Bullet Proof Roses in Our Garden

In Our Sustainable Rose Garden we grow these roses:

 

All the Rage – An apricot orange blend, shrub rose with a yellow center hybridized by Ping Lim, introduced in 2008, and part of the Easy Elegance Series. It is hardy to Zone 4, grows on its own root. It has an upright habit and grows about 4′ high in our very sunny garden. Disease resistant. Beautiful semi-double blooms. This is our favorite 2010 and 2011 rose!

Blushing Knock Out – A light pink, single, shrub rose that is a sport of Knock Out. It grows 4′ to 5′ in full sun, but it is also shade tolerant. Hardy to Zone 4-5.

 

Brite Eyes – This is a small climbing rose hybridized by Bill Radler who gave us the Knock Out roses. It is a single, pink blend rose that grows 6′ -7′ high. Hardy to Zone 5.

Carefree Celebration – This shrub rose, hybridized by Radler, has apricot, semi-double blooms and dark green foliage.  It’s very floriferous and is in bloom from June to October. It’s 4′-5′ tall and about 3′ wide, making a very nice addition to our sustainable garden. Hardy to Zone 5. 

Earth Song – If you’re looking for a rose that’s disease resistant and produces beautiful, fragrant blooms, plant Earth Song – it has it all. We’ve grown this rose in our sustainable rose garden for several years and it gets better with age, giving us saturated pink roses on sprays of 3-5 blooms. Earth Song, a grandiflora introduced in 1975 by Griffith Buck, has an upright habit that grows 4 -5 ft. tall, needs no winter protection in our southern New England garden, and shows little sign of black spot. Hardy to Zone 3.

Home Run – What a nice single rose with bright red flowers and golden yellow centers. It was hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses. It’s one of the first roses to bloom and then remains in bloom all season. It’s become a giant – over 5′ tall – and it’s extremely thorny! But we really like its eye-catching color. Hardy to Zone 5

Kiss Me – Kiss Me is another rose of Ping Lim’s Easy Elegance series that we have planted in our no spray garden. Although classified as a grandiflora, it has a shrub-like habit growing about 3 feet by 3 feet. The flowers are medium coral pink with a blush of bright yellow surrounding its golden stamens and each bloom has round, ruffled, and scalloped edges. Kiss me is very disease resistant and winter hardy to Zone 5.

 

Knock Out – This is the first in the series of the Knock Out roses. It’s a red, single rose that blooms continuously.  It makes a nice anchor plant on the corner of the front of our house because we know it will be in bloom, adding color most of the season. This garden gets sunshine all day long and Knock Out grows 5′ high.  It has no fragrance and is definitely not a cutting rose.  Hardy to Zone 4/5

 

Lady Elsie May – This rose is a “late” bloomer, but once it starts it blooms through November. Lady Elsie May is a shrub that produces orange-pink, slightly fragrant flowers that cover the bush. In our garden it grows 3’ high and just as wide, so give it plenty of space. This is a great addition to a sustainable rose garden, hardy to Zone 5

 

  My Girl – This is another Easy Elegance shrub rose hybridized by Ping Lim. It’s extremely floriferous and once it starts blooming the bush is covered in deep pink ruffled blooms. We have 2 of these in our sustainable rose garden.

 

Pink Knock Out – Another member of the Knock Out family. We have this planted next to Blushing Knock Out under our flag pole. It’s a darker pink than Blushing Knock Out, classified a single, medium pink rose. It grows as tall as Blushing Knock Out (4′ to 5′) and makes a nice display around the flagpole with yellow daylilies and some Russian sage. Hardy to Zone 5. 

 

Sunny Knock Out – This rose is another in the series of Knock Out roses. It has a light yellow, single bloom but it fades to white on the bush. We have other yellow, disease resistant varieties such as Yellow Brick Road and Yellow Submarine that we like better (see descriptions below), so we may be replacing Sunny Knock Out with a new sustainable rose. Its growth habit is upright and grows about 2’ tall. Hardy to Zone 5.

 

Super Hero – Super Hero, classified as a floribunda, is one of our favorites. A lovely red rose, hybridized by Ping Lim as part of his Easy Elegance series, it is disease resistant and produces flowers that are reminiscent of hybrid-tea form as it begins to bloom until they open to flat, round 2” to 2½” blooms. It is hardy to Zone 4 with a bushy habit and a height between 3 to 4’.

 

Sweet Fragrance – Another Easy Elegance rose, this grandiflora, apricot blend rose has such electrifying color that it catches everyone’s eyes. Similar to All the Rage in color but with more petals, Sweet Fragrance’s color and disease resistance makes it a great addition to a sustainable rose garden. However, despite its name, the fragrance is quite modest. It has an upright habit and grows about 3-4’ high. Hardy to Zone 5.

 

White Out – What a perfect rose for a small spot in our garden. White Out has a small, low habit and will grow about 2’ high. Its pure white, single petal bloom stands out against the dark green foliage. This was hybridized by Bill Radler who gave us Knock Out roses and while it is technically not part of the Knock Out series, it has above-average disease resistance. Hardy to Zone 5.

 

Yellow Brick Road  – This floriferous bloomer throws off sprays of deep yellow, double, old-fashioned blooms on a small bush that grows to a height of about 2½’. This is an Easy Elegance variety, hybridized by Ping Lim, and is very disease resistant and hardy to Zone 5.  

          

Yellow Submarine – Another yellow rose hybridized by Lim and part of the Easy Elegance Series, Yellow Submarine has soft yellow, slightly ruffled flowers. The double blooms open with a dark yellow center with lighter yellow around the edges, then turns pale yellow when fully open. It’s a shrub that grows 3’ high with a mostly upright habit. Hardy to Zone 5.