Roses in bloom

We've had a full season to evaluate for ourselves how 'carefree' these new varieties really are. Gardening here in the moist Northwest we have struggled alongside our fellow rose-loving neighbors with black spot, powdery mildew, aphids and bud blight. Well these highly touted varieties lived up to the hype after all!

They are so carefree, even first-time gardeners will have no trouble filling their vases the first year. These long lived, easy to grow varieties will allow you to keep your garden chemical free and disease free at the same time. They need very little watering or fertilizers and will add nine months of color to your yard. This is a perfect plant for that sunny dry spot that's a long haul from the water hose. Planted this fall, she'll be fully established by next summer. The colorful hips are wonderful to work into holiday arrangements as well as a great winter food-source for wildlife.

The bloom power on these varieties is outstanding with or without deadheading and with or without pruning. Many keep their beautiful foliage year round and many are found blooming around here well into November! If you've given up on roses, these varieties will change your mind! They did for me.

"Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you." -Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Rosa 'Blushing Knock Out' Finally, 'Rose' is no longer a four-letter word. Highly resistant to black spot and powdery mildew, even in humid conditions. Lightly fragrant, 2 to 3-inch soft pink blooms cover the plant from late June to fall. Foliage is a rich bronze green and stays clean and attractive all summer and well into fall. Flowers are self-cleaning, yielding to attractive hips. Plant is compact, rounded, disease and drought resistant.

Rosa 'Bonica'-Clusters of beautiful medium-size, pastel pink blooms over deep green, glossy foliage. Color does not fade. Very vigorous grower and extremely disease resistant. This variety is great for hedge-forming with lots of beautiful bright orange hips in winter.

Rosa 'Carefree Delight'-An unusually free flowering variety with masses of vivid pink blooms over an abundance of delicate, disease-free foliage that is almost evergreen in mild climates and turns bronzy-red in the coldest of climates. This will be one of the most popular and widely grown groundcover roses ever.

Rosa 'Carefree Sunshine' -The best yellow shrub rose to be introduced so far. Large, clear yellow blooms appear in abundant clusters from June to October. Non-fading blooms are especially heat tolerant and continue to bloom even during the hottest summers. Exceptional disease resistance.

Rosa 'Carefree Wonder'-Large, fragrant, pink, semi- double blooms up to 4 inches across appear in small clusters on arching canes. Blooms profusely from late spring to frost. Semi-glossy, medium green foliage. Orange hips in fall with good persistence throughout the winter. 1991 All America Rose Selection winner. Excellent disease resistance.

Rosa 'Knock Out'-Continuous blooms are fire engine red in cool weather and a cherry red in the summer months. The foliage is a dark purplish green and turns to burgundy in the fall. A compact tidy shrub rose that's resistant to black spot and is drought tolerant. Tough foliage and blooms. Winner of the prestigious All-American Rose Selection (AARS) - The hottest, most talked about and sought after rose on the market.

Rosa 'Nearly Wild'-A prolific repeat bloomer - great for landscaping. An absolute favorite of gardeners in the north, his ever-blooming plant grows to about three feet high and produces oodles of large, single-petalled rose pink blooms on a low-mounded shrub. The fragrance is noticeable to many and slight to others. One of the most popular shrub roses of all time. Field-grown on its own roots for winter hardiness. Flowers bloom continuously from May to frost. 'Nearly Wild' is noted for its excellent disease resistance. See Rose Pictures

"Life is like a rose . . . More exquisite and precious, When shared with others." Jane Oechsle Lauer