skip to main content

Drift rose review as seen in my yard

Patty W. zone 5a Illinois

8 years ago

I'm sad about my drift roses. Love the flowers and they flower a lot. I had no black spot but some anthracnose not too bad on most of them. The mildew resistance is not good and mildew is ugly.

Sweet Drift is mildew king here. Have had this one for 2 years and it is covered in mildew spring thru fall. It is standing out there now still covered in mildew now with matching snow flakes. All my over drifts were new this year.

Pink Drift, Love this plant and flower and it had almost no mildew.

Red Drift, My 2nd favorite will stay for another year. Did well keeping mildew at bay.

Coral Drift, It's already gone. The salmon coral bed is filling up fast and I like Coral Flower Carpet better it has no mildew or black spot and fades nicely. Coral Drift mildews and I did not care for the faded flower.

Apricot Drift will be staying. It does mildew but the freshly opened flowers are gorgeous. Almost luminescent and caught my attention more than once.

Peach Drift had a lot of mildew thou not as badly as Sweet Drift. When covered in fresh flowers it's really pretty. Cool weather flowers are the best. Ugly harsh looking faded flowers. Temporarily moved to hot colored bed. Will decide next year what to do with it.

Since I also have all of the Flower Carpet Roses. I stick my neck out and say they do better in my growing conditions. They have no mildew problems here in mildew heaven. Very little to no black spot. They can get anthracnose but not bad.

Drift roses also can get anthracnose Apricot had the most. We shall see how next year goes. For now my opinion is if you live in mildew land and want to try a Drift rose get pink or red and boy do they flower up a storm. Next opinion, Flower Carpet roses are excellent choices for my area. The down side is that they are very large roses here.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

pat_bamaz7
8 years ago
Hey Patty, I have two coral drifts and two apricot drifts here in hot humid Alabama. I love them for the non stop flower power, short & perfectly rounded form, and ability to be grown no spray here, but do wish for fragrance & self cleaning. Apricot Drift is virtually disease free all season long for me...no fungal issues whatsoever with no spraying needed. Coral Drift does seem to mildew here in very early spring, so I'm sure it would be a problem somewhere with higher mildew pressure...blackspot & anthracnose are my big fungal issues...roses rarely have mildew in my garden. The spring mildew is usually the only disease of relevance that I have with the coral...but this year was just horrible for bs & anthracnose, in general, and my Coral Drifts did have some foliage spotting...not enough to defoliate or need spraying, though. I haven't grown any flower carpets in many years, so not able to compare to those. Drifts are much better roses than knockouts in my garden, though. I got rid of all knockouts a few years ago due to their fungal problems...no sense growing a knockout if it's going to have spotted foliage!
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
Original Author
8 years ago
Nice to here how they fair in your area. Should add that I like Apricot drift and while it can mildew here is wasn't bad.

