What are your best no spray roses?

5 years ago

What are your best performers that don’t require spraying? My top one is wedding bells, but I grow many roses successfully without spraying. Only the toughest and healthiest roses are allowed in my garden. What are yours?

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rosesnfriends

5 years ago

The book 'Roses Without Chemicals' is a good resource for gardeners looking for varieties that can be grown without chemical fungicides.

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Comments (34)

sharon2079
5 years ago
When you talk about no spray, do you mean nothing..... no insecticide, fungicide and miticide..... I could probably get away with no fungicide, on certain roses.... but I can't get away with out a miticide and insecticide. I think Medallion stays clean from BS, as well as Sharifa Asman, but everything else gets BS.... some worse than others. I think my worse BS offender is Chrysler Imperial and/or Heirloom. .... However, for some reason I have a problem with mites..... and I think someone hung out a shingle advertising my garden as a hotel and diner for them and chili thrips...... if I did not spray, I would not be able to have a rose.
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi Sharon!! I usually don’t spray anything. I will spray for chili thrips though. Have you had chili thrips this season? Mine haven’t arrived yet. I hope the done ever arrive but I’m sure they will.
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In no spray gardens east of San Francisco, california where the soil is heavy clay, and the conditions favor p.m. over blackspot during most of the green season. -until June or Autumn, when rain or watering the foliage will bring on blackspot. Rust is rare here. I ignore light coverings of p.m. and get rid of any rose that defoliates from disease, those roses included: Lundy Lane yellow' Ducher' the worst rose for p.m. it defoliated more than 90% of its leaves which of course stopped it from bloomming. Borderline, moderate p.m. during wet months but never defoliates 'Mutabilis' The best: China Fabvier' very healthy, floriferous and a bright color. Le Vesuve' such a gorgeous plant. Old Garden Tea roses, and Tea-Noisettes; white: Westside Road Cream Tea' as fragrant as Ducher but far more resistant to powdery mildew. Clean most of the year, here. Lamarque Mme. Alfred Carriere ( best in full sun, small plants are borderline for p.m. in cool wet months) Reve d' Or Crepescule Marachal Niel' ( borderline when a baby, but has good disease resistance now) Marie Van Houtte Mrs. Dudley Cross Duchess de Brabant (borderline for p.m. as a young plant, now that she is older, still gets some p.m. but never defoliates from it) Souveinir de Pierre Notting (not my favorite yellow Tea, as it forms an ugly brown rufff before the petals fall off a bloom) Etoille de Lyon ( a great beauty in my op.) Mrs. B.R. Cant ( one of the fastest growing Teas I've ever grown along with- Monsieur Tillier' Mme. Berkeley (very healthy here, and one of the 3 most beautiful Tea roses I think) Maman Cochet and the white sport Lady Hillingdon (some p.m. easy to ignore with that great vast wealth of apricot bloom.) Paul Nabonnanad Tea roses I'd avoid here, these defoliated from disease or were thickly covered with p.m. most of the year. Alliance Franco Russe ( covered with a thick coat of p.m. as a young plant, if you live where conditions are hotter this is a gorgeous Tea. ) Georgetown Tea (p,m. on all leaves, thickly. H.P.s Reine des Violettes Comtesse de Chabrillant' such a pretty H.P. Arrilagga ( I love this rose, a big buxom beauty, light pm easy to overlook) Glendora (some b.s. not enough to be a concern) It does shattter rapidly in hot weather but has plenty of side buds which makes this a non-issue on the plant, but not a long lasting vase flower) Grandmothers Hat (is this a perfect pink H.P.? or what? fragrance, disease resistance and a long bloom season with quick re-bloom for its' class. --- Polyantha Mlle. Cecille Brunner and all her sports. Borderor Leonie Lamesch Marie Pavie katherine Zeimet and her offspring 'Popcorn' perle d'Or Musk roses R. moschata Temple Musk both have clean foliage most of the year. I cannot detect any fragrance off Temple Musk, which I think is odd as I find R. moschata to be very fragrant. Hybrid Musk Callisto such a pretty yellow rose and very fragrant too! Cornelia my favorite pink H.M. very fragrant as well. Lavender Freindship Queen of the Musks' fat red stained rosebuds stand out against the open creamy white rose blossoms. a wowser of a rosebush, gets huge here, 7' tall x 6' wide, a good rose for a tall hedge. Pernetiana roses. Etoille de Feu Mari Dot that Penardananda rose I can never remember the full name of , cantaloupe hues and very fragrant. Gruss an Coberg Irene Chirucca Borderline : President Herbert Hoover better in a hot and dry climate, c. 10%-20% b.s here during the b.s. season. Very fragrant Bourbon S.D.L.M., but needs full sun here or won't open well. Pauls Early Blush' on rootstock this has genormous blooms even on a small plant. starts blooming when the Tea roses do. (Bourbons that flunked the no spray test: M.I.P and its pink sport M.me . Ernst Calvat. Alba white rose of York Maidens Bluch Gallica Belle Sultane Species R. californica laden with sexy pollen, huge flakes of it, fragrant and long blooming. R. palustris Hybrid Tea roses. Mme. Caroline Testout some p.m. in the spring. La France Mme. Jules Bouche ( I adore this white rose) Radiance' and all her clan. Mrs. Herbert Stevens The rest Souvenir something Denoyal. nearly clean the whole growing season, fragrant and lovely, I did not love a red rose until I saw this at Luannes and nabbed one. The climber called 'Sombruiel' Albertine Ramblers The Garland Pauls Himalayan Musk' a musk to climb a mountain. Veilchenbleu is more resistant to pm. than Rose Marie Viand' well that's a start, I have c. 200 no spray rose names from the area from my days as a volunteer at a local no spray public rose garden. Hope your sister finds a low-care rose to love, Lux
