Suggestions for "top" pink and/or crimson roses for Zone 7a
Hello!
I am in the process of choosing plants for my front landscaping design and would like to incorporate 2-3 rose varieties, max, amongst several other typical "rose garden" companions (e.g., catmint, geranium, alchemilla, daisies, etc.).
I'm quite overwhelmed by the number of varieties to choose from so am hoping the community could help me narrow down a few options. Here are my criteria:
- I live in Delaware, Zone 7a - we are very prone to blackspot here, so health of the plant is a top priority
- I'd prefer shrub roses that have a bloom color of either light pink (think "Olivia Rose Austin") or a crimson/berry color (think "Darcy Bussell")
- If it's not already apparent, I very much love the look of David Austin roses (I currently grow Munstead Wood and, though it blackspots, it is a lovely rose). I'm not really looking for drift roses with small blooms, but rather shrubs with more larger, more substantial blooms. At the same time, repeat flowering is important
- Fragrance is a nice to have but not need to have for me.
Let me know if there are other criteria that I may have missed that would be helpful to narrow the search. I'm also providing a quick inspiration photo in case it helps folks find roses that are similar to the look I'm trying to achieve (understanding that the photo below was from a magazine, taken during peak bloom season and that my actual yard may only look like this for a week or two lol).
Thank you in advance!!
Comments (28)
last yearTake a look at Bliss. It is my top all around rose. Huge blooms, hoid health and vigor (black spot resistant), fragrant and reblooms well.
Snapped a picture of one at the botanical garden in DC today during a lunchtime walk. It always draws my eye!
lbd518 (7b DE) thanked Markay MD-Zone 7B
last yearRelated Discussions
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Comments (11)About to suggest Viking Queen, but see you've already ordered it for an arbor. Believe it would be lovely on your balustrade. www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.6064.0&tab=1 Rosarium Uetersen aka Seminole Wind might be another pink climber to consider. www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.5462.3&tab=1 Both grow easily in this no spray hot & humid growing season garden just a zone higher than yours. For the reds, look into Fields of the Wood/Rhode Island Red www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=5204&tab=1 and Illusion www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.3368.0&tab=1 I've not grown these, but others speak highly of both. When checking a rose on HelpMeFind, pay more attention to Member Ratings & Comments (including those with the Photos) than the Description page, since you'll often find a rose described as having "scattered later bloom" rated Excellent on that score by members. Your garden setting sounds enchanting. Welcome to the forums!...See MoreClimbing Roses in Zone 5 (thanks for your suggestions)
Comments (16)Wonderful photo of John Davis, Twros, and thanks for the tips about getting it to climb. Like Mad said, mine has struggled to survive and grow beyond knee height for some time now, but it hasn't hit the magic 4 years mark yet for a climber. Good to know that it appreciates feeding. In my yard, mbrad, I've found that John Cabot is the more reliable and enthusiastic climber, and it's rock solid hardy to the tips in a zone 4 pocket of my yard. For the first 3-4 years, it was mostly a once-bloomer with a few scattered blooms here and there, but now that it's mature it's starting to get some repeat flush blooms on and off in the year. I'd definitely recommend that one as the best climber of the four you list. Among the others, I agree with Mad that Cecile Brunner is a long shot to survive in zone 5 (I've never overwintered one with several tries), but if it does survive it's likely to be a shrub rather than climber. Give it a protected spot and hope for the best. Laguna will climb well and is mostly cane hardy for me, and it's a dark pink color that will highlight the other colors. All of your roses are in the pink family (Laguna & John Cabot are dark pink, the rest are light pink) so I think any combination of them would look fine. Next to John Cabot, Colette is the other most reliable climber in zone 5. It takes a while to get established and climb well - give any climber 4 years to get settled in before you judge its characteristics - but it has repeat bloom on and off throughout the summer. I think JC, Colette & Laguna will climb well, and JC is the one most likely to cover your arbor. For companion plants, I'd be very cautious about a grape vine. You'll notice that on your honeymoon (congratulations by the way) the pergola had only a grape vine on it. My experience has been that grapes don't share real estate well. My neighbors have some inherited vines along a shared fence line, and the grapes TOTALLY invade my vegetable garden and have mostly shaded out my tomatoes. Wouldn't take much, as it's only a part shade situation, but grapes don't play well with others. I'm happy to rein in the grapes and I love those neighbors, so we're discussing strategy for this year. Instead of grapes, I'd plant a clematis on each end of the pergola. Clematis bloom in the heat of summer when the roses are taking a rest, so it means extending your bloom season. There are some lovely clematis and they tend to be easy and LOVE our midwestern soils. Jackmanii is a common one that's around most places and it's a dark purple that would set off the other colors nicely. Clematis are totally easy care in our zone, and they're more of an instant gratification of something to cover the pergola (but give it a year or two to settle in still), while you're waiting for the roses to mature. Syri - my experiences with Japanese Beetles is that they'll eat whatever is convenient (like deer do), but they prefer flowers. There are other things that will eat the grapes themselves, including birds, but I haven't found that the grapes are all that interesting to the Japanese beetles if there's something else they like better (like all my roses). We'll look forward to seeing pictures, mbrad! Good job doing your homework on your roses. Cynthia...See MorePerennial flowers for Part sun (zone 7a)
