Brian Minter: The future looks bright for roses

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Last week I had the privilege of speaking to the Canadian Rose Society about the changing role of roses in today’s gardens. While preparing for the presentation, I was struck by the realization of how important roses are both historically and in today’s evolving gardens.

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For a number of reasons — more extreme weather, the shrinking size of gardens and a new, younger generation of gardeners — roses are changing to meet these new realities. Breeders from around the world are developing new varieties that have superior resilience in difficult conditions, have better disease resistance, are hardier in winter and offer greater versatility in more challenging garden locations.

For many people, fragrance is the most appreciated quality of a rose, but, as any good breeder will tell you, it’s just one of the elements in rose breeding. Disease resistance, continuous flowering, hardiness, colour, flower form and weather tolerance are all equally important. To develop all these qualities in a new rose is extraordinarily hard to do.

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Thousands and thousands of new roses are trialed in breeders’ fields just to get that one that has the potential to make a significant difference in the rose world. If a rose has a nice perfume but gets black spot, mildew and rust, doesn’t stand up in extreme weather and sheds easily, it simply won’t make the cut.

There are a number of great roses in today’s market, with many new varieties making their debut. Due to supply-demand issues, the enormous surge in home gardening and a few other factors, it may be a bit tricky to find a wide assortment of rose varieties this year. However, I can assure you that in the future there will be a much better supply and an incredible selection.

David Austin’s English roses are some of the most well-known, fragrant roses. They came to prominence in the 1970s when Austin began to cross the legendary fragrance of old roses with the wide colour range and more continuous flowering habit of modern roses. Many of his varieties have the cupped rosette form of old roses with lots of petals, and most have a lovely, lingering perfume. From shrub roses to climbers, Austin roses come in a wide selection of colours and scents. Unfortunately, this year there will be a limited supply in Canada.

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Introduced in 2000, the Knock Out series of roses has broken all sales records for new roses. Today, there are 10 varieties. Bred by Will Radler, they are very disease resistant and require little maintenance. Hardy to zone 4, these showy, self-cleaning, easy-care roses are repeat bloomers all summer and more importantly, are drought tolerant.

Also hardy to zone 4, Drift roses are a cross between full-sized Knock Outs and miniature roses. They are smaller, more compact, ground cover-like versions of the Knock Out series, and they, too, are repeat bloomers, very disease resistant and continuous flowering.

The Meilland family in France, who bred the world-famous Peace rose and other greats, like red Papa Meilland, have developed a series of shrub and ground cover roses sold worldwide. Bonica was the first shrub rose to win the prestigious all-American Rose Selection award in 1987. It’s a beautiful pink rose that is hardy to zone 5, blooms continuously and is very self-cleaning. The Meidiland series of ground cover roses has become the world standard for vigour, spreading habit, disease resistance and fast growth. I’ll always remember the breeder, Jacques Mouchotte, who came to B.C. and gave a presentation about these amazing roses. He was particularly proud of the fact they could be easily mowed down in early spring to keep them lower, fuller and vigorous.

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While attending the world’s largest horticultural show in Essen, Germany, I met the Kordes family and was quite taken back by their fine collection of modern, yet more traditional-style roses that are incredibly disease tolerant, flower continuously, like most hybrid roses, and have a delightful perfume. Two of the most outstanding are the red Grande Amore and Beverly, a vibrant pink.

By good fortune, I also met Ping Lim, one of the world’s great rose breeders. He developed the Easy Elegance series of shrub roses. Hardy to zones 4 and 5, these roses come in a wide range of colours, are very disease resistant, bloom non-stop and are self-cleaning. Owned by Bailey’s Nurseries in Minnesota, these roses have become the standard for today’s shrub roses, whether planted by themselves or en masse.

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I spoke with Lim again recently, and he has developed, through years of impeccable breeding, a new line of roses called True Bloom. They have all the features of Easy Elegance, but many of the new varieties also have a perfume. They will be difficult to find in 2022, but next year, they should be widely available in Canada. This is one series not to be missed.

Proven Winners has introduced a short new shrub rose called Oso Easy. These roses are very disease resistant, self-cleaning and continue to bloom all summer. Oso Easy Lemon Zest has earned an American Rose Society award in the category of No Spray, as has the pink Oso Easy Peasy. Hardy to zone 4, they are a nice addition, especially for smaller gardens.

Bred by the well-known U.K. breeder, Chris Warner, the Ringo series is a single bicolour bloom collection that really turns heads. They are hardy, bloom continually and have great disease resistance. Ringo, a bright banana yellow with a red heart, has won six international awards. After growing it for a couple of years, we find it’s quite a vibrant addition to any rose garden.

These roses are but a few of the many new varieties available this year. It’s wonderful to know that, as roses move toward greater disease resistance, continuous flowering and good hardiness, they have a very bright future.