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I keep eyeing this thread but hesitated about posting because I think it's still too soon to really comment about most of my roses, being as they went in the ground in 2013 or later. But the more I think about it, there are a few which stand out. Not in ranked order.... Best "Bermuda Spice" -- gets hit hard by Winter here, but comes back strong after removing damage in Spring. Thereafter, I don't touch it, save for snapping off faded blooms if the petals don't drop off on their own. No diseases at all for me, and hasn't been without at least a few blooms since it started back in late May. If I ever need a handful of blooms to give to someone, I always have some "Bermuda Spice" in the bunch. 'Marie Pavie' -- first of mine to bloom, then has repeated flushes with short pauses. It's blooming now. No disease through most of the season, but it's getting a bit spotty now -- in November, so I don't care. I've since learned -- thanks to 'Perle d'Or' -- that when deadheading Polyanthas, Teas, and Chinas, it's best to just snap off the blooms. Cutting bare candelabra stems back to the next set of leaflets just delays the next flush. Oh, and while not powerfully scented up-close, this one gently fills the air in the front yard with its fragrance. 'Golden Buddha' -- as with the Chinas, Polyanthas, and Teas, this one gets only dead bits removed in Spring for pruning, but has far less damage. Still, it remains small and blooms in wave after wave through the season. All I do is snap off blooms when the petals start to look dingy. It seems immune to blackspot here, despite my not using fungicides. It did start getting a touch of mildew last month, but very little. Oddly, I saw mildew starting last month on things that never had it before, so I think it was unusual (for here) weather that brought it on. 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' -- ok, this year I didn't get any Autumn blooms, but I also didn't give it a July haircut, which is what it seems to need to promote that last flush of the year. Instead, I watched to see what it'd do if given only a Spring prune -- and now I know. And what it did was have two or three flushes beginning late May and running through late July. Oh, and it also kept clean foliage. Even out of bloom, I enjoy looking at it as a sprawling shrub. This doesn't mean that everything else was just "meh" -- or worse. I keep in mind that I'm still "letting them grow wild" after their Spring prune, and am seeing which roses seem to need that haircut to trigger another bloom cycle. I've come to learn that the Chinas, Teas, and Polyanthas don't need this extra attention. Neither do the shorter moderns -- various Austins, 'Golden Buddha', my few HTs and Floribundas -- nor the repeat-blooming OGRs leaning more toward their Asian ancestors -- 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', 'Mme Dore', 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte', etc. But the larger-growing, longer-caned Bourbons, Damask Perpetuals, and Hybrid Perpetuals seem to need that "reset button" of a haircut to get them to set buds again here. 'Paul Neyron' and 'Rose du Roi -- original' had just a bloom or two after the main flushes, and were getting really tall. So I cut them back again to about 50% larger than I left them after the Spring prune -- and they responded with new flushes. Too bad I waited too long to do this to 'Yolande d'Aragon', because it's setting buds now -- the first since June. I also have a few more contenders for "best" next year, but they're still too young to say for sure. Worst 'Monsieur Boncenne' -- beautiful first flush, with another after a very short pause, then riddled with blackspot. I don't spray here, and this one goes completely naked by July. It keeps trying to put out foliage, but spots appear even before the leaves mature. 'Jude the Obscure' -- same as above. These two are side-by-side, so their nakedness is made all the more obvious. I'm considering a dormant sulfur spray before everything leafs out, then continuing the season with weekly Castile soap "rinses" via hose-end sprayer. Thus far, neither of these two "worst" roses have me eyeing them with the shovel. However, if either fails to improve next year, that situation may change. :-) ~Christopher
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In my first rose garden I planted a lot of apricot, yellow and orange roses which seemed to be particularly susceptible to blackspot. The solution was Bayers Advanced Disease Control started early in the season and repeated several times at 10 to 14 day intervals. During a dry summer I did not need to spray but with fall rains and foggy days, I also needed to spray late in the season too. I have switched over to more resistant roses. Had to say goodbye to Ebbtide, Escapade, Apricot Nectar, Honey Bouquet, and climbing Peace. Back when I started growing roses one of the older guys in the rose club told me to remove all the leaves within 12 inches of the soil, rake off the dead leaves and mulch then keep the area clean. The bushes look funny when you first do this, but boy did it help esp. with hybrid teas and grandifloras.
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Moses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
SoFL Rose,

