Ink spots rose. Photo / Gareth Carter
OPINION
We have lots of roses in the garden centre at the moment. I can’t help but take a sniff as I walk past those flowering.
They really are a sight to behold as the tight buds unfurl and burst into colour.
November is the month when roses start to bloom offering colour for so many months of the year, often until May.
The ideal conditions for roses involve fertile soil and good amounts of water.
If you do not have great soil, fertility and structure can easily be improved with additions of high-nutrient organic matter such as sheep pellets or Yates Organic Dynamic Lifter or compost.
Regular deep weekly watering through the dry summer months will keep plants strong and healthy.
When the plants are well-fed and watered the incidence of pest infestation and diseases is reduced.
Roses have many uses and are such good plants for picking the flowers and bringing them indoors to display.
The colour of picked rose blooms offers vibrancy and life, while the scent can bring feelings of tranquility and long forgotten happy memories from childhood.
Roses can be used to gain formality from a row of the ever-popular iceberg standards, providing a grand entrance to a home or business and offering direction along a pathway.
Bush roses included in a mixed garden planting can be used to bring colour in a more informal way where different plant combinations offer a springboard effect through the year to create continuous beauty and interest.
Rose Iceberg
This must be the world’s biggest selling rose.
Its pearly white blooms have captivated landscape gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
The white goes with anything and everything, it complements lawns, buildings, and any garden colour.
In a row they will tie together a garden where there is no theme, bringing some formality and uniformity.
Intrigued by its popularity I have googled to find where in fact this super rose comes from.
Wikipedia reports: “The cultivar was developed by prolific German rose breeder Reimer Kordes in Germany in 1958. He and his father Wilhelm had initially specialised in developing bush roses that were suitable for small gardens. The parent varieties of ‘KORbin’ are ‘Robin Hood’, a red hybrid musk rose, developed by Joseph Pemberton in 1927 in England, and ‘Virgo’, a white hybrid-tea rose bred in France by Charles Mallerin in 1927. The plant was registered under the cultivar name ‘KORbin’ by Kordes in 1958 and given the trade name Schneewittchen. The cultivar is known as Fée des Neiges in French and Iceberg in English.”
Having been around for a while Iceberg is certainly tried and proven.
Mulberry Wine – new 2024 release
With a strong fragrance the smaller purple and cerise blooms bring a strong but restful tone to the garden.
Flowering with abundance the plant will reach 1m high and has a slightly spreading form getting slightly wider.
Ink Spots
Released in 2021, this plant is incredibly prolific in its flowering such that when in full bloom you can almost not see any leaves – just flowers.
It has leaves that are strong, glossy, dark coloured and disease resistant.
The flowers are white with a burgundy centre turning more purple as the blooms age.
Grandma’s Rose
This is an award-winning rose achieving the 2019 Gold Star of the South Pacific.
It is a deep purple-red colour, floribunda-type rose.
The blooms have a strong fragrance and are produced in abundance on a super healthy plant that grows to approximately 1.2m. (Available as a bush and a 800mm standard)
Climbing Roses
Rose Dublin Bay was selected by well-known international rose breeder Sam McGredy and named after the bays of Ireland.
It is such a good performer it is rated as the number one climbing rose by the New Zealand Rose Society frequently with nearly double the votes of the next best rose since 1987.
Its blooms are a very brilliant semi-double with bright red blooms.
It can grow up to 2-3m across but while it is a good grower, it is not so vigorous that it can’t be contained and kept smaller when needed.
It performs well grown up a trellis, pillar, wall or pergola.
Dublin Bay looks particularly good when under planted with lavender or catmint, where the blue flowers of these plants provide a complementary colour to both the rose blooms and the deep green leaves.
This highly rated rose, Dublin Bay is adaptable to many garden situations.
It can be grown successfully in a decent sized patio planter or half wine barrel.
It is a strong and healthy grower with dark green healthy foliage and generally good disease resistance.
A top performing pink flowering climbing rose is Compassion.
Part of the world-renowned Austin rose series, it aptly meets its description - a very healthy and reliable variety.
Its well-shaped hybrid tea flowers are light pink, tinted with coral-pink, and have a lovely strong, sweet fragrance.
The growth is strong, stiff and bushy with plentiful dark green foliage.
It will grow approximately 3m by 3m.
Uetersen
The final climbing rose for today’s column is Uetersen (pronounced ooh-ter-sen).
It is a climbing rose from the Kordes family of rose breeders in Germany and is named for the Rosarium Uetersen, one of the oldest rose gardens in northern Germany.
Throughout summer, masses of bright pink frilly blooms cover the plant.
A free flowering variety, the blooms also have a good scent. It is a very healthy variety with the glossy light green foliage looking good most of the time.
A moderate grower compared to some other climbing roses, Uetersen is ideal for a smaller area or grown up a pillar.
For a larger area, plant several to get a mass effect.
A winner of the Gold Star of the South Pacific at the NZRS trial grounds in Palmerston North in 1980, it has been a consistent performer throughout New Zealand for many years and is a worthy rose to grow in any garden.
Keep an eye on your roses for both pests and diseases. Look out for aphids, caterpillars, scale, red spider mites and thrips.
Common diseases include blackspot, mildew and rose rust. The use of ‘Yates Supershield’ helps to control these problems.
A recently released product that is having good effect is Grosafe Groventive – this is a combination systemic insect and fungus spray.
If you notice rose buds going brown and rotting it is quite likely to be botrytis (brown rot), a weather-related fungi.
Prevent by spraying with Grosafe Freeflow Copper or any spray that controls botrytis and downy mildew.
A systemic fungus spray that is effective is ‘Yates Fungus Fighter’. Call in and ask at the garden centre if you want more advice.
For more gardening information please visit www.springvalegardencentre.co.nz/
Gareth Carter is General Manager of Springvale Garden Centre.
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