Coming Up Roses

With modern roses it pays to buy the best. The irony is that the time for buying is in winter when roses are looking their very worst.

They arrive in their scores at garden centres in June with their tops and roots chopped back, clad in nothing more than unfriendly thorns.

The secret is to see beyond this ugly guise, know what you want and get in early to get the best – the best choice of varieties and the best choice of plants, because no two ever grow the same.

There will be roses available later in the season but with modern bush roses (floribundas and hybrid teas), and modern shrub roses and climbers, the best stock comes on the market in the coming weeks, partly for traditional but also for practical reasons. Young roses are grown in open fields because this gives the best and most cost-effective results. This means they can only be dug up for sale in winter when they are dormant.

The well-grown roses head for garden centres. The left-overs or those that don’t yet reach the required size may be potted up to grow on a little before being sold in summer.

While some nurseries grow extra stock just for the summer rose market, rose plants bought in winter and planted out will have a flying start over those planted later and will handle summer’s dry periods much better.

Besides getting in early, another important aspect in choosing roses is knowing which ones to buy or, if you are a seasoned rose grower, working out which new roses you want to try.

6 Newcomers

ROSES full of fragrance, roses that make a great garden show, roses bred here and the pick of those from overseas are among the new roses this season. Here are six of them.

‘The Golden Age ‘
This bushy grower produces masses of yellow blooms, has excellent disease resistance and won the top award at the 2005 Palmerston North rose trials.

‘Astrid Grafin von Hardenburg’
This rose’s petal-packed, deep purple, oldfashioned blooms has an amazing fragrance.

‘Gold Dust’
This floribunda rose was judged New Zealand’s 2007 Rose of the Year. Its flowers are bright golden yellow, non-fading and set off by healthy, dark green foliage.

‘Hamilton Gardens ‘
This rose, a naturally occurring sport of ‘Paddy Stephens’ looks set to be this year’s ‘must buy’. It has its parent’s attributes, except for its flower colour which is a delicious blend of cream, apricot, pink and salmon.

‘Summer Passion ‘
This free-flowering, slightly fragrant, strong growing and slightly spreading floribunda has pink flowers with a creamy apricot centre.

‘Sundancer’
This medium growing climber has masses of lightly scented, orange-yellow flowers on a wellfoliaged plant that has good disease resistance.

Top Five Disease-resistant Roses

(NZ Rose Society members’ selection, 2007)
• ‘Paddy Stephens’ (hybrid tea).
• ‘Iceberg’ (floribunda).
• ‘Sally Holmes’ (shrub/climber).
• ‘Serendipity’ (floribunda).
• ‘Racy Lady’ (hybrid tea).

Other Disease-resistant Roses

Red
• ‘Crimson Bouquet’ (2007 Rose of the Year best hybrid tea).
• ‘Lasting Love’ (hybrid tea – 2006 Rose of the Year most fragrant rose).
• ‘L.D. Braithwaite’ (Austin rose).
• ‘Trumpeter’ (floribunda).
Orange/apricot
• ‘Beach Baby’ (floribunda).
• ‘Fellowship’ (floribunda).
• ‘Kiwi’ (floribunda).
• ‘Paddy Stephens’ (hybrid tea).
Yellow
• ‘Easy Going’ (2004 NZ Rose of the Year best floribunda).
• ‘Golden Future’ (climber).
• ‘Kaiteri Gold’ (2003 Rose of the Year best climber).
• ‘Serendipity’ (2003 Rose of the Year best floribunda and 1999 Gold Star of the South Pacific award).
White
• ‘Anniversary’ (floribunda - 1997 Gold Star of the South Pacific award).
• ‘Iceberg’ (floribunda).
• ‘Racy Lady’ (hybrid tea – 2000 Gold Star of the South Pacific award).
• ‘Sally Holmes’ (shrub/climber).
• ‘Sparkler’ (shrub).
Pink
• ‘Aotearoa’ (hybrid tea).
• ‘Brilliant Pink Iceberg’ (floribunda).
• ‘The Fairy’ (shrub).
• ‘Uetersen’ (climber).
• ‘Wise Woman’ (hybrid tea).
Bicolour
 • ‘Raspberry Ice’ (floribunda).

Also: Any of the Flower Carpet rose series.

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