The Other Roses

From the Davis Enterprise, Feb. 22, 2007

Every so often someone asks me “what are your favorite roses?”

I can try to answer that at various levels: sentimental favorites (Nastarana, Chrysler Imperial), favorite new varieties (Marilyn Monroe, Sunset Celebration), for cutting (Crimson Beauty, Olympiad), for photographing (species or semi-double roses).

But having grown hundreds of roses and sold and supervised many more, I’ve come to admire roses that have endurance, disease resistance, and abundance of bloom. Frankly, I don’t feel like fussing with roses, hardly ever spray for anything, and mostly enjoy them while walking through the garden. Fragrance, of course, is important, but I can respect a lightly scented rose if it tolerates blazing heat or blooms like crazy. If a rose is weak, disease-prone, or wimpy, I just “prune it with a shovel” and plant a better variety.

My fondness for easy-care roses leads me naturally to some of the lesser-known groups of hybrids. In recent years the 20^th century queen of roses, the Hybrid Tea, has been challenged by several breeds: Floribundas, Grandifloras, David Austin’s English roses, shrub and landscape roses (including the incredibly popular ground cover roses in the Flower Carpet series), and even modern climbers.

Not that there’s anything wrong with Hybrid Teas: for long stemmed cutting roses, they still reign supreme. But the cluster-blooming habit of the other types makes them more attractive in the landscape. So in designing a rose garden, I suggest grouping your cutting roses and putting some of these ‘other’ roses behind or in front of them to get the best of both worlds.

What are all these categories of roses?! Here’s a capsule history of the rose world. Until the 19^th century cultivated roses in Europe and America rarely rebloomed after the spring, and most were pink, red, or white. Yellow roses were unknown to Europeans until the introduction of rose species from Persia and Asia. A couple of reblooming roses were also introduced in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries and became incredibly popular. They became important parents of modern roses, as a whole class of roses called Hybrid Perpetuals dominated the nursery trade.

Then in the 19^th century the ‘tea’ rose – a delicate, scented rose with classic overlapping (not bunched or ‘quartered’) petals was introduced from Asia, and its elegance and form made it highly prized even though it was tender and fussy to grow. Crossing it with the Hybrid Perpetuals led to the Hybrid Tea roses (typical Hybrid Tea shown above), which have been the highest-selling group of roses throughout the 20^th century. If a novice asks me for a rose bush, I assume they mean a Hybrid Tea.

But all the while breeders were crossing these and other roses to create better garden plants. Those old Hybrid Perpetuals sprawled everywhere, taking 5 – 6’ of space or more per plant. The Victorian-era trend of planting roses in mass groups in public parks made some of the shorter, more free-blooming types popular, Polyantha and Floribunda roses in particular. With the advent of modern garden chemicals, the disease susceptibility of many Hybrid Teas seemed irrelevant; I remember my grandfather’s elaborate spray schedule in quest of the perfect rose for the vase on the breakfast table.

Times change. People don’t want to spray garden chemicals, and a freer style of landscaping has emerged. Roses aren’t planted in separate areas, they are mixed in with perennial flowers, planted behind the herb garden, and grown for function as much as for flower form. “Shrub” roses were always the mongrels of the rose world, relegated to the back of the rose book (“other”). So when a shrub rose, Bonica, earned the All American Rose Society coveted AARS award in 1987 it marked a turning point in public attitudes about roses. Since then several excellent shrubs roses have won AARS honors: Carefree Wonder (photo, left) and Carefree Delight, Knockout and (in 2007) Rainbow Knockout. Breeders have recognized the trend toward lower-care landscapes.

Some rose lovers actively preserve the old roses. Heritage or heirloom roses have a special appeal, as many have extra fragrance and unique flower form. Modern roses typically have 20 – 50 petals; those 19^th century ones may have over 100 petals, all stuffed together, crinkled, “quartered”—the roses of Empress Josephine’s garden, made famous by the painter Redouté, are Hybrid Perpetuals. Cemeteries happen to be great places to see the favorite roses people have planted and tended on graves over the years, and avid rose fanciers often seek them out. An excellent local collection of heirloom roses can be seen at the Old City Cemetery at 1000 Broadway in Sacramento (www.oldcitycemetery.com).

Not content to leave these roses to posterity, the English breeder David Austin started crossing them with modern roses. ‘The Prince’ is shown at right.  His goals were to obtain more compact growth habit with the old-fashioned look and fragrance of heirloom roses. His roses tend to get big! Some sold as shrubs in England act more like climbers in our milder California climate. Now commonly called English roses, these give a classic look to a wide perennial border.

Other breeders have  followed suit. Meilland of France introduced the Romantica roses, one of the best of which is a climbing variety called Eden. It looks like something from the 1800’s --  but was introduced in 1992.

These other groups broaden the opportunities for fitting roses in niches of the landscape beyond the traditional grid-planting typically used for cutting roses.

· Need a hedge? Simplicity, a tall floribunda rose, was introduced as a “hedge” rose by Jackson & Perkins in the 1970’s. Any number of other floribundas can be planted on 2 – 3’ spacing and be pruned with hedge shears: Iceberg, Betty Boop (photo, right), and Scentimental are good examples.

· Want a more informal hedge? Most shrub roses have more spreading growth habits. Planted 3 – 5’ apart they make great barriers, wildlife cover, or background shrubs for the flower border. Try the Knockout roses and the Meidilland roses (planted in many of the city greenbelts). Bonica, that original AARS winner, is planted in the center of the PoleLine overpass into south Davis. Talk about great performance under arduous conditions!

· Want to cover a wall? Modern climbing roses bloom from spring through fall: 4^th of July is an outstanding, disease-free variety with gaudy red-and-white striped flowers.

· Want cut flowers in less than ideal sunshine? Most roses need at least 4 – 6 hours of direct sun, or they give fewer flowers and are more prone to mildew. But floribundas and grandifloras generally have better disease resistance, and have stems adequate for cutting. Sunsprite is an excellent yellow, Iceberg is pure white (see the planting on the south side of Hibbert Lumber at 5^th and G Streets).

So my favorite roses are mostly ones that are easy to grow. Yours might be the one grandmother grew, or varieties that cut well. There is a rose for nearly every situation in your landscape and every gardening style. Heirloom, retro or contemporary, coddled or carefree, the world of roses is yours to explore.

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