These are a Few of My Favorite Things…

Posted in Gardening Tips on June 11 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

As the rain fell heavily on Friday, I found myself worried that it would do a number on the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. It’s in its prime right now, and if I told you it was “ablaze with color” that would easily be an understatement; looking down from the top of the hill, all before you is a sea of color. Thankfully, my fears were at least somewhat unfounded—things looked a little wet, soggy, and disheveled come Saturday morning, but gardens are resilient and the roses perked up quickly without too much loss.

Every year I select a few of my favorite roses to discuss, and I thought this would be a good time to do just that considering the Rose Garden is in peak bloom. With it looking so spectacular, it wasn’t easy making my choices, but I managed to come up with a few that caught my eye.

For those with a romantic inclination, I would like to guide you to rose ‘Traviata™’—a hybrid tea from the well-known and respected French hybridizer Meilland. The rose is cherry red, the flowers are enormous and fully double, and the stem is sturdy and fit for a cut flower arrangement. Another classic in the Rose Garden is a German Kordes rose called ‘Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tale®’. It’s one of those roses that display a mélange of colors, with orange, yellow, pink, and salmon all swirled into one breathtaking concoction. This four-foot rose is a floribunda, meaning that instead of just one large flower on a sturdy stem, each stem is covered with a bouquet of blooms. ‘Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale®’ really does get smothered with blooms. The Fairy Tale series from Kordes are hybridized to look like old-fashioned roses with their fully double blooms.

Two of Peter Kukielski’s (our Senior Advisor to the Rose Garden) favorite roses this year are ‘Poseidon™’ and ‘Postillion®’. The latter is a shrub rose that reaches about four-and-a-half feet tall. It is covered with fragrant, soft yellow flowers. What adds to its charm is that the buds are orange-red before they open, providing a wonderful color contrast to the full blooms. Like all Kordes roses, ‘Postillion®’ is a tough, disease-resistant rose.

Peter’s other favorite this year, ‘Poseidon™’, took its time getting established last year and didn’t look like much. This year, however, it’s filled out beautifully and drawn more than its share of positive attention. The color of the blooms makes this rose an exceptional find, and a unique addition to any garden display. The flowers are a pale lavender or mauve that almost seems laced with white or silver overtones. While I was teaching this past weekend in the garden, this rose easily received the most comments for its unusual color.

If you are in the mood for single blooms with their simple yet appealing form of five petals, I have a few more favorites of my own for you to try: ‘Escimo®’ (single white), ‘Ballerina’ (single pink/white musk hybrid rose, and Oso Easy™ Cherry Pie (stunning single red).

If the yellows, apricots, and pinky peaches are calling you this year, consider ‘Julia Child™’ (butter yellow—of course), ‘Garden Delight™’ (apricots and yellow), ‘Peach Drift®’ (all the colors listed above) and ‘Tequila™’ (yellow with orange buds).

Finally, for the purists who are searching for a compact red rose, try ‘Kardinal Kolorscape™’, which reaches just a little over two feet tall. ‘Black Forest™’ and ‘Archbishop Desmond Tutu™’ are a pair of beautiful red roses that reach three to four feet tall, and ‘Grand Amore™’ is a four to five-foot-tall, fragrant, double-flowered hybrid tea rose. ‘Thrive!®’ is another red rose that’s received great press for its disease resistance and non-stop blooms.

As you could probably tell, there is a theme running through all of the roses I’ve listed above: they’re bred for their disease resistance. Give them a shot, see what you think, and you might just add a good dose of romance and classic flower power to your home garden.