Year of the Rose highlights just how many choices clients have

Flower Carpet Pink Splash has bi-color blooms and can be used in mass plantings. Photo: Anthony Tesselaar PlantsFlower Carpet Pink Splash has bi-color blooms and can be used in mass plantings.
Photo: Anthony Tesselaar Plants

The National Garden Bureau has selected its one annual, perennial, bulb and edible for its ‘Year of the’ crops and 2017’s perennial will be the Year of the Rose.

Roses are one of the most easily identifiable flowers to be found in the landscape, but for most homeowners they still believe the classic beauties are too finicky for them to keep alive.

Photo: National Garden BureauPhoto: National Garden Bureau

However, much has changed thanks to breeding and now modern-day cultivars of roses are both beautiful and low maintenance.

If your client is looking to try out some of these easy to grow roses, you can help them navigate the waters by breaking down the perks of the different popular varieties.

For areas suffering from frequent drought conditions, it is important to find cultivars that have two-tiered root systems that help the plant search deep in the soil for stored water, while upper level roots can access water that is more readily available. Flower Carpet roses have this feature.

For customers that are wanting taller roses, Knock Out shrub roses grow 4 to 6 feet high in a season and this family of roses is bred specifically for their disease resistance, drought tolerance and low maintenance. Three new colors have also been added to this group of roses recently.

Another rose series mainstay are Drift groundcover roses, which boast of a winter hardiness and overall toughness. They have a spreading habit that is ideal for small gardens, filling spaces and brightening borders.

Depending on the growing conditions, heat and high humidity may be more of concern and for this the Next Generation Flower Carpet rose varieties can be the answer for sultrier regions. This type comes in vivid red Scarlet, orange-yellow Amber and magenta Pink Supreme. As an added bonus, Next Generation is also able to tolerate subfreezing areas in USDA Zone 4 .

Oso Easy Paprika rose can be the filler in a container. Photo: Proven WinnersOso Easy Paprika rose can be the filler in a container.
Photo: Proven Winners

Clients who have limited space or are fond of container gardens can check out the Sweet Spot rose series which has been bred for its compact shape and size. It blooms from spring until fall and comes in pink, yellow, peach and multi-color. Some of the roses in the Oso Easy series are also good for containers and can serve as the thriller or filler.

Other clients’ aversion toward roses may not be the maintenance, but their prickly nature. There are a number of cultivars that are thornless as well as the full series, Smooth Touch. Each variety of the series is guaranteed to be 95 to 100 percent thorn free. These thornless roses have colors that vary from golden yellow to bright pink to creamy white.

While all of these rose series have been bred to be less demanding, low maintenance does not mean no maintenance. To ensure that these roses reach their full potential, it is crucial to stress how they need to receive six to eight hours of sun, are watered deeply and are pruned accordingly.

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