A Week of Celebrating Roses

Welcome to the Member Ideas area! This community feature is where our members can post their own ideas. These posts are unedited and not necessarily endorsed by the National Gardening Association.
Posted by @dave on
It's Roses Celebration Week, a week we've been looking forward to all year! This week we'll encourage everyone to share their photos, comments and information about roses. Let's open the week with a look at the top cultivars, top comments, most thumbed images, and more!

Share your photos this week, and keep watch on the photos that get shared by others. Give thumbs to the ones you like, and at the end of the week, I'll give a report on the most thumbed images. Each member featured will get 50 acorns! You can always see the latest rose photos by going to the ATP homepage and you'll see the latest pictures right below the articles.


Now, here are the top 25 Rose cultivars in our database:

#1: Rose (Rosa 'Double Delight')

@zuzu says, "The large, full, high-centered blooms of Double Delight have inspired photographers and delighted gardeners for almost 40 years. The rose's popularity is also boosted by its strong spicy fragrance. The habit is not one of its strong points, however. It is more inclined than most roses to display the "bare knees" syndrome and it benefits greatly from companion plantings tall enough to obscure its "knees.""


#2: Rose (Rosa 'Mister Lincoln')

@Newyorkrita says, "Mister Lincoln is a classic red hybrid tea that has been around for a long time. It seems to still be very popular today. I often see it for sale as a milk carton rose in early spring. In fact, mine is a milk carton rose I bought years ago. In my humid climate, Mister Lincoln needs spraying with the systemic fungicide to remain disease free."


#3: Rose (Rosa 'Double Knock Out')

@ssgardener says, "I have this in afternoon sun, maybe 4-5 hours of direct sun. It blooms beautifully, right up until a hard freeze in November.

Last year the blooms were so heavy and numerous that they flopped over. I don't know whether it's related to not getting full sun, or my poor pruning job in the spring. No more flopping after that first very heavy flush of blooming.

This is truly a carefree rose. They got a little bit of powdery mildew and black spot during mid-summer heat, but they recovered on their own without being treated. There was a bit of Japanese beetle damage, but no treatment needed for that, either. I give them a little osmocote in the spring and mulch with leaf mold and coffee grounds."


#4: Rose (Rosa 'Julia Child')

@CindiKS says, "The year before Julia Child was introduced into retail garden centers, I saw a group of 6-8 of them at the Tulsa Rose Gardens. It's a huge test garden, with hundreds of varieties. There's at least 6 of each rose. The group of Julia Childs were all blooming, and totally free of disease. They were the finest group of any roses there, and they couldn't have been more than 2 years old. I was so impressed that I bought 4 for myself as soon as they became available. It does not disappoint. Mine are in with irises with "buttery" or "creamy" names and white or yellow coloring. The combination works, but the most impressive thing is how the roses bloom continually yet get very little water, because I prefer to keep the irises on the dry side.
Julia Child's blooms are more on the creamy side, unlike Sunsprite, which is a clear bright yellow.
I think that is why they blend so well with the softer iris colors."


#5: Rose (Rosa 'Knock Out')

@sandnsea2 says, "Unbelievable! Blooming from spring through fall here in Zone 7B. Everyone comments on it. Carefree and beautiful anywhere. Love this rose. Never thought I would, as I have mostly David Austin roses, but you have to admire the tenacity of this big performer."

@Newyorkrita added, "Knock Out is a wonder. A perfectly disease-free rose covered in blooms all season long. I must say it is more like owning a flowering shrub than most roses. Knock Out is the rose for people who think they can't grow roses or don't want anything fussy or harder to take care of."


#6: Rose (Rosa 'Abraham Darby')

@zuzu says, "Abraham Darby, one of the most popular Austin shrubs, is hardier than most Austins, surviving zone 4 winters without any extra protection, and is almost thornless. The blooms start out cupped, like so many other Austin blooms, but they subsequently flatten to an old-fashioned quartered shape. The rose has a tendency to climb up to about 12 feet, but looks best if it's pruned down to 4-6 feet."


