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Roses
Are Red......…
Flutterby |
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If you think that you’re seeing
more roses blooming in Wyobraska landscapes in
recent years, you’re right. The roses you’re
seeing are most likely hardy shrub roses—most of
which are proving to be very adaptable to
Wyobraska’s somewhat “inhospitable” combination of
climate and landscape soils. For Wyobraska
homeowners this has been a pleasant surprise because
roses are a well-known and well-loved plant. The
surprise comes because for many years Wyobraskans
had planted the less hardy and less adaptable hybrid
tea roses—with mostly frustrating results. A few
pretty flowers the first summer came at considerable
time and expense for fertilizing, pruning, spraying
for insects and diseases, and then mulching for
winter—only to have the plant not survive the
winter. |
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Take it from someone who has
spent many hours trying to find a red flower to
include in the color scheme of a perennial bed, good
red flowered perennials or shrubs are rare. But no
longer. With over 25 good, proven, hardy, and yes,
red shrub roses to choose from, finding the perfect
red rose for almost any spot in almost any landscape
is no longer a thorny issue.
The only problem remaining is
getting over the idea that roses belong in a rose
garden. Can roses be used in combination with
ornamental grasses? Can roses be used in
combination with specimen evergreen shrubs?
Can roses be used effectively in combination with
the big, bold wildflower perennials which grow so |
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Previous Articles
I
It's
Finally Spring - March 13
Spring Garden Calendar-March 20
No
Garden Left Behind-March 27
Planting Trees for a Cooler Earth in a Warmer
WyoBraska-April 3
Viburnums - Shrubs for Wyobraska Springs-April 10
Want A Water Conserving Lawn? You might already have
one-
April 17
Creating Long
Term
Tree-lationships April 24
Bigger, Bolder, Brighter,
Better—and Back In The Landscape May 01 & 08
Hardy Shrub
Roses
May 15
Another Look
at Native Plants
May 22
No Child
Left Inside
May 29
June
is Tree Care Month June 05
Summer Blooming Shrubs
June 12
Roses Are
Red.....
June 19
2007 Articles
2006 Articles |
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But botanists and plant
breeders have not been at all surprised by the
success of hardy shrub roses in Wyobraska
landscapes. Botanists have known for years of the
wide distribution of native roses on every continent
except Antarctica. And plant breeders have long
known of the relative ease of hybridizing roses to
get new flower colors, different sizes and shapes of
plants, unique foliage, and strong plant vigor.
“You want us to develop roses that will grow in
Wyobraska?” they would have said, (had they been
asked), “No problem!” The “problem” with hardy
shrub roses in Wyobraska, in my opinion, is how to
most effectively use these exceptionally colorful
shrubs in our “western” landscape settings.
I find that most homeowners
still think of roses as belonging in a rose
garden—surrounded by other roses, of course. But
hardy shrub roses have two distinctive and
relatively unique contributions to make to almost
any spot in a residential or commercial landscape,
pretty much regardless of the style of the
landscape—the color red and season long flowering.
It’s easy to understand how a plant that blooms from
May through October makes a great landscape plant.
What is not so clear is the uniqueness of the color
of their flowers. To be sure, there are white and
yellow flowered roses, but by far, the most common
flower color of hardy shrub roses is red.
My Hero |
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well in Wyobraska? Can roses be used in
xeriscapes? And native landscapes? The answer, of
course, is a resounding and not too surprising
“Yes!”—to all of the above.
Winnipeg Parks
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Theatre
West Garden Walk June 28th
8:00 a.m. to
1:00 p.m.
Once again, it’s time
to circle Saturday, June 28th, on
the calendar so that you remember to attend
the 16th Annual Theatre West
Garden Walk. Tickets are $10 in advance or
$12 on the day of the Walk. Tickets are
available at local garden centers and at the
Theatre West Box Office. This year’s walk
includes seven gardens and it should provide
a rare Garden Walk look at the best features
of “spring” Wyobraska gardens and
landscapes. The very late spring we’ve just
come through has pushed back the flowering
period of many spring time perennials by two
to three weeks, and many should be at peak
color on this year’s walk. Back by popular
demand is the morning schedule—see you on
the 28th .
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Cuthberth Grant |