Fascinated by the remake of the Daniel L. Flaherty Memorial Rose Garden, gardeners have been dying to know more about the varieties of new roses that will be going into the Grant Park garden next month.
“We’re showcasing roses that people can really grow,” says Barry Burton, deputy director of natural resources for the Chicago Park District, who helped plan the near-acre garden and is overseeing its installation. “Some of these new varieties are mind-boggling in their beauty, especially in context of their low-maintenance.”
Here’s a sneak preview of the stalwart roses–all of which are disease resistant, cold hardy and long blooming–that soon will be flourishing in Grant Park.
Short in stature
Name: ‘Flower Carpet’ in red, pink and white
Type of rose: Groundcover shrub
Size: 18 to 24 inches tall with 18- to 36-inch spread
Characteristics: Medium-size flowers in bright red, iridescent pink or pure white. Generally self-cleaning with no deadheading needed.
Habit: Prostrate, as wide or wider than they are tall
Name: ‘The Fairy’
Type of rose: Polyantha ( low-growing, hardy plants producing clusters of small flowers continuously through the growing season)
Size: 2 to 3 feet tall with a 2- to 3-foot spread
Characteristics: Heavy clusters of double pink waxy blooms on strong stems. Tolerates some shade.
Habit: Spreading cushion form
Name: ‘Carefree Delight’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 30 inches tall, spreading up to 5 feet
Characteristics: All-America Rose Selection 1996. Numerous clusters of small white-centered, bright-pink single blooms.
Habit: Free branching with arching canes
Name: `Magic Blanket’
Type of rose: Groundcover shrub
Size: 3 feet tall with 6-foot spread
Characteristics: Creamy peach buds open to semi-double, soft white blossoms
Habit: Dense prostrate bush
Name: `Scarlet Meidiland’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 2 to 3 foot tall with a 5- to 6-foot spread.
Characteristics: Small- to medium-size scarlet blooms. Tolerates some shade.
Habit: Low-growing and spreading
The Middlemen
Name: `Carefree Wonder’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 feet tall with 3-foot spread
Characteristics: All-America Rose Selection 1991. Clusters of pink, slightly fragrant double blooms with hints of cream.
Habit: Dense bush
Name: `Iceberg”
Type of rose: Floribunda (a cross between hybrid teas and polyanthas that bear clusters of medium-size blooms on medium-length stems throughout the growing season)
Size: 3 feet tall with 26-inch spread, wider if not pruned
Characteristics: Masses of bright white, fully double blooms with a strong honey fragrance. Tolerates some shade.
Habit: Low-growing with a horizontal spread
Name: `Dream’ in red, pink and yellow
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 30 inches to 4 feet tall with 3- to 4-foot spread, depending on color
Characteristics: Medium to large hybrid-tea or floribunda-type blooms with light fruity, musk or citrus fragrance, depending on color
Habit: Compact full bush
Name: `Morden Blush’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 feet tall with 2- to 3-foot spread
Characteristics: Lightly fragrant double baby-pink flowers
Habit: Compact, low-growing form
Name: `Morden Centennial’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 feet tall with 3- to 4-foot spread
Characteristics: Clusters of large, medium-pink, double cup-shaped blooms with a slight fragrance
Habit: Upright and bushy
Name: `Morden Fireglow’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 to 4 feet tall with 2- to 3-foot spread
Characteristics: Double, cupped fragrant orange-red blooms tinted with scarlet
Habit: Upright with hybrid-tea-bush form
Name: `Kaleidoscope’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 to 4 feet tall with 3-foot spread
Characteristics: All-America Rose Selection 1999. Lightly scented blossoms combine shades of pink, mauve, tan and yellow; color may change with the weather.
Habit: Rounded
Name: `Knock Out’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 to 4 feet tall with 3-foot spread
Characteristics: All-America Rose Selection 2000. Abundant cherry red blooms with a tea rose fragrance.
Habit: Mounding bush
Name: `Fabulous’
Type of rose: Floribunda
Size: 4 feet tall with 31/2-foot spread
Characteristics: Large clusters of lightly fragrant pure-white blossoms
Habit: Robust and bushy
Name: `Carefree Sunshine’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 to 4 feet tall with 3- to 4-foot spread
Characteristics: Deep gold buds open to lemon yellow single-petal flowers
Habit: Rounded bush
Name: `White Meidiland’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 3 to 4 foot tall with 4- to 6-foot spread
Characteristics: Clusters of double-white blooms
Habit: Spreading
Name: `Wild Spice’
Type of rose: Rugosa (very hardy densely branched roses descended from the species rose, Rosa rugosa)
Size: 42 inches tall with 3-foot spread
Characteristics: Fragrant single white blooms
Habit: Rounded
The tall guys
Name: `Bonica’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 4 to 5 feet tall with 5-foot spread
Characteristics: All-America Rose Selection 1997. Dainty clusters of pure pink double blooms.
Habit: Tidy bush
Name: `Simplicity,’ `White Simplicity’ and `Red Simplicity’
Type of rose: Hedge
Size: 4 to 5 feet tall; plant 18 inches apart for a hedge
Characteristics: Old-fashioned cup-shaped blooms, some with a light fragrance, in true pink, satiny white and cherry red. Generally self-cleaning with no deadheading needed.
Habit: Columnar and upright
Name: `Autumn Sunset’
Type of rose: Climbing
Size: 5 to 8 feet tall
Characteristics: Soft gold blossoms with apricot overtones richen in hue in autumn’s coolness.
Name: `Jan’s Wedding’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 5 to 6 feet tall with 4- to 5-foot spread
Characteristics: Large clusters of blooms blending shades of yellow, pink and apricot
Habit: Upright bush
Name: `Pavement Pink’
Type of rose: Shrub
Size: 4 to 6 feet tall with 4- to 6-foot spread
Characteristics: Pinkish-mauve semi-double blooms
Habit: Upright bush
Name: “White Dawn’
Type of rose: Climbing
Size: 8 feet tall
Characteristics: Double creamy-white blooms