#7: Rose (Rosa 'Peace')

@zuzu says, "The blend of soft pastel colors in the blooms of the Peace rose will never produce a vivid focal point in the landscape, but it will have a calming effect and a more subtle beauty. The rose has remained popular for about 70 years despite its drawbacks. The shrub itself is likely to have an ungainly habit, and the foliage is highly vulnerable to black spot in most locations. The two Peace roses that have been growing in my garden for the last 30 years, however, regularly produce many large blooms of exhibition quality without the aid of fungicides or any other chemicals."


#8: Rose (Rosa 'Cherry Parfait')

@Calif_Sue says, "Many glowing reports from around the country that this rose is extremely hardy and disease resistant."

@Newyorkrita added, "Striking blooms that vary in deepness of color thoughout the season. I loved my first Cherry Parfait so much I bought a second, so now I have one in my front yard and another in the sideyard rose garden. Like all my roses it does need spraying to keep clean of blackspot."


#9: Rose (Rosa 'Scentimental')

@zuzu says, "This is the best of the striped roses in my garden. The stripes are always distinct and never bleed."


#10: Rose (Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth')

@zuzu says, "Modern roses are often grafted so that they will reach their full potential. Some, however, are grafted so that they'll stay compact or at least within reasonable bounds. Queen Elizabeth is in the latter category. Although it can be propagated easily from cuttings, those own-root plants will grow to ridiculous proportions. I have one that climbs almost to the top of a magnolia tree each year, despite being pruned to 2 or 3 feet every January, and it isn't the climbing variety of Queen Elizabeth."


#11: Rose (Rosa 'New Dawn')

@Steve812 says, "New Dawn, when it gets enough water and good soil, grows quickly and is fairly free of disease. Its high-centered flowers have a light fragrance."

@Calif_Sue added, "Noted by Antique Rose Emporium:
"This healthy climber, a repeat blooming sport of Dr. W. Van Fleet, bears long, full-pointed buds which are soft pink and fade to blush-cream as the flower opens fully. The foliage maintains a lustrous, dark green hue throughout the growing season. Give this vigorous rambler plenty of room to grow and you will be rewarded by years of beauty and fragrance.""


#12: Rose (Rosa 'Hot Cocoa')

@Newyorkrita says, "Hot Cocoa is one of those roses with really unusual colored blooms that one either loves or hates. Almost terracotta colored. I love it. Another thing that really stands out on this rose is the exceptional foliage. Shiny, deep green foliage needs either no or very little spraying."


#13: Rose (Rosa 'Golden Celebration')

@Newyorkrita says, "Golden Celebration is a very popular and beautiful David Austin Rose. Lovely full flower form. It sure does like to grow large, much too large for my small garden. I had Golden Celebration for at least two years and did admire the flowers, but I had to dig it up as it just insisted on growing too large. I replaced Golden Celebration with the Jackson & Perkins rose Golden Zest."


#14: Rose (Rosa 'Westerland')

@zuzu says, "The canes on this rose are so thick and strong that they have to be trained early, while they're still pliable. If you wait too long, they won't bend at all."

@Newyorkrita added, "Westerland is one of the very few climbing roses that I grow and one of the very first roses added to my garden. I chose it because of its lovely flowers and disease resistance. I do spray with systemic fungicide, but Westerland is one of the few roses in my garden that really doesn't need the spraying. The first year I grew roses I didn't spray. My Austins were a blackspot mess while Westerland stayed shiny and blackspot-free. Great rose that loves to bloom."


#15: Rose (Rosa 'Graham Thomas')

@okus says, "This David Austin Rose is a delight, it has long arching stems and benefits from support, but has been in bloom in my garden, non-stop, since early June. It is not only an eye catching bush but is also beautifully scented."

@Calif_Sue added, "Noted by Antique Rose Emporium:
Fat buds open to cupped, medium blooms of a radiant golden yellow. The fragrance is unusual and spicy. Rather upright, many gardeners are at a loss as to how to control this rose. We have heard numerous remedies of either pruning back hard, pegging or training as a small climber. Either way, it looks magnificent in the garden. The rose was named for the British Old Rose expert, Graham Stuart Thomas.""


#16: Rose (Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin')

@lovemyhouse says, "I planted one of these roses at my sister's house. On the north side and with a roof overhang, that area only gets an hour or so of morning sun and is in shade the rest of the day. While it does not flower as abundantly as it would with more sunshine, it does set flower and flourish. Might not do so well with NO sun in full shade, but I would be very comfortable in saying it should be fine planted in a shady area."


