Roses Bring Color and Fragrance to the Garden

By Ron Dieter, Sunnyfield Greenhouse & Gardens

May 19, 1999

If you were asked to name the most popular flower of all, you would probably answer the rose. Roses have been treasured since ancient times and are the national flower of the United States.

Each year breeders introduce a number of new roses. Some become long-time favorites, while others disappear into obscurity, never to be seen again. This year several rose varieties, new and not-so-new, have caught my attention. I’ll tell you about a few of them.

Hybrid tea roses produce those beautiful picture-perfect flowers that come to mind whenever roses are mentioned. A new hybrid tea rose, ‘Billy Graham’, produces very large blossoms nearly five inches across. Each flower is a shimmering rosy pink with a slight hint of blue. The plant produces the roses on long stems, which makes them wonderful for cutting.

A new grandiflora rose, ‘Candelabra,’ won the 1999 award as an All-America Selection. The flowers are a warm coral color, leaning a little toward orange. The shrub stays a manageable size, about four feet. This rose flowers freely, providing color most of the season.

For those who like fragrant roses and prefer white flowers, the rose ‘John F. Kennedy’ is a good choice. The buds have a faint touch of apple green and open to pure white blooms. It is the most strongly scented white rose, with a heavy, fruity fragrance. This is a great rose to have growing near the deck or patio.

It is not often that a climbing rose wins any awards, but this year a climber called ‘Fourth of July’ was an All-America Selection. The flowers are exceptionally large for a climber and each bloom is red striped on bright white. This variety is a heavy bloomer, with the flowers appearing in large clusters. The flowers emit a strong scent of freshly cut apples.

If you enjoy roses, but don’t have the time to care for them, I can suggest one that might work for you. Its name is ‘Buffalo Gal’, a rugosa rose with lavender pink flowers. The blossoms have a strong spicy fragrance. Like other rugosa roses, ‘Buffalo Gal’ is not bothered by many diseases or insects and easily withstands our Midwest winters.