Contest! Win tickets to the World Rose Festival and $100 in roses
I know very little about roses, and I don’t totally understand their appeal. (Gulp! I can’t believe I just admitted that on a gardening blog! I feel like the Rosarians are going to target me for a hit now. Better watch my back.)
So when the fine people at the World Rose Festival asked me if I wanted to host a contest offering Heavy Petal readers a chance to win two tickets to the World Rose Festival being held in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2009, as well as $100 worth of rose shrubs from acclaimed nursery Select Roses, I actually had to think twice.
A rose show? Was that really a good fit for this blog? Weren’t most rose fanatics in the pinkies-held-aloft and blue-hair-rinse crowds?
Of course, I know that’s not really the case. Some of my favourite garden writers are rose nuts. (Hi Dee!) My mom is one of the most down-to-earth women you’ll ever meet, and even she gets giddy when ‘Heritage’ blooms in her garden.
So why do I have this prejudice against roses? In my head, they’re fussy divas that don’t offer a lot beyond the short time they’re in bloom. And as for how well they fit in a garden – like mine – that could never be described as “English” or “cottagey”? They just don’t go.
Of course, I could be completely off base.
I’d love to hear from you: do you think roses can be chic, easy, un-schmaltzy, and of value in an environmentally-conscious garden?
Now about this contest. First, a little bit of background: the World Rose Convention happens every three years in a different country, and this year is being hosted by the Vancouver Rose Society. The VRS decided that not only would they host the convention, but they would also organize a World Rose Festival, featuring a rose show, display gardens, workshops and lectures, floral design display, kid’s gardens, and a marketplace. You know – kind of like a small-scale Northwest Flower and Garden Show, but with a rose theme. I can just imagine how sweet the air will smell at this event!
To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling me why you think roses deserve a place in the modern garden. Convince me. The commenter who has me shoving aside heucheras or herbs to plant a rose wins.
The contest winner will receive two tickets to the World Rose Festival, held in Vancouver from June 19-21, 2009, as well as $100 in rose shrubs from Select Roses. Please note: Select Roses does not ship or otherwise transport roses; you must pick out and pick up your roses from their nursery in Langley, BC. Contest closes June 1, 2009 at midnight PST.
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Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because they are beautiful and edible! Not only are they pretty to look at, but you can eat the petals and make tea from the rose hips. You also can’t overlook their cut flower use, a bouquet of backyard roses displayed in any living room is a beautiful sight. There are beautiful heirloom roses with scents so strong you can smell them across the yard. If you don’t have at least one rose, you need one!!! If you plant a rose bush I will send you a recipe for candied rose petals :)
Comment by Meighan — April 20, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
I’m not competing for the contest, as I am in the low desert, and roses are not generally considered candidates for xeric conditions.*
But I will say that the little miniature roses are charming, and in Michigan I would buy the grocery store offerings and plant them out in the garden edges. Most folks don’t think of a rose as an edging plant. They are missing out.
*Lady banks rose is an exception, a very hardy rose that takes the heat in stride and provides blankets of lovely clusters of tiny roses of white or primrose yellow in late March to mid April. They are just fading now.
Comment by Jenn — April 20, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
I’m in the same boat as you, I used to think that roses were for the blue-rinse crowd and the fuddy-duddies, until I came across a rose called Climbing Joseph’s Coat — it’s blooms range from yellow, peach, pink and orange, all on the same plant! This excites me far too much, as the idea of having a plant with surprise colour blossoms appeals to the same side of me that used to love those mystery goody bags at the corner store when I was a kid. I imagine having some sort of modern, clean line arch built and having those grow over top, and when the petals start to drop I could walk underneath it and pretend that confetti is sprinkling down!
Comment by Kerry — April 20, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
Within traditional versus modern garden debate, there always seems to be this tension, a feeling that one must make a choice. However, I don’t think this is the case. I’ll readily disclose that I am much more of English-Garden-Type-Of-Girl, mostly because I have a large area that needs coverage and spreading seeds randomly, with a few well-placed hydrangeas and peonies is so much easier. Cost is also a factor, since I am a current renter, I can only see myself attempting to transplant my most favorite garden varieties when I choose to move.