#17: Rose (Rosa 'Cinco de Mayo')

@CDsSister says, "Of the hundreds of roses blooming today, this one made me catch my breath.

The color variations on the plant were wonderful to behold."

@Skiekitty added, "Survives zone 5 CO winters with a little help."


#18: Rose (Rosa 'Pierre de Ronsard')

@zuzu says, "This rose, more commonly known as the Eden Climber in the United States, is the ideal climber. It is a vigorous grower and the thick canes have no trouble holding up the heavy blooms, which are packed with petals (as many as 60). The blooms are heat resistant and rain resistant."


#19: Rose (Rosa 'Sally Holmes')

@zuzu says, "This rose has been popular ever since it came out in 1976. It's almost thornless, can take some shade, and blooms profusely and almost continuously. The canes are only pliable for a short time, so their training is necessarily a now-or-never process. The blooms are larger than average for a hybrid musk."


#20: Rose (Rosa 'Angel Face')

@Skiekitty says, "Survived Zone 5, Colorado."

@Newyorkrita added, "Angel Face is a truly lovely mauve-colored rose. Striking color and nice frilly ruffled blooms. Unfortunately, it was very prone to blackspot here in my humid climate. I spray my roses with fungicide every two weeks, but that was not enough to keep the disease away. I would have had to spray it weekly to keep it clean. I was not willing to do that, so I dug it up and tossed it."


#21: Rose (Rosa 'Sunsprite')

@quietyard says, "This is one of the most fragrant roses I have ever grown. I am often surprised by the strong aroma when I go outside . A wonderful surprise ! :-)"

@Newyorkrita added, "No wonder Sunsprite is such a popular rose to grow. It has been around for over 35 years. Nurseries around here usually carry it in spring. A very cheerful yellow bloom that is sure to attract attention. I have my Sunsprites growing in the very front row of my front yard rose garden that I call Floribundaville so everyone passing by can easily see them. Such cheerful and bright lemon-yellow blooms and plenty of them. I do spray Sunsprite with a systemic fungicide to keep it disease-free here in my humid hot summers."


#22: Rose (Rosa 'Don Juan')

@Newyorkrita says, "I wasn't sure if Don Juan would be hardy in my zone but when I saw a Milk-Carton version for sale one spring I decided to try it. It was hardy and had no problems growing. But that first version had RMV, so I tossed it and replaced it with an own-root version that I mail-ordered. This one seems clean. Deep red-black toned flowers with lovely hybrid tea form. Just Beautiful."


#23: Rose (Rosa 'Pink Double Knock Out')

@Horseshoe says, "A must-have if you like low maintenance roses!
Long blooming, no-spray, very hardy once established.

Definitely an attention getter."


#24: Rose (Rosa 'Sheila's Perfume')

@glevely says, "Sheila's Perfume grows well in my zone 5 garden I love it"

@Paul2032 added, "This is a richly perfumed rose and has very attractive coloring. It is listed as a floribunda but often acts like a HT with nicely formed blossoms on good cutting stems. Its main fault in my garden is that it opens very quickly. I would plant it again if I lost mine. It grows quite tall."


#25: Rose (Rosa 'Distant Drums')

@CindiKS says, "Distant Drums is a rose everyone should grow. The color is distinct from any other rose, and the scent is strong and a bit unusual, more like licorice.
I grow this in zone 6/7, without winter protection, and my mother successfully grows it in zone 5 without protection or any spray regimen. For us, the shrub stays small, under 4'. It blooms until the end of season, sometimes into November."


The most thumbed-up image in the Roses area is shown below:



 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
I love Double Delight! by Sheridragonfly Oct 3, 2020 11:44 AM 0
Roses in my yard by tannsix66 Apr 26, 2015 5:42 PM 0
Roses from Our Victorian Garden by ChezChazz Apr 26, 2015 9:02 AM 0
favorite roses by headwaters Apr 26, 2015 8:08 AM 0
strike by bamira Apr 25, 2015 10:05 AM 1
Rose Week by valleylynn Apr 25, 2015 7:32 AM 0

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