Roses The Straight Scoop - the wide appeal, variety, and versatility of roses

Flower & Garden Magazine, Jan, 2001 by Ann Hooper

* Since the beginning of time, people have been fascinated by roses. They are, in the opinion of this completely unbiased rosarian, the most beautiful of flowers. Their various colors, shapes, growth habits, fragrances, and uses are nearly endless, and their allure is as irresistible today as it was in ancient times. And they're one of the few perennials that bloom all season long.

* But along with the appreciation of their beauty, heady fragrance, and unparalleled display in the landscape, their mystique also includes the myth that roses are fussy and difficult to grow. The truth is, however, that rose culture is easy and the rewards amazingly satisfying. As with any other plants you may wish to cultivate, roses have certain simple requirements that must be met in order for them to thrive. And when rose plants thrive, the rosarian is rewarded with brilliant color in the garden and wonderfully impressive cut flowers to adorn each room in the house or to give away.

Anyone can grow fabulous roses. But be warned! Even the most casual gardener is highly susceptible to becoming hooked on the rose culture hobby. People who grow roses as a hobby are known as "rosarians," and there are thousands of us in all parts of the world. Almost every country has a national rose society, and there are hundreds of local rose societies nationwide. Their purpose is to help all of us learn how to grow great roses, no matter what climate we live in.

Roses can be grown just about anywhere. They may need protection from the elements in cold climates, and they may need protection against certain insects or diseases in other climates, but a determined rosarian could probably grow roses on the moon. In fact, roses have been in space already, and fairly recently, too. The highly perfumed miniature rose, `Overnight Scentsation,' was sent on the space shuttle Discovery in October of 1998 so scientists could experiment with fragrance in a weightless environment.

Fragrance, of course, is one of the very best features that roses have to offer. One can often detect sweet apple, fruit, spice, licorice or tea, not to mention wonderful just plain rose. Wandering through a rose garden, with lovely fragrance wafting in the air, is one of a rosarian's most soothing and pleasurable experiences.

In the house, a vase of `Scentimental,' for example, can perfume an entire room. What could be more pleasant than waking up to the fragrance of a small arrangement of the beautiful pink `Sweet Surrender' on your bedside table, or to relax in the bath as the warmth in the room intensifies the fragrance of a lovely bouquet of `Barbra Streisand'? There are hundreds of varieties of very fragrant roses, and they come in every color, every growth habit and every classification.

Not all roses are fragrant, but every variety will probably have at least one characteristic that will make you love it. If you have an eye for color, for example, you'll be bedazzled by the nearly endless numbers of colors, hues, intensities, blends and shadings that roses bring to the garden. From the purest white to the darkest red, you can find a color that will complement your decor, brighten a dark corner in the garden, glow in the moonlight or delight your spirit.

In fact, the only colors that you won't find in roses are true blue and black. The blue color gene that's prevalent in many other flowers just isn't present anywhere in the rose genus, and attempts to introduce it using sophisticated scientific methods have failed miserably. Perhaps someday we'll have bachelor button blue roses (yuk!), but until then we'll have to be blissfully content with the marvelous array of mauves.

As for black, can you think of anything grimmer? There are some very beautiful deep and velvety reds, but true black petals would absorb sun and heat so rapidly they'd be crisply cooked before they could open.

There is, however, a true green rose. Some aficionados adore its uniqueness, while others can't imagine anything uglier. Chinensis viridiflora is actually a rose with a vegetative center and no petals, but it is a fascinating specimen and an interesting addition to a rose arrangement.

As if color and fragrance weren't enough, "form" is another delightful aspect of roses. Whether you like the flat, elegantly quartered form of `Madame Hardy,' the blowsy lushness of the cabbage-y roses such as `Rose de Rescht,' or the magnificent perfection of a slowly unfurling, high-centered hybrid tea such as `LeAnn Rimes,' you can find a rose (or a few dozen) that will add interest to your gardening and pleasure to your life.

Whether you have a small patio or a few acres, you can bet that after your first season of growing spectacular roses, you won't have enough space to plant as many as you would like. In my yard, several square yards of lawn disappear each year to make room for more rosebushes. Roses thrive in beds by themselves, mixed into the perennial border, in containers or in foundation plantings. They look fabulous on trellises, along fences, climbing lamp-posts or as groundcovers. They're terrific in mass plantings, as short borders, as tall; hedges or just as a magnificent plant right in the middle of the yard.