Personally, I think there is something to be said for roses in a modern garden. I think that a few rose bushes, perhaps not the typical varieties, add a sense of history and a softness that can
Comment by Robin — April 20, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
The draw to roses are their complexity. They are difficult to grow and difficult to shape properly. That is way people grow them, its the challenge they offer. Anyone can grow a rose, but most can not do it well, and those that do, have spent years learning how to. And if they moved to a different region, they would have to learn all over again. I don’t grow roses very well, but I try. All these effort are not for nothing either. The rose bloom is the grand daddy of all blooms. Big, showy, full of colour and life. If flowers where members of the animal kingdom, the Rose would be the Lion.
Comment by Jeff — April 20, 2009 @ 1:54 pm
They deserve a place because they are a decidedly modern plant. Hybridizing and making new varieties are human interventions into the livelihoods of these thorny plants. We rose lovers and the plants have worked together to increase varieties. And the roses let us name them weird and beautiful names. Go, roses!
Comment by Christine — April 20, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because they are timeless. They are the quintessential plant of the horticultural tradition. The cultivation of roses most symbolizes the art of growing plants for pleasure, and has throughout the history of gardening. The rose expresses more about the passions and tribulations of gardening than any other plant. It’s an icon. Any landscape, modern, traditional or accidental, can only really call itself a garden, if roses bloom therein.
Comment by Cinema (yoganista on Twitter) — April 20, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
In my opinion the most garden worthy roses are not generally available for purchase. They are tall, graceful roses that require very little care and provide colour, fragrance and structure to the garden. These roses are not readily available – have you heard of Ghislaine de Feligonde, Darlow’s Enigma, R x Cantabrigiensis, R. rubrifolia? I call them roses for people who hate roses.
Comment by mary — April 20, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
I have been in love with roses for many years but have thrown out more than I care to confess. Most hybrid teas are fussy babies and I refuse to spray so they didn’t last. The roses that deserve a place in the modern garden are the tough as nails superstars [mostly floribundas and climbers] that need minimal care and bloom from June on. It’s all about the variety. I love picking a bouquet of these flowers, they appeal to my girly heart. When the neighbours compliment the garden 9 times out of 10 it’s the roses they admire. But the best reason for growing roses in Vancouver is cutting some on a mild Christmas day [not last year obviously] and then phoning the relatives in Toronto to brag.
Comment by Holly Bennett — April 20, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
oh oh oh!!! (waves hand in the air manically!)
roses can be part of the modern garden because a modern garden can mix the old and new.
i love the lines and simplicity of a modern garden with addition of one or two antique (org – old garden) roses.
i never had a thing for roses till i discovered ogr’s, their smell and look and the fact that attar of rose is super expensive. that got me studying to find some for my space.
abe darby is absolutely fuss free and wonderful – gives blooms nearly all year and is a modern version of an old rose, mme isaac perier is the most amazing smelling old garden rose with quite freakishly modern color of magenta blooms! did i mention it climbs nicely onto a modern fence and smells like raspberries? imagine that carried on a warm and humid vancouver afternoon. yum!
then there is mme hardy which i own… this rose is like a long lost treasure…blooms in perfectly cupped neat little white blooms with button like green eyes and smells like honey!!! it only blooms once a year but it’s worth the waiting and excitement.
not to mention roses attract humming birds and bees to the garden and as a modern gardener we are all about restoring bees and beneficial insects to our environment in the city. modern isn’t just about slick design, it’s about intelligently mixing in elements that have purpose.
have i got you convinced yet? :-D
of course, i must admit i don’t really care much for long stemmed roses of the 80’s, plastic like looking roses that look like flesh and those that do not smell!
check out paul barden’s roses http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/ when you get a chance to see what i’m talking about when i say i love roses and they do indeed have a place in every garden!
