area and may need to prune it close to the ground each spring. However, its bounce back vigour is excellent.

Is there a particular colour you had in mind? This will help narrow the list quite a bit. My initial thinking was Morden Blush would be ideal for you, but i wouldn't call it dramatic in colour. It is however dramatic in the sheer amount of bloom all season and is a very pretty and charming rose. it also should not suffer much dieback. Even if it does, it has excellent bounce back vigour.

Thanks Morden Man

Morden Blush is definitely on my list to purchase Spring 08. Any recommendations on what to feed JD?

I would like to suggest another red rose - Linda Campbell. Ever since I planted mine last summer it's been covered in flowers. Not just one or two here and there but really covered. It likes to bloom in large clusters. My neighbor calls it the Hydrangea rose. Some of the clusters this spring were as big around as an 8 inch ball. Here is a picture from early spring though it doesn't show how big the clusters can get.
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Or maybe Crocus Rose which is a light apricot fading to near white. Mine dies down to the snow line but is quick to regrow and the flowers are so pretty. They are also fragrant.
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A once bloomer I would like to suggest is Konigin von Danemark. Beautiful light pink flowers that are highly fragrant. Hardiness is excellent and it will make a larger sized shrub. In it's third year mine is already around 5' X 5'.
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There are many, many other roses that are beautiful and do well in zone 4.

twohuskies your roses are gorgeous. Do you winter protect these? I'm thinking of planting roses near the street like your Linda Campbell. She doesn't mind the salt from the road?
In your opinion what rose is the most beautiful low maintenance rose for the Minneapolis area (no winter protection, no disease, very little die-back, prolific bloomer)?

Winnipeg parks might work for you.

The roses I recommended get no winter protection. Linda Campbell (in her first year) does not seem to mind the salt from the road. She's a rugosa hybrid and rugosas can handle the salt so I'm guessing in the long run she'll be just fine.

As far as most beautiful low maintenance rose that meets all your criteria above I'd have to suggest (sorry, I couldn't just pick one!!!!!):
Quietness (some dieback)
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Carefree Beauty (some dieback)

Aunt Honey (some dieback, lightly fragrant)
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Stanwell Perpetual (a little dieback, decent repeat bloom, fragrant, one of my first roses to bloom in the spring)
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Hansa (very hardy, very fragrant, large shrub, rugosa)
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Since the once blooming old roses are some of my favorites I have to add Charles de Mills. And I still highly recommend Konigin von Danemark..

Charles
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The little dieback part is hard to come across unless you are getting Canadian roses, and even some of them dieback for me. As a group the majority of rugosa roses will give you hardiness, disease resistance, repeat bloom, and fragrance but they are not the showiest of roses..

I have to second Jim on the Robusta. I gave up on mine cuz of the black spot, but - last week I saw a spectacular Robusta at the Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay. Absolutely clean foliage. I spoke to the horticulturist there, and he does not spray. He says the key to fighting bs for them in that location is bottom irrigation (only moisture on the leaves comes from rain) and good ventilation/air flow. Maybe I should have cut more out of the center of mine...

I suggest that before you buy yourself a Robusta, see if you can find one growing well near your location. My experience in MN zone 4a is not very good with this plant. There was serious winter die back and very slow recovery in the spring. The flowers on the spring flush were impressive. All one of them on a 12 inch cane.

My wife says: "Robusta isn't and Survivor doesn't"

Regards,

Charles

I have a new one that I can not talk about winter die back yet but Day Breaker is very productive with lovely H. Tea type flower in the pink/peach/yellow colours. The flowers last for a long time and are suitable for cutting. I have fallen in love with it. It does require spray for blackspot however.
Stunning with quick repeat.
Liane

Thanks for the suggestions. I did go ahead and purchase a couple John Davis. I'm definitely going to try a couple of twohuskies picks probably next spring. I have a couple Ramblin Reds and a couple William Baffins also.

Since this is basically my first year growing roses I'm trying to stick with some easy low maintenance choices this first year and try my best not to kill any of them.

Kristin,

Well, no worries there. You will not be able to kill any of the roses you purchased. Ramblin Red is the least hardy of the lot, but should be okay for you. John Davis and William Baffin should be basically tip hardy. However, don't expect much repeat from either of these roses for at least 3 years. They take there time getting established and getting huge. Both will be enormous if they are grafted. Own-root will take a little longer.

As for feeding John Davis, he really likes a very rich soil that is amended with a lot of organic manures and compost. Try not to let his soil dry out and give him lots of regular deep watering. He responds to this more so than most roses and will reward you for it.

William Baffin is probably the hardiest. It really does not
rebloom much for me-it it does, it is at the ends of new
canes. It does form large hips though. You could plant a
clematis with it-maybe one of the viticellas (late blooming)
would work. I have a strange clematis with mine, but now
wish i'd planted a lighter colored one to contrast with
the foliage.
alida

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