Ground cover roses

contrary_grow

15 years ago

Are there any antique roses that can be grown as ground cover?

Thanks for your help,

Mary

Comments (12)

bbinpa
15 years ago
I'm sure there are, but I don't think any ground cover rose will prevent weeds from growing up through the rose. Do you really want to weed between thorny canes?

Perhaps someone has had a good experience with "ground cover roses". All I have read has been negative.

Barbara
duchesse_nalabama
15 years ago
hi, Mary,
What is it that you're trying to do with a ground cover rose?

How's your Hermosa? Gean
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contrary_grow
Original Author
15 years ago
Barbara, I guess thorns are a problem although I was thinking about putting newspaper and mulch down around them.

Gean, my front yard is actually two-tier. I have a wall built which divides the upper tier and the lower tier. I have planted the lower tier already with roses and other plants and am now trying to plan the upper tier. I think a ground cover rose would be nice at the front of the upper tier by the wall so it could drape over. I'm including a picture of the two tiers so you can see what I mean. My Hermosa's not doing very well right now. It's still blooming some but it doesn't have very many leaves. How's yours? {{gwi:318714}}From Front yard

Thanks,
Mary
duchesse_nalabama
15 years ago
hi, Mary,
I enjoyed looking at your garden pictures; your landscaping is pretty. I don't know any OGR's to use as a groundcover, but I grow Seafoam and like it, although many don't because it's thorny. The out of the way area Sea Foam is in is heavily mulched with pine needles. I have Baby Blanket too, and like the healthy foliage and pink blossoms; I grow it in a pot, though as a very small climber.

One I've read some about is White Meidiland and would probably try that one if I wanted another white ground cover rose. Here is a link to a garden site of an Alabama gardener, Phillip Oliver, that has pictures of both the white Meidiland and Sea Foam.
Hermosa is doing well for me; she's still blooming and has all her leaves. I have fed it a lot this summer and maybe that made a difference.
I hope you find what you're looking for, Gean

Here is a link that might be useful: white meidiland and seafoam
duchesse_nalabama
15 years ago
that if you are interested in White Meidiland, I noticed the other day that Ashdown has it in stock. Best wishes, Gean
bbinpa
15 years ago
Mary, Your garden is lovely and you've done a great job with the hardscaping. I think the White Meidiland would be lovely there. Newspaper might work for a season, but you will have to replenish it every spring. I found that some sturborn weeds were not stopped by the newspaper. Next year I'm going to try cardboard.

Gean, thanks for the link to Phillip's garden.

Barbara
contrary_grow
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you, Barbara and Gean, for your helpful comments and suggestions. I should have read through the forum before posting because I see that someone had the exact same question a short time ago. I've been wanting to get the rose Happenstance for sometime, and Helpmefind says it can be grown as a ground cover. I wondered if anyone has Happenstance and would agree that it could be used that way.

Thanks,
Mary
len511
15 years ago
Mary, I would recommend r. Wichurana. It is low growing but puts out really long flexible canes. Also called the memorial rose. They are also exceptionally vigorous, and would happily spill over the wall.
sergeantcuff
15 years ago
I have Paulii growing on a slope in front of my house. It's huge (actually kinda scary). I wanted to cover a large area, and it did! In two years grew about 14 feet wide. The canes lay on the ground and root as they go if bits are covered in mulch. Once blooming, but pretty amazing. The star-like blooms have 5 petals, and reminds me of clematis.
patriciae_gw
15 years ago
Wichurana Ramblers work-you have a huge family to chose from. They will mound or trail and root here and there-some are not as thorny as others. Prune at will to keep in bounds.
The Alba Armide makes a nice cascading shrub or the Polyantha Raubritter-a favoriet of mine. What a great spot you have to work with.
By the way, newspaper is the better weed supressor-cardboard that is wet is weak. Wet newspaper is strong. If it is not doing the job put it on thicker. 7 layers is the suggested ammount well overlapped.

patricia
jaxondel
15 years ago
I kind of shudder when I see the term 'groundcover' applied to roses. None that I've ever seen remain under 2 ft high, and they certainly don't function as groundcovers in the way that the term has come to be applied. I use roses that are classified as groundcovers for their cascading qualities -- they can be effective at the top of retaining walls, for instance.

My current favorite is 'Bubbles' a healthy variety with non-stop small pink flowers. The last time I checked, it wasn't listed at HMF. Mine came from Pickering a number of years ago, but I think they still carry it.
contrary_grow
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you so much, everyone, for your suggestions. You've given me lots of ideas. I had no idea that there was such a thing as a rambler but now that I've looked at what's available at Vintage, I'm very interested in those I've listed below. For anyone who has them, I'd love to hear opinions on how they would work as a ground cover, disease resistance, thorniness, and anything else you think I should know.

Auguste Gervaise
Bloomfield Courage
Coral Creeper
Debutante
Edmond Proust
Ernst Grandpierre
FranÃ§ois Foucard
Hiawatha
La Fraicheur
May Queen
Queen of the Belgians
RenÃ© AndrÃ©
Sander's White Rambler
Souvenir de J. Mermet

Thanks,
Mary