Regional Growing Guide: New England
New England's erratic winter and spring temperatures, which might shift more than 50 degrees from one day to the next, can exact their toll on roses. Savvy gardeners winterize their plants by covering them with mulch, then wrapping them in woven mulch cloth or burlap to protect from both the cold and drying winds. The wraps come off in spring, and by June, the roses are in full bloom. Intense heat during July and August may slow down the plants, but they will bounce back with renewed vigor in September. Many of the most successful roses are new landscape roses and floribundas that are cold hardy and resist black spot and mildew.
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Choosing Roses for the Garden
Did you know that the rose is our "national floral emblem?" Always a popular plant, the rose was made the official national flower by proclamation in 1986. That makes it almost unpatriotic NOT to grow at least one rose!
There are, at last count, a gazillion rose varieties, and each year rose breeders introduce new ones. How is a gardener to choose just one, or even just ten? Here are some ways to help you narrow down the field.
Garden Centers
Visit a trusted local garden center and browse their offerings. Reputable nurseries will sell only plants that are hardy and well adapted to your growing region. They'll also have knowledgeable staff to help guide you, and they will probably guarantee the plants they sell. However, selection may be limited.
Award-Winners
Varieties that have won the All-American Rose Selection award have met specific standards for traits such as vigor, disease resistance, and flower production. AARS is a nonprofit association of rose growers with a network of test gardens across the country. Varieties are evalutated under a range of climates and growing conditions; of the many tested, just a few are awarded the prestigious AARS award. (browse our winners)
When browsing nursery catalogs, you'll find that numerous rose varieties are described as award-winning. However, this may refer to awards based on flower competitions, rather than on overall plant performance. There are many gorgeous tea roses that are challenging to grow in home gardens due to disease susceptibility, for example. Don't rely solely on the generic term "award-winning", look for the AARS Winners emblem to ensure that you are making the right plant choice.
Dreamy Rose Companions
While you are dreaming of the roses you'll be planting this spring, picture companion plants that will complement your roses and add year-round interest.
Traditional Blue
In English style gardens, there's always a nice blue flower along with the roses. If delphiniums grow well for you then add those, or perhaps the somewhat easier-to-grow annual larkspur. The perennial salvias Blue Hill and Blue Queen are attractive, as are the perennial geraniums Johnson's Blue and Brookside; of course blue-flowered clematis vines are always perfection. So too the Siberian irises.
Silver
For a softer floating cloud effect try the nepetas, soft purplish blue tones in a wash of floppy, billowy, blue-silver foliage. Silver foliage is a frequent accompaniment to roses, so think too of the lavenders (Munstead and Hidcote tend to be among the hardier forms) and definitely dianthus. Many dianthus (think pinks and carnations) scent the garden with spicy tones playing against the sweetness of the roses. Close your eyes and breathe it in.
Annuals and Edges
Next might be annuals for steady color all season. Petunias are dependable, so is the salvia Victoria Blue. Violas (look for heat-tolerant types) are charming peeking out from beneath roses. Imagine a rectangular bed edged in Purple Ruffles basil or dwarf purple barberry to create a ruby toned jewel box setting for your roses. Or how about an understated edging of clipped boxwoods? With an underplanting of annual moss roses (portulaca) for a clever rose echo. Or a perfumed low carpet of sweet alyssum, simplicity itself.
The Prairie and Beyond
To enhance a prairie-style garden, surround landscape roses with purple coneflowers, late daylilies, and a mixed collection of bold annual sunflowers. In the shrub border, intersperse the roses with the small, pink-flowered Japanese spireas, some caryopteris shrubs, some exuberant dwarf butterfly bushes, and maybe a diminutive form of sweetshrub -- the sweetly fragrant clethra. Oh, and don't forget the mums and dahlias for fall!