(ps – some roses need winter protection if in pots and left outside in the open, i sadly lost two that way this year… :-(
Comment by nancy — April 20, 2009 @ 7:38 pm
ps – i make rose preserve out of wild rose petals like my grandma did in europe… as did the women before her…ok, maybe that’s not so modern, haha, but oh it tastes like heaven especially during our depressing winters. you can also use the rose preserve in your tea, or in your baking! it is absolutely divine! also rose hips are a very high source of vitamin c and flavinoids. go roses!
Comment by nancy — April 20, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
simple, the smell. for a modern garden, i would avoid the maiden aunt rosebush off in the corner, or by an entry. instead climbing roses could be a backdrop to a bed of perennials. this question is very timely as i have just been trying to figure out how to incorporate roses in my garden.
Comment by grass — April 20, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
I’m with you on the rose issue, although this picture makes them look more tempting. While the flowers are just okay with me, my problem is the form of the plant itself. I’d say I have a no rose policy, although I do like r. glauca (rubrifolia) for the purple foliage, and I like it’s tall arching branches, which I don’t prune. I’m not throwing my hat in the ring, the prize should go to someone who knows what they’d do with roses, I’m just agreeing with you.
Comment by Megan — April 20, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
One of my first gardening jobs I took was for a bed and breakfast in Durango, Colorado and there was 30+ roses mixed in the flower beds and it was beautiful. I was deathly afraid to touch the roses in fear I would kill one but the owner told me, “prune them in spring and feed them, don’t worry most roses are tough”. I was hooked. I have two rules for buying roses, they must be fragrant and somewhat disease resistant. The fragrance of roses in a flower bed is pure bliss for me. Be careful, they can be very addicting!
Comment by Mary Beth — April 21, 2009 @ 7:16 am
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because of the effort they require to thrive. Many modern gardeners plant only “easy” plants and don’t bother to watch the entire grow season. All the care roses need forces a gardener to slow down and really observe their plants and their needs.
How FUN!
Comment by Lauren — April 21, 2009 @ 9:51 am
Roses for me is all about the fragrance, I tend to be more of a English Country Gardener and my favorite rose memories are or and old pink rambling rose that covered our old pumphouse when I was growing up. However, today I like the new roses that are more diesese resistant, fragrant and tolerate abuse. Maybe, the breeders are going back to how most of us garden survival of the fittest and less fuss with shape, petal count colour etc. Plant a fragrant rose under your bedroom window and you will have the sweetest dreams.
Comment by Debbie — April 21, 2009 @ 10:34 am
First off, I’m not writing this to be considered for the contest – shows aren’t really my thing.
But really, I’m surprised that you’ll write off an entire genera of plants on reputation alone.
Ok, so maybe twiggy pink hybrid teas behind clipped boxwood hedges aren’t for you.
But a big yellow rambler scrambling over a fence or arbor?
The overgrown rose blooming it’s head off completely neglected vacant lot is another common reputation they have. Hardly fussy. As long as they get their sun, most are happy.
They’re popular for a reason. Few plants have such large and fragrant blooms. Being in a warmer zone, you should even be able to grow the ones that bloom year round if you’re so inclined.
But to me change is what’s great about the garden, what makes it different from silk flowers. It’s why crocus and daffodils are so special in spring. Roses aren’t unattractive when they aren’t blooming – just another shrub. It’s not a bad trade for a few weeks of sweetly scented glory.
Comment by PlantingOaks — April 21, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
Rose leans towards being an aphrodisiac. I think that should be enough to convince anybody! Seriously, I used to dislike the commercialism of the rose until I tasted imported Greek rose jam. Once I realized that roses are edible and actually useful (rosehips too, full of vitamin C), I developed an appreciation for them. I plan on planting a lot of them this year for the first time because I plan on making all sorts of potions.
Comment by linda — April 22, 2009 @ 6:32 am
Roses are to the modern garden what parsley is to cooking! Sure, you CAN do without roses, and including them in a garden might initially seem like an old-fashioned impulse, but when you associate the well-chosen rose with modern perennials or succulents you get a surprising freshness to a planting.
I think one of the hallmarks of truly modern gardens is a sense of the unexpected – gardens that are rigidly, dogmatically one thing like desert/xeric or prairie or tropical can be so snoozy. Often, throwing a rose into a well-turned out planting can add a burst of color and an unexpected exuberance that can make a good garden kind of great.
