Summertime brings warm sunshine, long days, iced tea, and ROSES! Roses bring a colorful and fragrant display to summer that tantalizes the senses and can brighten our mood. The multitude of colors and varieties to choose from is exciting! And the many different types of roses means the possibilities are endless in the garden or landscape! Roses can serve many purposes in a landscape depending on the type of rose planted. They can be used as hedges or as a screen, as a specimen plant, on arbors, fences and trellises, or planted in mass in beds and even as a ground cover. The different rose types typically fall into the categories of hybrid tea, shrub, floribunda, grandiflora, climbing and miniature.
Planting Tips:
Roses need 6-8 hours of full sun, good air circulation and plenty of organic matter. Ideally, siting roses where they will receive morning sun and afternoon shade is best. This deters disease by allowing time for the flower buds and foliage to dry. Roses also require good drainage as they do not like to sit in water or get their feet wet. Rich loose soil is best. In poorly drained gardens, installing raised beds may be necessary. However, they do need to be watered regularly and the roots do need a weekly soaking. Installing a soaker hose may be a good solution as this will provide the root system a good supply of water while keeping the petals dry. It’s also important to dig the planting hole large enough to allow the roots to spread.
Special Mention:
If you don’t think that you have a green thumb or you just want to kick back and relax in summer, there is a solution. Some of the easy to grow and care for roses are the Knock Out and Drift Roses. They are very disease resistant which can make a gardener’s life easy. These roses come in single and double blooms which bloom about every 5-6 weeks throughout the summer. The knock-outs can reach about 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.
The Drift Roses or Shrub Roses have a mounded to spreading growth habit and are a lower growing rose. They are actually a cross between the miniature rose and the groundcover rose. These repeat bloomers flower throughout the summer and come in an array of colors in either single or double blooms. A few of Designscapes favorites are listed below.
Coral Drift – This rose displays coral-orange flowers over a compact spreading habit. Blooms from spring until frost.
Red Drift – The red flowers have a compact spreading habit that bloom from spring until frost.
Amber Flower Carpet – Displays light orange flowers that fade to a peachy pink and bloom from spring through fall.
Pink Supreme Flower Carpet – Dark pink flowers that bloom throughout summer. This summer bloomer has a dense habit with dark green foliage.
If you would like to plan a rose garden for your new or existing landscape, please give us a call at 919-844-3441 or fill out the contact form below.
