Take it back, Gertrude Stein. A rose is not a rose. A rose might be deliciously pretty but demanding and when not in bloom–let’s be frank–ungainly. Or, if we’re lucky, it might be as easygoing as it is beautiful, as hardy in winter as it is heartwarming in summer.
Hybrid tea rose–now, there’s a name that speaks volumes. It says “fragile,” it says, “precious,” it just about shrieks “too much work for today’s busy gardener.”
What we need now is not a tea rose but a coffee rose–strong, full-bodied and aromatic.
This need explains the growing interest in modern shrub roses, bred to bloom as long and as lavishly as hybrid teas but to revive the fragrance, bushiness and good health of older roses.
Thanks to an eight-year study by the Chicago Botanic Garden’s plant evaluation program, we now know which are the best shrub roses for Chicago gardens. This installment of The “Best” Series, which in the past has found the upper echelon in hanging lamps, garden benches and dining chairs, looks at five roses that emerged from the test with four-star ratings.
These are roses that smell good, look good (with and without blooms) and can carry on without the dedicated attention hybrid teas require. They’re excellent choices for the lazy rosarian, the gardener who has neither the time nor the sensibility to fuss over roses but who cherishes roses nevertheless. And because they have nice shrubby forms and don’t demand a special diet, they can mingle with other plants in the landscape rather than being confined to a segregated rose garden.
Richard Hawke, director of the botanic garden’s plant evaluation program, explains that the trials involved three plants of each of 51 varieties. Among them were 31 English shrub roses, the kind bred mostly by and popularized by David Austin in the last three decades; and 19 bred in Canada by that country’s agriculture department as an effort to develop roses suitable for the cold climate up there; and a variety of Rosa rugosa, a naturally occurring shrub rose. (One wave of the program started in 1990, the second in 1992; each lasted six years, with the later one ending in 1997.)
These roses didn’t come to Chicago for finishing school; it was more like boot camp.
“We were really looking for the care-free rose,” Hawke says, “so we gave them no care.” The roses weren’t put on a regular fertilization program, got no extra mulch or other winter protection, were not treated to renewal pruning in spring, and got little or no insecticide and fungicide. About all the garden staff did for the plants was water them, clean up any fallen leaves infected with black spot, and take copious notes on the roses’ progress.
As Hawke puts it: “We wanted to see how they’d fight diseases and insects on their own, and in some cases, they couldn’t take it.”
He figures home gardeners would cut their rose plants a little more slack than he and his crew did, and that as a result, “their success would be much better.”
The garden’s staff rated all entrants on the abundance of flowers; “habit quality,” or the overall look and shape of the plant; and ability to stave off winter injury, diseases and insects. Eleven plants got the best score, four stars, but only five of those are readily available in Chicago-area nurseries or by mail-order.
As both trustworthy performers and plants you can get your hands on, these are the five best shrub roses for Chicago gardens.
For more information on other roses in the trial, request a copy of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s “Plant Evaluation Notes: An Evaluation Report of Shrub Roses,” Issue 11, 1997, at the garden’s front desk. The Chicago Botanic Garden is at 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe.
Constance Spry
Looks: A climber whose double pink flowers appear mid-June to early July, English shrub rose Constance Spry was one of only two roses in the trial whose “peak bloom coverage,” or portion of the greenery obscured by flower, hit 100 percent. That means that even with the spartan care it got at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the rose managed to put on a stellar array of blooms.
Comments: Constance Spry didn’t resist black spot, but did hold back powdery mildew. It suffered occasional damage from rose midges, Japanese beetles and winter cold.
Hawke says that unlike the many long-bloomers in the tests, this rose ” blooms only once a season, but prolifically.”
Where to buy: Wayside Gardens catalog, 800-845-1124, sells 2-year-old plants for $16.95 each; Park Seed catalog, 800-845-3369 sells 1-year-old plants for $9.95 each.
Lucetta
Looks: Oversize semi-double to flat roses in a pale pink cling to much of this large shrub in summer. Growing up to 7 feet high and 6 feet wide, this English shrub rose opens blooms to as much as 4 1/2 inches.
Comments: Lucetta is a big bloomer but not when rose midges attack. At the botanic garden, it lost as much as 60 percent of its bloom capacity when assaulted by midges. It also took winter’s cold badly. On the other hand, it was among the most resistant to black spot of all 51 roses tested.
Where to buy: Canadian mail-order firm Hortico (905-689-6984) will be selling 2-year-old plants for $10.50 in the fall. There will be a minimum order of five plants, totaling $52.50, with a shipping charge of $22.
Champlain
Looks: Dark red double blooms grace this full, midsize shrub from mid-June until mid-October. This Canadian rose also stood out for its large supply of rose hips.
Comments: It didn’t fare well against rose midges or winter damage and sometimes showed winter injury on its oldest canes.
Where to buy: Geimer Greenhouses, 701 E. Dundee Rd., Arlington Heights, 847-259-6363; Plum Creek Nursery, 1225 E. Bemes Rd., Crete, 708-672-7999; Prairie House Garden Center, 15151 Harlem Ave., Orland Park, 708-687-3131; S&S Garden Center, 18709 U.S. Highway 14, Harvard, 815-943-0919; Ted’s Greenhouse, 16930 S. 84th Ave., Tinley Park, 708-532-3575.
Jens Munk
Looks: Large and sturdy, Jens Munk has pretty pink, semidouble blooms. Canadian in descent, it begins blooming in early June and continues, although not non-stop, through October. It gets 4 to 6 feet tall and about 5 feet wide.
Comments: Although it got the upper hand on black spot, powdery mildew and rose midges, Jens Munk in some years suffered from a slight case of chlorosis–but nothing as severe as some of its compatriots saw. And Jens Munk spawned a bumper crop of rose hips.
Where to buy: The Barn Nursery & Landscape Center, 8019 Illinois Highway 31, Cary, 847-658-3883; Geimer Greenhouses, 701 E. Dundee Rd, Arlington Heights, 847-259-6363; The Growing Place, 25W471 Plank Rd., Naperville, 630-355-4000.
Henry Kelsey
Looks: With its semidouble red flowers on display intermittently from June through October, this Canadian shrub rose is a sure-fire hit. It creates a large shrub, reaching 5 to 7 feet high and 6 to 7 feet wide. But the arching canes tended to sprawl, according to Hawke.
Comments: Black spot and rose midges were troublesome, but it thwarted powdery mildew. Japanese beetles and winter cold caused some problems–but remember, test roses got no help.
Where to buy: Chalet Nursery & Garden Shops, 3132 Lake Ave., Wilmette, 847-256-0561; Geimer Greenhouses, 701 E. Dundee Rd., Arlington Heights, 847-259-6363; Meyer Landscaping, 27W067 North Ave., West Chicago, 630-293-4800; Midwest Groundcovers, 6N800 Illinois Highway 25, St. Charles, 847-742-1790; Plum Creek Nursery, 1225 E. Bemes Rd., Crete, 708-672-7999; The Planter’s Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Rd., Winfield, 630-293-1040.