Of course, the right rose is the key. I HATE icky, spindly shrubs that seem to be there as pedestals to hopped-up flowers. My favorite roses are the bright red single pillar rose ‘Altissimo’, Rosa ‘The Fairy’ (which is so wild looking planted with grasses ), and the uber romantic ‘Sally Holmes’. These are all singles, rather than hundred petaled pom poms. Those old fashioned has-beens are about as appetizing as a weird piece of curly parsley on the side of your plate.
I cook with Italian Parsley…
With roses, like with parsley, it’s all about the choice.
Comment by germi — April 22, 2009 @ 3:24 pm
“Roses are red,
Violets are blue.”
The words are transcendent;
These blossoms are, too.
Comment by Stemme Fatale — April 23, 2009 @ 7:32 am
Anything that ranks 5 out of 5 on the ‘Plants for a Future Database’ is deserving of a place in the garden. Even if it is a starvation food or some such thing.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/find_lat?LAT=rosa+rugosa&COM=&FAM=&RATING=1
I’m still not interested in attending the event though!
Comment by lance — April 23, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
after assesing and smelling my garden this morning i realized that there was sompthing missing, a rose bush, when i was working digging holes and weeding those peskie weeds it was so nice to smell the hyacinths that are in full bloom now. but a rose bush, o boy how about the midew or bugs? well that evening while watching C T V news, brad jalbert came on and explained a lot about the new roses that are resistand to all of the above and made it verry convincing that i should give the rose bushes another chance, after all how can any one resist a flower so beautifull,sweet,and romantic? it is the queen of all flowers no one should be with out no mather what type of gardens you have.
Comment by cathy scott — April 23, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
I went through an anti-rose period myself but thankfully that has passed – here is my perspective.
In test gardens where they(mostly tea roses, for some reason) are laid out on their lonesome they tend to look like unhappy painted ladies. It makes me cringe to see them, even though I like to be able to get up close to smell the fragrance. They also look pretty terrible on the edge of a lawn in a stiff border.
Yet roses are their own world and the odds are that there is one that will speak to your personality – a sturdy prolific shrub, a languid tea, an overblown gallic, an orderly David Austin, or a humble garden no-name, in whatever colour you dream. The roses Annette Benning clipped with fury in ‘American Beauty” suit some people to a ‘t’, but I like to interplant nodding climbers with clematis, honeysuckle and other vines or interplant and play off characterisitcs of neighbouring plants.
Roses have endured because they can be the ultimate in sensuous expression; fragrant, intensely hued and luxuriant to touch. Watching the overblown petals decay and blacken is a philosophical moment. They do require care but when planted with enough air circulation in the right place I really don’t understand what the fuss over care is.
So, I guess I’m a closet rosarian. Fragrance and romance tends to be forgotten in the modern garden and roses fill the void.
Comment by Anne Dowell — April 25, 2009 @ 8:54 am
Roses in a modern garden? Of course!!!! Just pick the one that is right for you. They vary greatly in size of plant, hardiness and ease of care, scent, colour, thorns, you name it. I only grow organically, so I need plants that are not susceptible to bugs or disease — and with some advice I now have a few no-fuss bushes and I want more. A small bouquet can really brighten up a room, and who among us has not smiled at seeing a rose in bloom in December when we know the rest of the country is in a deep freeze?
In these challenging economic times, the modern garden should also have some plants that you only have to purchase once and they come back year after year after year after . . .
Comment by Jay — April 25, 2009 @ 9:36 am
Roses are the ideal flower for this climate, we have even had a Mr. Lincoln bloom at Christmas. The fragrance and show is most welcome in the height of the season. June in North Vancouver
Comment by June Espin — April 25, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
Iceberg Tree Roses!!! They don’t get sick, they don’t get bugs, and they don’t need much water, they bloom year round (but I prune mine in February) I have six here in Santa Cruz. Try one. I’ve only seen them in white but I like some white in my garden, I can the blooms at night.
