Recommendations for a mass impact rose
Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
13 days ago
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Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoRelated Discussions
roses for mass planting zone 4
Comments (15)Hi Kristin, Sorry for the delay getting back to you and thanks for the additional information on what you are looking for. I really think what you have planned will be stunning once you are finished, but as I said, I was concerned about the amount of pruning and general maintenance you might end up having to do each spring with some of the choices you noted. I assumed you were going for large mass hedge plantings of one or two varieties. Carefree Beauty is a very good rose and it blooms well and repeats fast and certainly has very good disease resistance too. However, it is not totally or reliably cane hardy in a true zone 4. I find it loses well over half of its cane in zone 5 and even more in a bad winter. It bounces back very well however due to good vigour. You'd need to place it near the back of the border, as it grows tall and upright, but expect to prune a lot of deadwood. Morden Blush is also a great rose and one of my favorites. Provided it doesn't get hit by bad BS late in the season, it is almost tip hardy and shouldn't have much dieback for you. Getting hit by BS seems to really affect the inherent winter hardiness of most of the Morden roses. This was my concern with a mass planting of Morden Blush. The lack of air circulation would make it more prone to BS, which in turn makes it more prone to dieback, not to mention more work for you if you decide to spray and not such a nice sight if you have a whole bed with BS'd leaves. With all of its wonderful attributes Morden Blush does trend towards late season BS. I never find it bad here, but your climate may well be different. The choice on how much work you put into this is yours. I will recommend some roses that are cane hardy to the tips and very disease resistant while also blooming profusely. Most of these are Explorer series roses and Rugosas, with a few exceptions. I'll keep mostly with the pink theme. Pinks: Frontenac (Explorer)- To me, the most underrated rose of all of the Explorers and one of the best. Great for the front to middle of the border, blooms literally continuously, is exceptionally cane hardy and disease resistant. Simon Fraser (Explorer)- shorter than Frontenac. Blooms vary from single to semi-double. Blooms continuously and the blooms have a unique way of opening that makes them very charming in a simple way. John Davis (Explorer)- Can be grown up a support as a climber/rambling shrub to add vertical height to a garden bed. It is hardy enough to train up an igloo... :) LOL Also fantastic grown as a large, wide arching shrub. The canes are long and flexible and have few thorns and will arch over and produce more laterals and more blooms when grown as a large shrub. This rose blooms very heavily in the spring and is rarely without blooms up to frost once established and well watered. Will put out more growth than blooms in 1st season, but look out after that. Hardy to the tips in even zone 4 and very good disease resistance. However, can mildew if not given enough water and air circulation. I just realized after typing all this that you have this rose and William Baffin too. Well, at least that saved me mentioning WB... Winnipeg Parks (Parkland Series rose) - Dark pink to bright red. Colour is variable, but stands out well. A relatively short and round bush, maybe 3' tall at most. Winter hardiness is very good and better than some of the other Morden series roses. Can BS, but not prone to it and recovers quickly. Blooms in large flushes throughout the season and very, very quickly. Although not truly continuous, it always seems to be in bloom. If you like Morden Blush, you will also love this Morden rose. Carefree Wonder: Blooms look almost identical to Carefree Beauty, but not quite as big and blowsy looking. Plant is shorter growing with a nicer, more rounded shrub shape, blooms more profusely, repeats faster and is also hardier than Carefree Beauty. However, not as disease resistant. Slightly more prone to BS that Carefree Beauty, but not disease riddled by any means. You will likely need to prune 50%+ of the cane each spring in zone 4. Therese Bugnet: Tall, almost thornless rose with red canes. Large, beautiful, pink fragrant blooms of old fashioned look. Blooms heavily in spring and fall and always seems to have a few blooms. This rose laughs at the cold and does not dieback. It is also very disease resistant. It can mildew in warmer climates, but not prone to this in colder regions unless stressed. Grows tall in a strong, upright manner with a vase like shape. Great rose for back of the border or specimen plant. If you don't have one, you should. You will soon want more. Pink Grootendorst (Rugosa): No fragrance, but will be covered all season with small, carnation looking clear pink blooms. Hardy and bullet proof disease resistance. Frau Dagmar Hartopp (Rugosa): Beautiful large single blooms that appear all season and that are wonderfully fragrant. Produces large reddish/orange hips while still blooming and the foilage changes colours yellow/orange in late fall. Tip hardy, no disease, great rose. Rosa Zwerg (Rugosa): a good, low growing Rugosa that blooms well has very good fragrance and is also cane hardy to the tips, disease immune and produces good hips. Of the other roses you mention, I like Earth Song a lot and i find it a better rose than Carefree Beauty, but they are comparable in terms of hardiness and are both beautiful and floriferous. For your climate, the hardiest pink Austins are The Mayflower, Mary Rose and Eglantyne. All are very good roses, but all will die back quite a bit in zone 4. However, all have good vigour, should bounce back well and perform very well for you. I find all of them very disease resistant to BS in my garden, but Mary Rose and Eglantyne can be prone to late season mildew. The Mayflower stays clean and is arguably, slightly hardier than Eglantyne and Mary Rose. The Fairy would surive zone 4, as would Ballerina, but both would dieback extensively. The Fairy is truly not fun to have to prune extensively as the thorns hook down and tend to rip at your flesh