It used b be Quietness, but now Earth Angel has become my most spray free rose.

Quietness gets some negligible, seasonal powdery mildew, and mild September black spot on the lowest, oldest leaves...a non issue.

Earth Angel has been entirely spray free for me...except......

I cannot claim to have a no spray rose because of rose midge fly damage. I spray aggressively because rose midge fly infests EVERYTHING, nothing spared.

If I did nothing about rose midge fly, after the spring flush, which is hardly midge touched because the midge usually hatch out of dormancy after the green rose buds on most bushes are already garden pea sized or larger. After that size is reached the Midge fly do no harm to them. They bloom normally.

After that, the next lateral and basal growth that comes is a massacre of rose growth with no let up until the season is over. There will be no rose blooms until next spring's flush. I mean NO BLOOMS, not just a diminution.

Moses
Sara-Ann Z6B OK
5 years ago
I don’t spray. The majority of my Kordes roses, especially the recently introduced ones are very resistant. Some of these include Zaide, Beverly, Poseidon, Crazy Love, Dark Desire, Leibeszauber, Plum Perfect and Summer Romance, just wish it would bloom! Others that are very resistant are Francis Meilland, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Quietness, Earth Song, my Austins, (except Darcey Bussell) Souvenir de la Malmaison, Tiffany, Grande Dame, Melodee Parfumme, Firefighter, Mme Ernest Calvat, American Beauty, Julia Child, Dublin Bay, Orchid Romance, and Belinda’s Dream. There are several others that are fairly resistant, but not totally.

SoFL, what are some of the other varieties that are resistant for you?
HalloBlondie (zone5a) Ontario, Canada
5 years ago
I don't really spray anything, mostly cause I'm lazy. But I also tried to plant roses in ideal sun locations. I moved some roses this spring because of bs issues last year. They were in full morning shade and some suffered for it. But the majority of mine are fairly healthy. I do get a lot of bug nibbles and such. But I try not to stress about it too much. The cleanest ones in my garden off the top of my head are Julia Child, Oscar Peterson, Bull's Eye, Fouth of july, Rosanna, Poseidon, Benjamin Britten & Strike It Rich. I'm sure there's more than that though.
summersrhythm_z6a
5 years ago
You might get more answers from organic rose forum, or FL garden forum. Before I started spray for midge, JBs, BS, I remember New Dawn was being healthy. But roses can be so different in different growing conditions, same rose doesn’t act the same in different gardens.
rosecanadian
5 years ago
I don't spray things...no need. But...powdery mildew is a bit of a problem since we have such cool nights. I find that glossy leaves have the least problems. White Licorice (new for me) is fabulous...way more growth than any other rose...and it has such shiny leaves. Lasting Love is another one like WL...but just not as tall yet.