Comment by Suzi — April 27, 2009 @ 9:47 pm
I’m not a big rose person either but I have a few.I think they look much better amongst other plants which can hide their spindly stems. I love the Reine de Victoria planted in my herb garden beside the kitchen window. It’s our reward for doing dishes when that thing is blooming, delicious scent! Some roses also have nice fall color, the petals look lovely in a salad and the thorns protect birds from predators. Roses grow well here– not a real problem with diseases. So, there are a few reasons to grow roses!
Comment by diana — April 28, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Roses belong in the modern garden because they are perfect for the neighbors. I came to this idea late in my gardening years: I inherited a long line of them planted along the parking strip and was prepared to haul them all out immediately. But as I lived in my home for the first summer and saw all the little neighborhood children looking, smelling and enjoying them with their parents, I realized they were perfect, and just the right height for toddlers. Those roses helped me make friends with lots of my new neighbors. Although I’ve added herbs and a small tree as well, I wouldn’t get rid of many of the roses now. They’re just too popular!
Comment by Jane — April 28, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
I’ve never grown a rose but my mum when we lived in Jamaica. I always stop and smell the roses in Berkeley – there are so many big flowers right up against the sidealk. Why isn’t Berkeley the Rose City? (Portland, Or. has the title.) My current yard has a rose bush (the landlady’s family planted it). It has delicate pink flowers and requires no additional water to rainfall (I don’t water it). It’s nice to look at while eating meals (it’s outside the eat-in kitchen window).
Not posting to enter the drawing.
Comment by Georgia — April 29, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
Once you have been seduced by a particular rose, you will know it deserves a place in your modern garden. It will be a unique rose that intrigues you and leaves you breathless. This rose will have shiny green leaves contrasting with matte red new growth at the tips that will produce buds that grow to become gorgeous, outragously juicy colored blooms- like fireworks going off in your garden. All this will happen without extra fuss and headache of diseases and pests-if you find the right one- the one that has chosen you. This rose will enhance your garden. (…Atleast this has been my experience! I used to be against roses too, but now its hopeless!)
Comment by laurel — April 30, 2009 @ 11:28 am
I moved into a house a few years ago that’s absolutely choking with roses: both borders leading up to the front door, planted shoulder to shoulder and waist high with all kinds of varieties I have still yet to name. After learning the hard way how to finally take care of them, I’ve come to regard my roses as a symbol of my entire garden: the epitome of a love-hate relationship.
I love my garden, like I love my roses, but there is always a point in the year where I’m not sure who is in control anymore. Is it me or a war of the roses?
Yet nothing wows me quite like that row of bushes in full bloom- buzzing with bees and full of scent, delicate velvety petals and glossy fat leaves. All that hard work, all the tender loving care, all the fussing about… roses belong in a modern garden because they are just plain worth it.
It’s why I garden in the first place.
Plus they’re like a Chanel suit, they never go out of style.
Comment by Sara Bearchell — April 30, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
If I had to choose only one plant in the world, it would be the rose.
The rose encapsulates all that we are, and all that we hope to be.
From the beginning, the rose aspires to be one of a kind, an original. Using all of its God given gifts, it seeks to find and establish a place for itself among all the rest.
As it grows, the rose exhibits the traits of a new born or toddler. Its will is strong, and presents a rough and tumble exterior. If nurtured properly by its “parents”, it seeks to please them by rewarding them with a rich, fragrant and stunning beauty.
Through adolescence, it yearns for originality and space of its own. As it is guided through pruning by its keeper, the rose longs to bring forth its fruit.
The rose still brandishes its diametrical, protective exterior in the form of thorns; yet it dominates the surrounding terrain with its captivating grandeur and aroma. Week after week, we are privileged to absorb, through our many and varied senses, the majesty and splendor which is the rose.
Sublime peace. The rose.
Comment by Ken — April 30, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
Roses have always been beloved by everyone. From Queens to comoners. My grandmother had a rambler that she loved, my mother had a cutting, I believe it was a Josephes Coat. I have several and especially love my Cordon Blue. The scent makes me sigh. The color and texture are divine. With all the new disese resistant types what is your excuse? Try it you’ll like it!