Comments (9)In a similar situation (with some parts getting a tad more sun than you and some parts a tad less) I have many daylilies, veronica, shasta daisies, asters, phlox, perennial foxgloves, helenium, geraniums, echinacea, penstemon, solidago, hellebores, coreopsis, rudbeckia triloba and (I think) Herbstonne, scabiosa, lupines, bleeding hearts, monkshood, astilbe, lilies, and liatris. I also let columbines, feverfew, campanula, and Queen Anne's Lace reseed (I know some think QAL is a weed but I love it!) All of the above do well although the helenium is new so not sure yet how that will do. I also have reseeding nigella, larkspur, and few other annuals that are left over from my market-selling days. I let these reseed and they seem to do well in the part-sun gardens. For shrubs I have weigela, flowering almond, carolina allspice, hydrangeas, deutzia, boxwood, hollies, spirea, quince, and a couple of roses that are doing okay, not necessarily thriving, but that may be due more to my neglect than their situation. I did plant a Lyda Rose in a friend's garden in similar conditions that is spectacular! And I have a Darlow's Enigma in almost full shade that is doing well. Red or yellow twig dogwoods may work too. One of my gardens used to be a shade garden till we lost a beautiful oak, and there are hostas in it. It still gets some shade, but the first two summers the hostas fried (I didn't move them because we had planned on getting a new tree but life got in the way!) This year I am determined to give them more water to help them along, and so far so good, including this last week of 85 degree weather and no rain for weeks. The hard part for hostas here, like for you, is the direct afternoon sun. If you have sections that get morning or later day sun hostas may work better there. If you go with astilbes they may need supplemental water as well. I also have put in dahlias last year and this year. I did the flowers for my daughter's wedding and planted almost 100 tubers last year, and even with leaving some in the ground to die and losing some over the winter in storage, I still had about 85 tubers this spring. I don't have any "full sun" conditions at all, and in a weary attempt to get all those tubers planted this spring I had to put some in somewhat shady conditions so I'll see how they do. The ones last year in part sun did quite well (I converted my vegetable garden, the sunniest spot, for the dahlias last year. This year it's back to veggies so dahlias are roughing it lol) But many are in the same part-sun conditions as last year and they did quite well. Depending on moisture levels in you garden, itea, clethra, cephalanthus, salix, and viburnum may do well. I take care of a friend's garden with similar sun conditions but it's practically a swamp, and these thrive there but I think they need the high water levels. She also has ligularia in here, another moisture lover. Surprisingly, peonies and hydrangeas do well, and I would think this soil waaayyy too heavy and wet, so maybe the peonies would work for you too. She has another plant here that I can't think of. I want to say sambucus but I'm not quite sure, and so not quite sure if this one needs lots of water as well. I also like to supplement some bare spots with annuals. I never did many annuals till I started selling at market and now I love so many of them. I always have zinnias, and annual rudbeckias, and I also like cosmos and cleome. Sorry, didn't expect this post to be so long but kept thinking of more stuff! Hope this helps! :) Dee...See MoreRelated Professionals
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I don’t have much of that color range in my garden. I have Dark Desire, but don’t love it. I really like Brindabella Purple Prince though. it has good health and fragrance. Flower form is more HT rose than English rose, so probably not what you are envisioning.
last yearlast modified: last yearThe dark pink/crimson range is a very complex one and I am not certain I have what you want. I love Darcy Bussell but it gets lots of blackspot. My absolute top rose in the dark pink range is Flamenco rosita. It is a large shrub with very vigorous growth and zero blackspot no spray here in humid Alabama. I actually grow it next to Olivia Austin and it works for me.
Flamenco rosita on back left, spirit of freedom top right and the new Raspberry cupcake in the middle
Olivia in front right and Flamenco against window
I haven’t found another rose in the exact color range of Darcey and Munstead wood that has excellent resistance to blackspot. My closest is Dark desire and it has a more hybrid tea shape plant and blooms that I do not like as much.The only ones I can think of are gallicas like Charles’s de Mills and they are once bloomers.
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last yearI agree with the suggestion for Bliss. What a great rose, mine tends more towards pink.
Now, I live in zone 8 and not much humidity so take what I say as it applies to me but I am in love with Gypsy Soul. It blooms profusely, very healthy and a great fragrance.
Bliss
Gypsy Soul
Darcy
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The roses around the little bird bath are the fairy ( a must have), and Kendyl Marie which is a newer polyantha rose. Kendyl Marie is another top rose in my garden with supper blackspot resistance without spray here and blooms until hard frost.