Carol
Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
5 years ago
This year instead of Spraying everything I am only Spring the ones that have issues which has been more powdery mildew than anything else. So, it is easier to say which ones do get sprayed and that would be Tiffany Lynn , 1st choice both are mini flora hint hint and Winchester Cathedral.

I agree about the shiny leaves the ones that are super waxy looking never seemed to have any issues.

Sara Ann, do you have a picture of your Zaide? There is a question as to if I have a Fiji or a Zaide
rosecanadian
5 years ago

Here is a picture of my Zaide.

Carol
Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
5 years ago
Hum, that does look like my "not a Fiji". Maybe I have zaide after all

looks the same doesn't it
rosecanadian
5 years ago
Color is different though. ???

Carol
diane_nj 6b/7a
5 years ago
Blushing Knock Out, Caramel Fairy Tale (aka, Caramella) are bulletproof. Floral Fairy Tale gets some blackspot late in the season but does not defoliate.
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
5 years ago
Rosesnfriends mentioned the book Roses Without chemicals. I have this book and have used it to improve my garden significantly. I purchased many roses that where in the book. Almost all of them are Kordes rosesand the only issue is many are hard to find. However I highly recommend this book to anyone who either wants to go no spray or just wants a good strong rose in their garden. It’s changed the way I rose garden.
summersrhythm_z6a
5 years ago
I have that book too, it won’t do a thing for me. I got midge here. So chemical treatment is the only way to have blooms.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I do minimal spraying partly on principle and partly because I'm too lazy to do it. Some years I just let the roses fight it out with BS which is never very heavy because I refuse to grow roses that are not resistant to BS. Some years I spray a few select roses maybe once or twice for the entire season, but the majority of the roses don't get that much attention.

No spraying for insects.

Some of my best roses under those conditions:

Queen of Sweden

Molineux

Munstead Woods

Easter Basket

Olivia Rose Austin

Elle

Elina

Berolina

Eutin

Double Knock Out

Home Run

Eliza

Gourmet Popcorn

Felicia

Ghislaine de Feligonda

Boule de neige

The Fairy

Mystic Beauty

Toscana Vigorosa

Those are the ones that occur to me right off hand, but it might be easier to name the 3-4 that have some BS problems, though not terrible: Broceliande, Red Intuition, Double Delight, Jeri Jennings.

Many of my roses will get a few spots of BS from time to time, but not enough of a problem that I will make the effort to actually spray them.

Kate
flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
5 years ago
One stands out. She is always clean, never has thrip damage, doesn't attract any other rose diseases or viruses, blooms profusely and constantly, grows in a nicely rounded shape, sails through winter, has all the positives and none of the negatives (except for fragrance), but I just can't warm up to her. Too vibrant for my taste. The color looked so fake in the first pic, I even adjusted it down a bit. She isn't bad looking, just not my cup of tea. Summer Romance next to her is destroyed by thrips.

Peppermint Pop.
summersrhythm_z6a
5 years ago
Peppermint Pop. Is pretty, but no fragrance though. I started a new rose garden in zone 5b countryside, thought I could do everything orangic there, planted 93 roses so far and 16 rose trees in pots. They got midge same as my garden in zone 6a. Now just left small orchard without chemicals, waiting for the temp to cool down to spray bioneem on the fruit trees.
rosecanadian
5 years ago
Flowers - that is DEFINITELY my color!!! LOL I love that screaming pink. :) But no fragrance....darn.

Carol
flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Carol, you are welcome to come dig her up and take her home with you! I feel guilty for not loving this rose because she tries so hard to be perfect, and almost is. She fills her spot nicely and isn't a bit of trouble, so she will not get the shovel until I run out of space, or you come take her off my hands - or I should say, come rescue her from this ungrateful gardener.
barbarag_happy
5 years ago
Several years ago I forced myself to completely quit spraying, which inspired me to eliminate my problem roses and find more resistant ones. Thanks to Peter Kukielski's book I have a better garden.

Lions Fairy Tale

Peach Drift

Sweet Drift

Carefree Beauty

Molineux

Tamora

Easter Basket (but pink edges are rarely seen, just pale pale yellow)

Beverly

Dark Desire

Pink Enchantment

Mystic Beauty and Souv. de St. Ann's ( Bourbons, great in our heat here)

Orchid Romance

Sunshine Daydream

Lavender Meidiland

Lemon Fizz

Peachy Keen (Peach KnockOut)

Cornelia and Bubble Bath (other Hybrid Musks lose a lot of leaves)

Now I need a couple more good reds, so hard here in steamy 8A VA/NC: I want to try Black Forest Rose or Miracle on the Hudson.

