Top 10 Roses

There may be no more beloved and widely grown flower than the rose. In cultivation around the world and over many centuries, its popularity endures. Today's gardeners can enjoy some magnificent selections-roses of great beauty and haunting fragrance, borne on handsome, disease-resistant plants. Here are some of the best of the best. Enjoy!

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Ballerina

Despite their small size, the five-petal flowers of this long-time favorite make a big impression. They're carried in profuse clusters along gracefully arching, virtually thorn-free stems. The color is memorable, too-dark pink on the petal edges, shading to lighter pink and then to white toward the centers. The blooms radiate a soft, musky fragrance. The handsome plant grows densely and doesn't get large or unwieldy.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Shrub, Hybrid Musk.
• Hardiness: Zones 6 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (repeats).
• Size: 3 to 5 feet high and wide.
• Flowers: Pink with white centers.
• Flower Size: 2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun to light shade.
• Growing Advice: Use as a focal point and grow out in the open. Looks nice draped over a low fence, or plant a row for an informal, pretty hedge.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Carefree Wonder

This cold-hardy beauty won top honors back in 1990 and continues to dazzle novice gardeners and rose aficionados alike. It has excellent disease resistance, is cloaked in bright green foliage, and abounds with wonderful blossoms all season. The petals are hot pink etched or "hand-painted" in darker pink, creamy on the undersides, and white in the very centers. The scent is soft and fruity.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Shrub, Griffith Buck Shrub.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (repeats).
• Size: 4 to 5 or 6 feet high and wide.
• Flowers: Pink.
• Flower Size: 4 to 5 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Carefree Wonder is easy to grow in any sunny spot and requires little maintenance. So it's ideal for informal shrub borders or for tucking into an informal, cottage-garden scheme where you need reliable color and a tough plant.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Double Delight

Though this award-winning multicolored rose has been around for decades, its popularity shows no signs of waning. Everyone adores its distinctive-looking flowers-ruby-red buds unfurl to creamy pink; fully open ones are strawberry red and buttery yellow. The rich, spicy fragrance is a fair match. One bloom per a long, strong stem makes 'Double Delight' an irresistible choice for homegrown bouquets.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Hybrid Tea.
• Hardiness: Zones 6-9.
• Bloom Time: All summer.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet high and 2 to 4 feet wide.
• Flowers: Unique blend of red, pink and cream.
• Flower Size: 5 1/2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: This spectacular bush, with its magnificent flowers and fragrance, deserves a spot where it can be savored-beside a patio or desk, next to a porch, in front of the house. Note that it is vulnerable to mildew in cool, damp climates, but terrific elsewhere.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Golden Celebration

This rose is considered by many to be the finest yellow-flowered Austin rose. Like all Austins, the blossoms are dense with ruffled petals like an old-fashioned rose, and it wafts a seductive, honey-sweet scent. But it also exhibits the best qualities of modern roses, namely repeat-blooming and a sturdy constitution.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: David Austin, English Shrub.
• Hardiness: Zones 6 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer, repeats.
• Size: 4 to 5 feet tall and wide.
• Flowers: Golden yellow.
• Flower Size: 5 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: A rose this attractive deserves a prominent spot in any sunny garden. It is equally at home in an informal flowerbed or in a more elegant, manicured garden setting. Grow it in the company of purple-hued flowers for elegant contrast.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Iceberg

Introduced back in 1958, this superb, easy-going rose remains widely grown and much loved. It's easily managed and always generous with its blooms. And they are indeed sensational-big, pure white, and sweetly scented. Individual sprays can have up to 12 flowers, which makes for a dramatic show in the garden or a vase.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid
• Type: Floribunda.
• Hardiness: Zones 6 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer, repeats.
• Size: 3 to 4 feet high and wide.
• Flowers: White.
• Flower Size: 3 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun, but protection from blazing mid-day heat is appreciated.
• Growing Advice: Ideal for mass plantings and hedges, or draping over low fences and rock walls. If you prune it low, the plant will remain in bounds and produce lots of flowers on long cutting stems. If you let it ramble, you'll still get a great show but on shorter stems.


Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Knock Out

An outstanding shrub rose, aptly named Knock Out has been a great success story from the moment it appeared. It has it all-great flowers, wonderful vigor, remarkable disease-resistance, and valuable cold-hardiness. The All-America Rose Selections honored it upon its debut in 2000 and it has won awards in Europe as well. Especially notable is the robust, glossy foliage, seemingly impervious to blackspot.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Shrub.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 and 5 to 8.
• Bloom Time: All summer.
• Size: 3 feet high and wide.
• Flowers: Ruby red.
• Flower Size: 3 to 3 1/2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: A bright and vivacious plant, it deserves a spot of honor in a bright and sunny location. The bold color is a scene-stealer and not easy to match, so pick companion plants that flatter it, such as white or yellow roses or perennials.




Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

New Dawn

This might be one of the prettiest climbers of all time! Its abundant, fluffy pink flowers gradually age to cream without losing their silky texture. And the sweet scent is reminiscent of ripe peaches. Unlike the flowers of some climbers, these beauties appear along the length of the long, pliable stems. It is easy to train, but look out for its big, sharp thorns.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Climber.
• Hardiness: Zones 6 to 8.
• Bloom Time: All summer.
• Size: 12 to 20 feet high.
• Flowers: Pink.
• Flower Size: 3 to 31/2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun, tolerates some light shade.
• Growing Advice: A beautiful choice for a substantial arch or pergola, a tall wooden fence, a sturdy trellis, or draping over a front porch.


Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Rugosa Rose

Rugosa roses are durable, rather coarse-looking bushes, prized for their cold-hardiness and resilience, and a sentimental favorite for their pretty, spicily fragrant single-form blossoms. These appear in midsummer and continue well into fall. The colorful hips that follow prolong the season of interest, unless hungry birds eat them all.

• Botanical Name: Rosa rugosa.
• Type: Rugosa, Shrub.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 or 5 to 8.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer, repeats.
• Size: 4 to 5 feet tall and wide.
• Flowers: White, pink, red, and red-purple.
• Flower Size: 3 to 4 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Grow rugosas as a "living fence" or boundary plant, or in poor or sandy soil where other rose bushes would struggle.
• Prize Picks: Blanc Double de Coubert is a beautiful, ruffly "double" white. Red Linda Campbell is valued for its heat tolerance. Hansa is a gorgeous maroon variety.




Photo: All America Rose Selections, AARS

Sun Sprinkles

A good yellow rose is always welcome, and this excellent miniature is a top-quality choice anywhere you want its bright and jaunty presence. It is prolific, disease-resistant, and of manageable size, plus the little blooms waft a sweet and spicy aroma. No wonder the All-America Rose Selections accorded its top award to Sun Sprinkles in 2000. Grow this one in complete confidence!

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Miniature.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 or 6 to 8.
• Bloom Time: All summer.
• Size: 18 to 24 inches.
• Flowers: Yellow.
• Flower Size: 2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: A great candidate for a container, on its own or joined by other brightly colored flowers such as blue or purple annuals. Its smaller stature and rounded growth habit also allow it to fit into a mixed flower border, where it will provide cheery, reliable color throughout the summer months.




Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

The Fairy

Unique among shrub roses, The Fairy is a shorter plant with a sprawling habit. All summer long, it billows with little blossoms. Though small, these are plush with petals and very pretty, but unscented. It starts blooming a little later than other roses, but makes up lost time with its incredible output.

• Botanical Name: Rosa hybrid.
• Type: Shrub, Polyantha.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer, repeats.
• Size: 2 to 3 feet high, 3 to 4 feet wide.
• Flowers: Pink.
• Flower Size: 11/2 to 2 inches.
• Light Needs: Full sun to light shade.
• Growing Advice: Its casual habit and heavy flowering habit make it a great candidate for informal, cottage-garden settings and perennial borders. Massed in a sunny area or embankment, it makes a nice groundcover. It can also be displayed in a large pot or tub.