I thought for sure someone else would have weighed in on this. I don't know anything about the easy elegance roses, but I do grow a pink potentilla (not sure what the name is). I would not call the bloom heavy. I would say it is a shrub that does not call a lot of attention to itself.

Hi asarum,

Does your pink potentilla bloom for a long time? 'Pink Beauty' is supposed to bloom from June until frost. I'm looking for small shrubs with continuous bloom that will look good without a lot of effort on my part. The shrubs will be foundation plants at the front of my house; that's why I'm looking for some that bloom for a long time and look good (great, actually). If pink potentillas 'don't call attention to themselves' another plant may be a better choice for that spot. Thanks very much. This is very helpful.

I also know nothing about Easy Elegance, and I don't grow potentilla because I don't find it very ... showy. But I DO respect the author of the Northern Gardening blog, and she or he likes Easy Elegance, so I'd recommend it without a second thought.

Terry says:"My new favorite shrub roses are the Easy Elegance Rose Collection from Baileys in Newport, MN."

Here is a link that might be useful: Northern Gardening: Best Hardy Shrub Roses

So you are sensing a theme here since diggingthedirt also says it is not showy. Potentilla uses has some blossoms on it for most of the season.

Easy Elegance roses are Bailey's introductions. Unlike Endless Summer, they don't seem to be licensing the roses out, so they are only available wholesale from Bailey's. At least around here, very few nurseries deal with Bailey's, so Easy Elegance roses are almost unknown, and nobody has the sort of first hand knowledge of *local* disease resistance that gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling about recommending a rose. They were apparently tested in Minnesota (and Oregon where they originated), but Minnesota doesn't have the high blackspot pressure that makes the east coast such a tough rose climate. They may live up to expectations, but to be honest, I'd be surprised if they do. It's a long list of 'disease resistant' roses that were introduced with a lot of hype and just crashed and burned east of the Appalachians. However, if you are willing to play guinea pig, and take a risk, there are considerably worse things you could do. Just make sure you report back.

Hi diggingthedirt and asarum,

Since you both agree about potentilla, I'm going to pass on it --for the front of the house, at least. There are yellow and white potentillas growing outside my window at work, and the pink flowering cultivars must be similar, I guess. Not very showy. All I saw was a closeup of Pink Beauty's flowers.

And thanks very much for the blog link too, DtD! Very helpful!

mad gallica,

I clicked a 'find local retailers' link on the Easy Elegance website and, lo and behold, a nearby nursery (Wildwood Nursery in RI) is listed. I have no idea which ones they offer but I'm going to check them out. Maybe someone there can offer some info on these roses' disease-resistance in our region. If I do buy one, I'll be happy to report back when I've seen how it fares.

And since you're 'mad gallica', can you suggest any 2' or 2 1/2' roses of continuous bloom and exceptional beauty? (I'm not asking too much, eh?) My husband would like red blooms and I would love very strong fragrance, so suggestions for roses with either attribute are welcome.

Rose 'The Fairy' was about 2 or 2 1/2 ft. in my garden (for all I know it may still be, but I moved - it didn't die on me.) Clusters of little light pink full blossoms adorned the plant pretty much from about now until after light frosts. I liked it, but beauty is in the eye . . . I don't know that I would call it an exceptional beauty, but very nice. Unfortunately, no fragrance. I think that there is a 'red' (actually rich dark pink) form of 'The Fairy', but I don't know how it compares.

'Lady Elsie Banks' grows to about 3 feet in my garden and blooms pretty much all summer. Lovely form and a rich pink color that I really like, but again, little to no scent.

In my experience, both climbers and petite shrubs that are hardy to my zone aren't scented. The scented roses I have grown are all medium to large shrubs and often single bloomers. But they are worth it for the scent and lovely blossoms, and avoid the Japanese beetles since they are almost done blooming by when the beetles emerge.

Hi nhbabs,

Well, I do love 'The Fairy' rose and would love to plant one but I think it might sprawl a bit too much for that particular site. I will definitely look up 'Lady Elsie Banks'; it sounds lovely. Thanks. (I once planted a climber called 'Lady Banks Rose'. It was the white form, not the yellow lutea, and was supposed to smell like violets. There was a question of it being hardy in my area but it came back after the first Winter. Unfortunately, I decided to move it and it promptly died. My fault. I'd love to try that one again too.) I may look at floribunda roses or even miniatures. I need to go to a nursery that has quite a few different roses for sale --like Roseland in Achusnet, MA. (I feel a day trip coming on.) I did go to the nursery that was supposed to sell Easy Elegance roses, but they didn't have any. I was told they could order 'Paint the Town' but the whole point was to see the rose 'in person' first.

But, though I didn't find a rose, thanks to wendyb and her recent post, I now have a bouncing, baby Schizophragma 'Moonlight'! I had no intention of buying one, but I just couldn't resist.

For anyone checking on 'Paint The Town', I've just planted it. Easy Elegance roses are readily available here in Illinois from nurseries. I have several 'Grandma's Blessing', a pretty pink with good fragrance. I would describe them as reasonably disease resistant, not the best, but not bad. My experience is that they like to have their feet hidden and their heads in the sun and they need lots of water. In Illinois they need lots of Winter protection, too. I'll post again once 'PTT' has bloomed.

Leslie, have you considered any of the Knockout roses? Mine bloom nonstop throughout the summer and into late fall (December this past year - but that's a bit unusual). They are the right size and there are several reds and pinks to choose from, as well as other colors. They are pretty much carefree and don't require deadheading. Fragrance, however, is not one of their strong points as they pretty much lack any.