Kendyl Marie is a very good little rose that would fill any space with beautiful med pink blooms all season long. She is hard to find tho and possibly the only place you could find it is Heirloom roses.
Kendyl and the fairy in mid May
here Kendyl Blooming on April 19 a full month ahead of the fairy
Kendyl Foreground left, Olivia and Florentina
good luck with your project - last year
last year- last year
Bliss is a warmer pink. The tones depend a lot on weather and light quality. If you wanted a cool pink, Earth Angel has been wonderful for me, but I’ve heard mixed things from others.
Honestly, Olivia Rose Austin would be a solid choice that meets all your criteria and is a cool pink.
For crimson, I could recommend Rosemantic Red (I got mine from Palatine) for sheer blooming power. It does spot, but never loses vigor. The amount of rises it pumps out must be seen to be believed. I like Palatine because I find roses grafted on multiflora perform exceptionally well here. It’s only fault is that the blooms are so heavy I have to stake.
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I would say go with Darcy Bussell. It is amazing bloomer and comes own-root from DA. I have 2 in my zone 6B garden in NOVA. Here is a picture.
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I also do not think flamenco looks alike to the knockouts I have . As a matter of fact I just went to the garden to compare colors and Darcey’s color is a lot more similar to the red knockout than Flamencos.
Knockout bloom on top and Darcey on bottom on same picture
(it has been in the 90For months so many roses have blooms with few petals now and that’s what is happening with Darcey.)
Flamenco rosita new and old bloom
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Hello again! Thank you all for your incredibly lovely photos and suggestions. They've been instrumental in helping me narrow down which roses would be best suited for my space. After reading through everyone's comments, doing a few renderings in PPT, and taking some measurements outside, I came to a few realizations. I'll start first with the renderings:
Rendering #1 (Bliss with medium-pink rose)
Rendering #2 (Bliss with light yellow rose)
1) SIZE: @erasmus_gw you mentioned size...very smart of you. I hadn't really thought about size, but boy does it ever matter. In the renderings above, the only plants that currently exist in the bed are the camellia in the corner (a coral pink color that blooms late fall), cherry laurels against the windows, the Little Lime hydrangea in the middle, and the semi-circle hedge of boxwood on either side of the walkway. Everything else I added by pulling photos off the web. The laurels are mature and currently 4.5' tall, so any rose that gets planted in or around that area realistically can't grow larger than 4-4.5'. This narrows the playing field substantially in terms of what roses would work
2) COLOR: The second thing I noticed after pulling everything together was how the colors did (or, more specifically, did not) go with one another. For instance, despite my love of crimson-colored roses, I think the contrast between something like DB and a light pink rose like Bliss would be too stark. So I tried pairing Bliss with a medium-pink rose (a la Boscobel) and found the look improved (see Rendering #1) but still off for some reason, at which point I realized all the pink was fighting with the pink in the brick!. So I swapped out the medium pink for a light, lemon yellow rose (leaning green yellow like Vanessa Bell) and it seemed to jive so much better (Rendering #2).3) HABIT: The last thing I realized after looking through all the photos you all shared with me was that habit also matters to me. Eyeing my Munstead Wood out the back window, which can't decide what shape it wants to take, I am definitely looking for roses out front that maintain a more uniform, bush-like shape. Does Bliss meet this criterion?
So, to summarize:
1) I'm still very much considering Bliss so long as it doesn't get too big and stays relatively shrubby throughout the season. If Bliss is out, any other ideas (from the list of roses already mentioned or otherwise) that would work?
2) I'm now seeking recommendations for a light lemon yellow rose to pair with Bliss (or whatever light pink rose I end up with). I'd love to hear folks' suggestions for something that is 3-4', disease free, and maintains a tidy form.
last year
7 months ago
7 months agoI‘m in a warmer zone than you, but have a traditional cottage-style planting of roses and perennials in my east garden. The colour scheme is purple, lavender, all shades of pink (from blush to deep) and white.
I find crimson or strong fuchsias can be tricky to place without creating clashes, so use those tones sparingly. Looking at your photos I think you are probably right to drop those.
My purple-toned roses such as Stormy Weather, Purple Lodge, Munstead Wood, Ebb Tide and lavenders such as Love Song tend to play much better with the pink roses. However, purple and lavender are so easy to introduce with perennials such as salvia, agastache, catmint, hardy geraniums, ornamental alliums etc. I have all of those too!
An English rose friend on another forum grows Olivia and Vanessa Bell with catmint and other classic cottage garden perennials and it was just beautiful. I can just imagine her scheme translating really well to your border. I might be tempted to slip in some Harlow Carrs there too, a compact, healthy and free-blooming excellent repeater:
I also like to mix in some simpler blooms and something like Astronomia (AKA Sweet Pretty or The Charlatan), with it’s large, pink-flushed blooms, might look good in such a scheme. This is a neat, shapely shrub and my standout top rose for immaculate health and continuous bloom:
7 months ago
7 months ago
erasmus_gw