This year was the hands down worst ever for anthracnose. Have never seen anything like it and hope to never see it this bad again. I did however find I have 3 perennials that are immune and hostas are not affected of course. Also have 1 rose immune and 4 that can stay at few affected leaves. None of the roses here defoliated because of anthracnose so once you have it you can enjoy it for the rest of the season. :-( Drifts weren't severely affected.
Related Discussions
Diseased drift roses. Please help.
Q
Comments (8)
As Anne-Cecilia says, botrytis petal blight causes pink spots and brown rotten spots in mild, wet weather.. If you are in a dry, warm area, it will go away soon. If you are in a cool, drippy area this variety may be unsuitable for you. Fungicides like Bayer don't control it. We can't tell from here whether all the brown flowers have botrytis or whether some are just old spent flowers. On an ideal landscape rose, the old spent flowers will drop petals rather than wither on the bush. But botrytis can cause them to hang on and rot. Personally I don't try to practice sanitation with outdoor plants. The air is full of spores whatever you do.
...See More
My Drift rose circle buds being eaten by what???
Q
Comments (6)
Rachel and Buford - thank you so much for replying - I have been so worried. Buford - I think you hit the nail on the head. While my roses were forming we had a pretty bad cold snap - a frost(some think it was a hard frost) as this group was forming buds. It is so widespread, and some are perfect - the newest ones forming. The leaves are completely undamaged as well. Rachel - I have heard of your thrip problem and it makes me sick to think of 300 roses being eaten by thrips. Do they run their course and then your roses recover? I cannot imagine what I would do. Florida has it's problems with so many invaders. Thank you two again - I could not find anything online about this problem last night - must be looking in the wrong places! Denise
...See More
White Drift Roses vs White Flower Carpet
Q
Comments (4)
Both of these roses are very short, 2 ft tall at most. They are meant to be used as ground cover roses not really as hedges. The flower carpet rose has more petals than the drift rose does but they are both repeat bloomers so should bloom all season long in flushes.
...See More
Drift roses--how high do they generally get?
Q
Comments (1)
I have a bunch of Apricot Drift, all two and three years old. They get about 24-30 inches high and are wider than they are high. I love them and don't bother pruning them, and they bloom pretty steadily. Diane
...See More
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Drift roses do not do well here ... But the bank down-town has a few pink Flower Carpet roses and they do well...
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks Jim enjoy hearing from another midwesterner. Have a feeling that unless their sprayed up here mildew is a problem.
Kes Z 7a E Tn
8 years ago
Patty, I appreciate your review as I have considered a couple of the Drifts in the past. My experience with the Flower Carpets is only with Amber, which I've had for 5 yrs. now. It couldn't be easier, even for here. I've had very little to no blackspot in my no spray garden and blackspot can be a serious problem here. I have no problem with mildew or rust so can't comment on that. The deer don't even prefer it, although I've had them eat off the buds just before they opened. It's a lovely landscape rose, a prolific bloomer and a nice apricot color. It even has a faint tea fragrance if you can catch a newly opening bloom early on a humid summer morning. My only complaint is that it gets quite a bit bigger than its advertised size and mine is own-root. I'm sure this varies with location so it may not be true for you.

Related Stories

PLANTING IDEAS 7 Ways to Use Drifts and Masses In Your Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Whether in formal or natural landscapes, grasses or succulents planted en masse elevate the garden

GARDENING GUIDES What Kind of Roses Should You Grow?

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Want to add the beauty of roses to your garden? Find out which ones, from old-fashioned to modern, are right for you

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Wonderfully Easy Roses for Any Gardener

By J. Peterson Garden Design

Look like an expert even if you're just starting out, with these low-maintenance gems of the rose world

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Captivating Roses for an Alluringly Fragrant Garden

By J. Peterson Garden Design

Perfume your garden with aromas from richly spicy to lightly sweet, without sacrificing an inch of color

INSPIRING GARDENS Native Plants Bring 10 Southern California Front-Yard Gardens to Life

By Annie Thornton

Rare plants, rain gardens and wildlife habitats are just a few of the features showcased on the 2016 Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Front-Yard Makeover Ideas With Mojo

By Joanna Tovia

Make a statement in your front landscape with one of these standout styles

LANDSCAPE DESIGN California Says Goodbye to the Sprawling Ornamental Lawn

By Annie Thornton

New state rules will effectively limit turfgrass to 25 percent of the landscape in most new and renovated yards

FARM YOUR YARD Hello, Honey: Beekeeping Anywhere for Fun, Food and Good Deeds

By The Best Bees Company

We need pollinators, and they increasingly need us too. Here, why and how to be a bee friend

EARTH DAY Grow a Beautiful Garden With Ecofriendly Greywater

By Greywater Corps

Reducing home water waste means lower bills and a healthier planet. Here's how to set up a greywater home irrigation system that can help

FRONT YARD IDEAS Before and After: Front Lawn to Prairie Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

How they did it: Homeowners create a plan, stick to it and keep the neighbors (and wildlife) in mind

Sponsored

RTS Home Solutions

3 Reviews

BIA of Central Ohio Award Winning Contractor

More Discussions

Anyone get their plants from Grace Rose Farm yet?

171

Where in California or in the US do think has the best rose climate?

32

Questions About Feeding These To Container Roses

13

Vavoom if you like orange

17

is this rose rosette?

7