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Can't help with either of your plant choices, Leslie, but I just wanted to add something to Bill's post. Just yesterday I bought a Knockout rose for a friend. The rose is Sunny, which I think is one of their newer intros - at least, I had never heard of it. It's a pale yellow and quite pretty, and it does have a light, pleasant scent to it.

That being said, I think the Knockouts get bigger than you want for your spot. But I've never grown them, so I'm not sure.

Good luck!
Dee

Leslie, I just planted a couple of Flower Carpet roses - - they might meet your size requirements and they bloom all summer. I have had knockouts, and they also bloom continuously, but I found that mine required deadheading to look good.

It seems to be difficult to "have it all" when it comes to plants. So if you want exceptional fragrance and/or beauty, you likely won't get continuous bloom. I am also a big fan of plants with scented flowers, but most of my best and most beautiful - - peonies, fothergilla, azalea, and clethra, for example - - are pretty much one hit wonders.

That being said, I also have places in the garden where I want the color to last longer. But while my knockouts bloomed right up to the first snowfall, I actually found that I was tired of them by early autumn. When I wanted oranges and yellows and autumn reds, instead I had these screaming magenta red flowers still going strong. And the individual flowers were not all that beautiful, just colorful. I ended up digging them up and giving them away. So if you go with a continuous bloom rose, I would think about how it will look with the rest of your garden in all seasons. For this reason, the Flower Carpet rose colors I chose were Scarlet (to bring the color over from a neighboring barn) and Amber - - both warmer colors that won't conflict with either the spring or fall gardens.

Hi Bill, diggerdee, and paigect,

Well, the best laid plans... I ended up with a yellow 'Victory' rose that I bought at... Stop & Shop! An impulse buy. I think it may be a sub-zero rose named 'Helen Hayes'. It bloomed until very late last year and is alive and doing well. It isn't the rose of my dreams, but it's attractive with red-edged green leaves. I'm hoping it doesn't get too large for the spot, but I'll move it if it does. (I need to look it up again.)

But, speaking of Knockout roses... We were back at the Farmer's Daughter and there were a slew of them in all colors. My husband fell in love with the double cherry-red Knockout and I'm sure there's one in our future. The bushes at the Farmer's Daughter were some of the most attractive I've seen, but the price wasn't marked. They're so readily available that we opted to wait and look around. Who knows? Maybe we'll find one at Stop & Shop (grin.)

Paigect, I'll definitely take a look at Flower Carpet roses. They sound wonderful. (And you can't have too many roses.) And, you mentioned peonies. I have a few but I've never smelled a peony I liked. Isn't that weird? I have lots of fragrant plants, but peonies smell like dusty attics, or worse! to me. There's something about my sense of smell. I'm very interested in fragrant azaleas. I've got R. viscosum and would love an R. arborescens, R. 'Pink and Sweet', and many, many more. Greer Gardens gets me drooling for native azaleas.

So many plants, life is too short! (And let's not even mention money!)

I bought a Dicentra s. 'Valentine' at the F's. D. and it really is a true red. I've got the white and pink varieties, and just got a small Dicentra scandens --the yellow climber. But I couldn't resist a red, red bleeding heart.

Leslie,
I just got home from Farmer's Daughter a short time ago. I had ordered three of the Carolina Jessamine (G. sempervirens 'Margarita') the other day and they arrived yesterday. I also picked up three of the 'Sunny' Knockout roses. They are $29.95 each if you're wondering. That place is so well organized and the plants are top quality.

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Bill, what did you think of the Sunny Knockouts? I picked up mine for a friend. I'm not a big fan of yellow roses (pink and apricot are my weakness!) but let me tell you, I've been thinking of that Sunny all week. I will most likely end up getting one for myself. Same price - $29.95 - and nice looking plants!

Leslie, can you post a picture of your dicentra? I'm intrigued - never saw a red one! I'd LOVE to see it.

Paige, your post made me smile. A few years back I posted a thread about pink in the fall garden. I have a patch of cosmos that really gets going in late September into October, and while they are absolutely gorgeous, I find it kind of jarring against the backdrop of orange and yellow maples, lol.

Dee

Diggerdee, I have a lot of red knockouts, but these were going against a stone wall that has a lot of warm hues, so I thought the yellow would be a nice match. And they have a little fragrance which is nice. The plants were very healthy. When this cold snap is over, I'll plant them out.

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landl47,

I'm so sorry! I started reading the thread from the bottom and missed your posting. Thank you very much for the information on 'Paint the Town'. I would very much appreciate a picture of it. --And, maybe a picture of 'Grandma's Blessing' too?

diggerdee,

I have a picture of 'Valentine' (the first baby picture, just took it). I'll try to post it tomorrow. I have pictures of a couple of Viburnum to post for pixielou too.

Bill,

Thanks for letting me know the price of the Knockouts. I'm sure we'll be back at the Farmer's Daughter before long, and their Knockouts looked tremendous. My husband definitely wants a double red, but I'll take a second look at 'Sunny' as well.

I'm currently obsessed with all those tiny ground covers they sell.

I know this is a fairly old thread, but thought my might still be interested in Paint the Town. I have 4 of them and love them. Always in bloom and the bloom is nice shaped.

This picture was taken today. All Easy Elegance roses. In the back are 2 My Girl and in front are 2 Paint the Town with catmint planted between the PTT.

I live in Southwest Wisconsin and fin the EE roses to be very winter hardy and their disease resistance is superb in my no spray yard. This bed has been in flower constantly since mid-May and lots of blooms waiting to open. Doesn't look like there will be a pause in blooming for quite a while at this rate.
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