I also grow a lot of polyanthas, teas and chinas. I love how steadily they bloom right thru the heat, and foliage health is overall much better than modern roses-- still!

Barbara
enchantedrosez5bma
5 years ago
DA Windermere and Queen of Sweden, own root from David Austin, are my top performers and earliest bloomers. Heritage does well but blooms a bit later. Teasing Georgia is very tolerant of shade and winter hardy too. Grafted Olivia Rose, planted bare root this spring is loaded with buds and very healthy growth as is DA Desdemona. All Kordes from Palatine are full of buds and healthy including Summer Memories, Lion's FT and Kiss Me Kate arbor rose. No blossoms yet but hopefully soon. Own root Kordes Honeymoon Arbor Rose, lots of blooms, little disease and super winter hardy, no scent though.

sharon
Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Ohhh, Peppermint Pop! I love that color.

Flowers, I'm closer than Carol so, see you soon with shovel in hand.

Carol, the color looks a bit like Young Lycidis and that rose does have fragence.
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks everyone for their responses. I may not have mentioned my Teasing Ga who is also great but has very little blooms so far. I hear she likes to get big before performing. My kiss me kate was a BS magnet, she's still there somewhere in the bed (maybe) but not thriving at all. She'll either perk up or shrivel away. Shame too because the pics looked amazing.
rosecanadian
5 years ago
Flowers - :) No, I won't be making the trek...but if you were in Calgary...I'd be there lickety-split!

Barbara - good for you!!! I'm also trying to buy more modern roses that are more disease free (powdery mildew)...but there still has to be fragrance. I'm finding glossy leafed roses are doing the best for me.

Kristine - I have a youngish (last year bareroot) Young Lycidas. Hopefully it does well this year. Yes, scamper over, shovel in hand, and go get that rose!! LOL

SoFl - Good luck with your TEasing Georgia!

CCarol
lavenderlacezone8
5 years ago
I'm no-spray here. I can't say that most of these are my favorites by a longshot but their leaves seem to always look terrific under tough conditions:

Heritage

First Crush

Savannah

Francis Meilland

Souvenir de la Malmaison

Belinda's Dream

New Dawn

Summer Romance

Scent-Sation (the very tough and generous peach hybrid tea, not the small lavender)
rosecanadian
5 years ago
Lavenderlace - Nice to see that Savannah has good leaves...I have a tiny bareroot Savannah...too little to flower.

Carol
Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
5 years ago
Another super healthy, no need to spray, Out of Rosenheim and Florentina, super waxy leaves.
kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info
SoFL Rose z10
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Florentina is just gorgeous. I wish mine would bloom :(. I have 3 of them and have gotten about 10 blooms in total from all three in the past year. They are spotless but man. I want blooms!
enchantedrosez5bma
5 years ago
lavender- Olivia Rose Austin is supposed to be really healthy. I planted 3 grafted bare root from DA in late May and they are loaded with buds and healthy foliage even though it's still been very cool here. No scent but the sweetest clean pink color, no hint of peach. DA Desdemona is also covered in buds, bare root and planted the same time as Olivia. No blooms yet but she is seems to have excellent disease resistance and is supposed to have a wonderful scent. DA Teasing Georgia is another good performer for me. DA Windermere never disappoints, the fist to bloom in my garden. Queen of Sweden is another disease resistant good performer.

Kordes Summer Romance has gorgeous flowers and smells incredible. They are slow to get going as own root but my two nursery purchases were loaded with buds and no disease.

sharon
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
For other suggestions you may want to take a look at this post I started at the organic Rose forum. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5024614/healthy-no-spray-roses-what-are-yours#n=43
lavenderlacezone8
5 years ago
VV, can you double-check that link? It's not taking me anywhere!
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
5 years ago
Thank you, LL. I corrected it above. It's hard to do on my cell, but I'm at my laptop now! I should have tried it first! LOL!
modestgoddess z6 OH
5 years ago
for health and rebloom these are completely clean in no spray hot humid Maryland 7a:

Cream Veranda

Flamenco Rosita

Florentina

Kashmir

Plum Perfect

Poseidon

Soul Sister

What are your best no spray roses?

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