Comment by Carol McGuire — May 1, 2009 @ 11:50 am
I live in an urban environment. Compared to the suburbs, which are all about conformity, urban environments are about the unique and individual and so are roses.
There are literally countless varies of roses, one to suit everyone personality and place. Don’t find a suitable rose create one yourself! Roses are easy to mate and create a totally new type. WOW!
Comment by Cecilia — May 1, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
I have to say, I once had all the same reasons not to garden with roses.
Then one day, after my husband and I moved into our little house, I found myself cutting away a huge expanse of cedar hedging in front of the house. There I was, Saws All in hand and to my surprise… Voila! a rose bush, hidden in amongst the cedar hedging. I was completely dumbfounded. How could something live behind such an overgrown hedge?
Forget what you hear about roses being picky, how else could they still be around after thousands of years! Sure they need some extra care when they are attacked by alphids or get a bad case of blackspot. But when they do thrive, and you see the first buds about to bloom, it can be very rewarding and exciting. I think you should give it a try, and see if you like them. I have a paricularly strong feeling that you will!
Comment by Andrea Shish — May 2, 2009 @ 9:12 am
I’m kind of ‘against’ roses as a gardener, for the reasons you mention above, but I work as a florist in the off season, and once the thorns are off those babies, nothing plant-based can beat a rose for squishable texture. Some of them smell fantastic too- I think roses have a place in modern gardens focusing on the senses, especially sensory gardens for folks with different needs or vision loss.
Comment by Jen — May 2, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
De lurking to add my voice to the roses don’t have to be fussy group! Rugosas are just one example of a type of rose that look healthy and beautiful without requiring any sprays, no extra feeding, limited water. They have beautiful rose hips that which makes them interesting in many seasons. There are lots of low care roses. And fussy ones for people who want challenges. From a sustainable perspective, they absolutely fit in a “modern” garden if they are the right variety.
From a style perspective, it would all be in what they were combined with, how they were placed.
Gosh rose lovers are passionate! :)
Comment by Deb G — May 3, 2009 @ 6:37 am
A rose is more than a rose!
* Ancient Romans believed that white roses grew where the tears of Venus fell when she was mourning Adonis.
* The Greeks called the rose “The King of Flowers”.
* The oldest rose in the world has flourished for over 1,000 years on the wall of Hildeshiem Cathedral in Germany.
* Columbus’ crew picked a rose branch out of the ocean on October 11, 1492. This signaled the presence of land. The very next day, Columbus discovered America.
* Roses are related to apples, cherries, pears, plums, berries, and almonds.
* Rose hips contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable.
Comment by DorotheeRH — May 3, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
Why roses? … because then the yard smells of grandma’s place when I was 10 years old wandering through nose-height to her special, small, much loved and unmanaged wilderness – and that’s all the reason I need.
Comment by Yvonne — May 4, 2009 @ 1:51 pm
I’m mostly of the same ‘not in my garden’ opinion about roses, at least the old school way of growing them. But lately I’ve been getting into thickets and briars…a rambling, climbing, scrambling thing in a corner of the garden…even just a small corner. If we think in terms of function in the ecosystem rather than aesthetics alone, there is certainly a place for a wild or climbing rose in the modern, eco-friendly garden where it can grow wildly (or just mildly) untamed, the way it should, and where it can harbour all the beneficial little creepies and crawlies, the way nature intended. Break free of rose garden conformity! A delightfully messy thicket of thorns is a bird and insect haven…providing habitat and food for predators and pollinators and all that jazz. An added bonus if your thicket blooms beautifully, smells fantastic, makes rose petal jam or produces yummy hips for the birdies.
Comment by Kendra — May 4, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
I love roses and lavender so call me an old fashioned gardener. But I loved the vegetable gardens at Villandry in France and in the corner of each bed was a red rose. I heard the story that the monks who used to tend the gardens used the roses to alert them to problems with the vegetables in the beds. I don’t know if it is true but the rose sentries are charming there and we have them in our vegetable garden too. Besides, if you have scented roses, you add scent and colour to your garden and that is never a bad thing!
