It isn’t always easy to choose the right rose trees. They all seem so healthy and magnificent at the nursery store! It helps to have a few guidelines to understand the “who’s who” of roses, especially when you try to consider their resistance to disease.
Various Quality Certification Marks describe plants to help you choose resilient rose trees. The German “ADR” standard guarantees roses that are of great beauty, with abundant flowering, and more especially that resist everything nature can throw at them: cold, diseases and rodents. You’ll find these in horticulture stores that work with the German Kordes rosarian and also the Globe Planter horticulture chain stores.
There are other Certification Marks as well, like “AARS”, that offer good products. You can also of course trust specialists on a more personal level, in nurseries or horticulture stores that have good practices but whose pockets aren’t quite deep enough to afford the expensive certification process, they also have high quality products: Michal Adam, in Liffré near Rennes in France, or the André Eve nurseries in France also, who specializes in heirloom roses, or the English rosarian David Austin…
Turn your attention to the range of century-old rose trees: they have proven that they stand the test of time on the field. Even more ancient are all the wild types of dog rose: they’ve survived for millennia!
Resistance comes from several directions: official certification marks, trusted specialist growers, and roses that have simply outlived every disease thrown at them. The table below sums up what each route actually tells you.
| Route | What it tells you | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| German “ADR” standard | Great beauty and abundant flowering, plus resistance to cold, diseases and rodents | Stores working with the Kordes rosarian, and Globe Planter chain stores |
| “AARS” and other certification marks | Another mark offering good products | Horticulture stores |
| Specialist growers without certification | Good practices and high quality, but no expensive certification process | Nurseries and horticulture stores, such as Michal Adam, André Eve or David Austin |
| Century-old rose trees | Proven to stand the test of time in the field | Heirloom rose specialists such as the André Eve nurseries |
| Wild types of dog rose | The most ancient of all, having survived for millennia | Wild and species rose ranges |
Whichever route you take, professionals will always be happy to give a word of advice.
These are roses with a solid reputation for shrugging off black spot and mildew, all of them easy to find in garden centres and mainstream catalogues. Match the height and the use to your spot, then let the plant get on with it.
| Variety | Flower colour | Scent | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Thomas | Rich yellow | Strong, tea | Mixed border, short climber |
| Roseraie de l’Haÿ | Deep magenta-purple | Very strong, clove | Boundary hedge, coastal sites |
| Flower Carpet Pink | Bright pink | None to speak of | Ground cover, banks |
| Knock Out | Cherry red | Very light | Low hedge, mass planting |
| Iceberg (Schneewittchen) | Pure white | Light, honeyed | Borders, cutting |
| Bonica | Soft pink | Very light | Free-standing shrub, hedging |
| Kent | White, semi-double | Very light | Ground cover, edging |
| The Fairy | Pale pink, small rosettes | None to speak of | Low edging, containers |
Rose trees that are labeled to be immune to powdery mildew might still fall victim to it if you live in a particularly moist area. Remember to consider your own climate when choosing. In any case, professionals will always be happy to give a word of advice.
Once you’ve made your choice, plant your roses in a sunny spot with good air circulation. Better plant in soil that is well structured and not too moist. Leave space between neighboring plants to let the foliage breath freely.
Avoid having excess nitrogen-rich fertilizer in the soil, it will develop diseases and attract pests. Proper fertilizing means adding compost, something you should repeat every 2-3 years if the soil base is poor to begin with. Don’t add anything to rich soil.
Always mulch the base of your rose trees with dead leaves or very dry shredded branches. This mulch, as it decomposes slowly, will be enough to feed your plants. Plant perennials at their base: nepeta, lady’s mantle or perennial geranium… to attract beneficial insects that will feast on your aphids!
M.-C. H.
