Roses: Beyond the Tea
Over the past few foggy, snowy days in Denver, some people’s thoughts have turned to growing roses, of all things. I don’t know what inspired it, but it’s a good time to start planning. I can’t give advice for all roses and all areas, but I’ll give some general guidelines on selection.
Newbies often want to grow hybrid teas. Full disclosure: I’m not a big hybrid tea fan. Ever notice how catalogs show just the blooms of hybrid teas, and not the whole bush? The blooms are gorgeous but I can hardly smell them, and most hybrid teas look about alike to me. The rest of the plant is very upright and hangs on to its dead brown leaves all winter, making it ugly seven months out of the year. What I love are old garden roses: wide, leafy bushes with blooms brimming with petals and fragrance. Some set hips—little red fruits—in the fall, making the bush colorful all winter.
In zone 4 and below, hybrid teas are expensive annuals, while many old garden roses will live there for decades without coddling. Even in zone 5, with professional care, some hybrid teas are short lived. If you insist on a hybrid tea, try a Buck rose. They were developed at Iowa State University by R. Griffith Buck and had to survive Iowa winters unprotected to pass muster.
Some people are enchanted by tree roses, those grafted wonders shaped like lollipops. For zone 5 or below, these are expensive annuals unless you ... No. I won’t say how to overwinter them. Unless you have a colonial house or a chateau—curiosities out West—they’ll look out of place in your yard. Try instead a chunky shrub rose, maybe ‘Carefree Wonder’ or ‘Hansa’, for your ranch house, or ‘Blaze’ for your bungalow, or a damask or alba rose for your mining town Victorian, or a David Austin for your Victorian in the city, or ‘Golden Wings’ or ‘Sally Holmes’ for your hacienda. They’ll suit the character of your house and they won’t need to be pampered.
Character is what to look for in a rose. Better to get one that suits your home and climate than find dead black canes next spring. There’s a huge variety out there beyond hybrid teas. Give a few of them a try this year.
Newbies often want to grow hybrid teas. Full disclosure: I’m not a big hybrid tea fan. Ever notice how catalogs show just the blooms of hybrid teas, and not the whole bush? The blooms are gorgeous but I can hardly smell them, and most hybrid teas look about alike to me. The rest of the plant is very upright and hangs on to its dead brown leaves all winter, making it ugly seven months out of the year. What I love are old garden roses: wide, leafy bushes with blooms brimming with petals and fragrance. Some set hips—little red fruits—in the fall, making the bush colorful all winter.
In zone 4 and below, hybrid teas are expensive annuals, while many old garden roses will live there for decades without coddling. Even in zone 5, with professional care, some hybrid teas are short lived. If you insist on a hybrid tea, try a Buck rose. They were developed at Iowa State University by R. Griffith Buck and had to survive Iowa winters unprotected to pass muster.
Some people are enchanted by tree roses, those grafted wonders shaped like lollipops. For zone 5 or below, these are expensive annuals unless you ... No. I won’t say how to overwinter them. Unless you have a colonial house or a chateau—curiosities out West—they’ll look out of place in your yard. Try instead a chunky shrub rose, maybe ‘Carefree Wonder’ or ‘Hansa’, for your ranch house, or ‘Blaze’ for your bungalow, or a damask or alba rose for your mining town Victorian, or a David Austin for your Victorian in the city, or ‘Golden Wings’ or ‘Sally Holmes’ for your hacienda. They’ll suit the character of your house and they won’t need to be pampered.
Character is what to look for in a rose. Better to get one that suits your home and climate than find dead black canes next spring. There’s a huge variety out there beyond hybrid teas. Give a few of them a try this year.
posted by Lori Miller at 10:42 PM
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