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roses and the great lakes
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Posted by banina31 (My Page) on Thu, Jan 31, 08 at 23:13
| My absolute favorite flower is a rose. I know - cliche. I was hoping to start a rose garden in Duluth MN. However, I was afraid the roses would have a hard time growing. Is there any particular kind of rose that would be ideal for growing up here that is hardier than most other roses?
Thanks!
Banina
www.creativeglossary.com |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: roses and the great lakes
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Hi, Banina. I've been growing roses in West Michigan for about 8 years. It's a challenge. The first thing I learned was to disregard what the ARS (American Rose Society)rankings are. Those are compiled from all over the country and are skewed to represent warmer parts of the U.S.
Unfortunately, I've tried many hybrid teas that gradually pooh out and die over a couple of years. Secret and Moonstone (both pink) do well for me. Also Rio Samba, and I LOVE the way it changes color.
If you only plant hybrid teas, you'll spend a lot of time waiting for blooms. I have other varieties to keep me in roses. There are many colors of Knockout now. They are tough, reliable bloomers. Most have little or no scent.
Rugosa roses do well here and they're very fragrant, but they have lots of needle-like thorns that can be a problem near a walkway.
I bought a Mutabilis rose that's not supposed to be happy below Zone 6, but I put it in a protected place and it blooms happily all summer. The individual blooms don't last long, but there are lots and they're fragrant.
Those are the ones that come to mind as I look out on my snow-covered yard.
You might ask this question in the rose forum. Other northerners will respond and it's a more active forum than this one. |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| There lots of hardy roses for northern climates.Some Karen has already mentioned. Definetly check out the rose forum and antique rose forum and www.helpmefind.com/roses,I buy alot of mine bareroot from pickering nurseries. They are a reputible northern Z5 co.Always pay attention to what zone they are hardy to. Its not gospel but a good guide line.Do your homework and you'll have alot of success....Mark |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| I have had excellent success with all kinds of floribunda roses. Also shrub roses, antiques, and polyanthas. And the Explorer roses were bred in Canada for very cold climates. You absolutely must check those out! You'll get lots of good advice on what works in northern gardens on the roses forum. Good luck!
Elaine |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| Hi Banina! I briefly lived in Duluth after college (my DH grew up there), but now live in Michigan. I would suggest going down to the rose garden along the lake walk this summer and checking out varieties they have down there. You could also contact the group that plants the rose garden (their name escapes me right now)and ask them to suggest some of their hardiest roses. I believe they use the MN tip method on their hybrid teas, but if you are not interested in going through all that work each fall I'm sure they have some good shrub rose suggestions too. As Elaine said above, the Canadian Explorer series worked well for me while I lived in Minnesota. Happy gardening! |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| I have had good luck with a pink Fairy rose, a polyantha. It has very small blooms, but keeps putting out new flowers all season. This rose stays short, about 30", but spreads wide. It also has LOTS of sharp thorns, but not like a rugosa. For the steady flower show, I put up with the thorns. It is self rooted, not grafted. I just trim off the branches that stick out too far, or grab me as I go by. For such cold weather, you might want to check for self-rooted plants. Then if they die back in cold, what comes back up will be the same plant. I have several of these kind, and they have several flushes of flowering. My mom has a beautiful one, old-fashioned rose. It may look terrible in spring, but comes back up and has always done well. She has some horrible winters down by Kalamazoo, deep snow and dirt freezing cold that goes down 6ft or more. I use rose collars for my winter protection, rather than rose cones. Collar protects the part just above the ground, yet doesn't get hot like the cones can. Collar will fit ANY size plant, though maybe putting two together might be needed for very large roses. I fill the collars after the first hard freeze, ground starting to get hard. You can use shredded leaves, whole leaves, sawdust or shavings, as filler. The collar and fill, keep the temps more steady in winter, when we get freeze and thaw. I pull the collars and fill off in spring, when ground gets soft. You can use the fill as mulch around the garden or bush. Good luck with your project, lots of roses out there that will work in your area. Take some photos next summer, tell us how it has worked out for you!! |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| The ONLY luck I have ever had with Roses are the Knock-Out Roses. I have 3 different ones and they have been excellent. I keep trying some tea roses but if they last more then one year that's exceptional luck. But I keep trying. |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| I have been growing (literally) hundreds of roses in zone 4 including hybrid teas for years. It can be done if you start with a good plant. Too many get discouraged because they've started with "body bag" roses sold everywhere at big box stores and grocery stores which are so much harder to be successful with. And yes, rose growing in the north is a bit more challenging so you need to learn a few things about cold climate rose growing including how deep to plant and which roses are hardiest (and therefore easiest) and other helpful tips. Yule45, if you are keeping Knock-Outs over the winter in zone 4, I've no doubt you can grow a lot of other roses too. I would recommend that anyone wanting to branch out into roses do some reading at the Roses Forum - there are so many experienced rosarians there, so much to learn (but be sure to look at the zone of the person who is posting!) Or get yourself a copy of one of these good books:
'Roses for Michigan' by Nancy Lindley
'Growing Roses in Cold Climates' by Jerry Olson and John Whitman
'Hardy Roses' by Robert Osborne.
Best yet, look for a local rose society where you can talk to local rosarians. Not all rose societies are all about rose shows; the one I belong to in Traverse City, the Cherry Capital Rose Society is just a group of nice people who love growing roses in their gardens. While I'm not saying you can grow *any* of the world's roses up here, you'll be amazed at just how wide your choices really are. And we can even grow old roses here like gallicas and albas that people in California would give their eye teeth for - these are roses that need the chill to bloom. It just takes a little research and you'll soon have all the fragrant beautiful rose blooms you desire - including those more tender hybrid teas if that's what you're dreaming of.
Best of luck and many happy roses,
Anne |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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Here's a list of roses i'm growing that are very hardy for me.
(Alba's)
MMe legres de st. germain
Celestial
Konigin Von Danmark
(Damask)
Mme. Hardy
La Ville de Bruxelles
Comte de chambord (Damask portland)& Jacques Cartier
(Centifolia/moss)
Crested moss/Chapeau de Napolean
(Gallica)
Charles de Mills
Tuscany Superb
(Hyb. perpetual)
Yolande D'Aragon
(Explorer series)
Quadra
John Cabot
Henry Hudson
Alexander Mackenzie
Jens Munk
Prairie Joy (morden)
(Austin) little more tender
Constance spry
Mary Rose
Sharifa Asma
Graham Thomas
Golden Celebration
Gertrude jekyll
L.D. Braithwaite
There are more but these always do well for me....mark |
RE: roses and the great lakes
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| Thanks for the book recommendations Anne-- I'll look those up today:) I found this article on Explorer roses--- good advice. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Great Lakes Roses; Explorers
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