once they dig in. If you look at reds, you can't really beat the Explorer rose Champlain for a mass planting and continual bloom. It is one of the less hardy Explorers, but will do fine for you with some pruning required. You will be hard pressed to see any foilage on this rose in the spring flush and beyond. It definately prefers blooming over growth... Other good reds to look at are: Elveshorn and Elmshorn: Pinkish red to red. Not truly cane hardy in zone 4, but both are touch plants that flower constantly and make a large impact. Very disease resistant. Grootendorst Supreme: Like Pink Grootendorst, but grows much larger and wider. A mature plant will have thousands of small carnation like blooms on the plant and they don't stop all season long. Tip hardy and disease immune. Robusta: Not really cane hardy in zone 4, but it doesn't matter. It's vigour is outstanding and it quickly grows right back to 5 to 6' tall with prolific single red blooms. Can be prone to BS, but repeats fast and heavy. No scent. Homerun: Hardier than Knockout and nicer bush shape, bloom and foilage. Will still dieback extensively in zone 4, but should do fine for you, will bloom non-stop and stay clean all year. Alexander MacKenzie (Explorer): Red blooms that look like a Hybrid Tea. Grows tall and blooms in good flushes. Very good disease resistance and good hardiness too. A rose that does everything very well, but nothing truly outstanding. Very good rose for the garden. Anyway, i should probably go to bed now...Hope this gives you some additional ideas. Enjoy and good luck. Would love to hear what you finally decide and to see some pics once done and blooming. Take care, Tim P.S. - You may also want to look at the Explorer rose, Cpt. Samuel Holland as another pink/red climbing option for the bed. Again, tip hardy and essentially disease immune....See MoreIdeas for mass planting around roses?
Comments (4)Would you really want anything to grow between the roses? Perhaps in a controlled area in front of the roses, leaving the area between and around them open mulch might be better for clean-up, pruning, dead heading, etc. My experience with ground covers and such around and between the bases of the roses hasn't made me a great fan of them. They tend to compete for resources and too frequently grow more densely in the planting holes, blocking air and light to the crowns or bud unions of the bushes. Pulling them out from around prickly unions is not something I care to do again! Lantana and verbena make long growth which can flood the bases and aren't fun to pull out of them. You might consider planting your ground cover and other companions in front of the roses as a 'skirt' or border, and leaving the soil around and between them well mulched to make clean-up and maintenance easier. If you must have that soil covered and if it grows well there, try plain old alyssum. Easy to pull, self seeds (here) making replacement unnecessary, available in white through lavender and dark purple, fragrant and very little competition for the roses. Kim...See MoreRecommendation for long-blooming mass planting in raised bed
Comments (1)Inquire in your area about South Seas ~~ I see several people commented on its long bloom season. Lovely melon color that would stand out against white roses and might not clash with your house....See MoreRecommendations for most floriferous ground cover roses
Comments (22)Diane - You’re welcome! Very impressive with regard to your Golden Celebration and Boscobel. They’ve always been on my long list of roses to try but I think I might have to move them to my shorter more immediate list! My husband loves yellows so GC could be just right. Also, I’m super glad to hear how pleased you are with Apricot Drift since groundcover roses are my immediate next project and why I started this thread. I have Red drift and two Pink Drifts in my front yard and I’m looking to plant out the backyard in ground cover roses. I’m looking for the most floriferous and continuous blooming ground cover. roses and was trying to decide between drifts, carpets and meidilands. To me my drifts could look better, sometimes look a little weedy and scraggly. It could just be me, as I neglect them and pay all my attention to my genuine rose garden. Perhaps they just need a bit more sun, some TLC and a trim back....See MoreArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleyDiane Brakefield
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11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoDiane Brakefield
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11 days agoMoses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USA
11 days agolast modified: 11 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA thanked Moses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USAArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
11 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
11 days agoDiane Brakefield
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10 days agolast modified: 10 days agoKristine LeGault 8a pnw
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10 days agolast modified: 10 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
10 days agolast modified: 10 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
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9 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
9 days agolast modified: 9 days agoKristine LeGault 8a pnw
9 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
9 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
9 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
9 days agolast modified: 9 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
9 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
9 days agommmm12COzone5
9 days agolast modified: 9 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
9 days agoSunny Mississippi 8a
8 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
8 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleyVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
7 days agolast modified: 7 days agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
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7 days agolast modified: 7 days agoArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
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