Comment by Charlotte — May 4, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
Hi Andrea! Nope, no blue hair here! LOL. I wish I could go. I think it would be simply divine. However, my mother is having two surgeries in June, so I’ll need to stay nearby. I would need an entire post to convince you, but here’s this: the newer, disease resistant varieties need very little care and should be treated as pretty everblooming shrubs. I’m even trialing three new ones which are supposed to be fragrant. As to the other types of roses other than H.T.s, they are beautiful, smell good, and evoke romance. That’s reason enough for me.~~Dee
Comment by Dee/reddirtramblings — May 6, 2009 @ 10:37 am
Roses have such cachet — and for so many reasons. Throughout recorded history they have graced gardens with their scent and their variety. They lift spirits, they soothe, celebrate and inspire. Lovers communicate with them, poets extole them. They waken memories, pressed in the pages of an old book, and they bring comfort to saddened hearts. Our own garden has so many plants sharing its space, but its soul is found in the roses we treasure there.
Comment by Bev Price — May 6, 2009 @ 11:35 am
My mom has been trying to get me to get passionate about roses for years. My response: “convince me.” Why bother, I wondered, with such a troublesome plant (they have THORNS for heavens sakes) when you could have the effortless May bounty of an arbour covered with a montana clematis or the show stopping spectacle of a mass planting of orange-red-purple-salmon rhododendrons with a mollis azalea thrown in for scent or the floppy papavers (Patty’s plum, anyone)? I can still remember that the house got dusted on Saturday and the roses on Sunday, immediately after church. And then there was the mystery of all that pruning: when? how much? (and those thorns again!). Roses in my mom’s garden – sure, but in mine? I think not.
But then my mom took the rather presumptuous step of plopping a bare root of Fragrant Delight on my porch one November, insisting that “You must have a least one rose.” Looking at that naked and brown specimen only reinforced my contempt. But I’m a gardener; I had to plant it. And then June arrived. I must say that I’m a bit embarassed to repeat what a pushover I was. One whiff of those pink buds and I went over to the other side (they don’t call it Fragrant Delight for nothing!)
Roses in rows: not for me. Spraying: not for me. Dusting: not for me. But even I can remember to prune when the forsythia blooms. And the payoff from a little trouble with the pruners and a handlful of Brad Jabert’s fertilizer confirms it: you should listen to your mother.
Comment by Kate — May 6, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
Roses have so many relatives. They include the rare Cloudberry that is found in bogs and peatlands in Northern Countries. Burns Bog in Delta is the southern-most limits of its habitat on the West Coast of the Americas.
Strawberries, raspberries and apples are a few other relatives. You can tell them by their 5 petalled flowers. Of course, the domesticated roses have a lot more.
Roses give us rose hips which healthy for you but what I like most about them is their fragrance. There is nothing like a fragrant rose!
Comment by Eliza Olson — May 6, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
My first memory of a rose is of a dark red rose, most likely a hybrid tea, in my uncle’s garden with the sweetest smell imaginable. As an adult I have come to appreciate my uncle’s love of roses because I see how roses come to reflect our individual preferences and communicate our human particularities. A rose deserves space in a modern garden because it is the closest thing to a love-affair, one might say inter-species romance, in the garden where the human actors are the hopeless romantics! We await the rose buds in the spring; we do everything in our power to help them flourish; and we cherish every moment that they are in bloom, i.e. create bouquets, take pictures and smell their sweet profusions.
Comment by Bardia — May 7, 2009 @ 12:09 am
I don’t want to grow roses; I don’t want the fussing, the frustration, having to phone experts when you mess up, and worst, watching the rose named Just Joey that you transplanted from your mothers garden after her death, slowly, painfully give up its grip on life.
So why did I just buy four more roses? I put it down to the nice medication I am taking that makes me absurdly optimistic and fond of the damned things .. oh, and the stubby ruins of Just Joey just threw out a little branch.
My roses are life itself and I say that digging out yet another thorn sliver. Bless ‘em.
Comment by Kerry Moore — May 7, 2009 @ 8:43 am
i love the contrast and irony associated with roses. the beauty of the blooms comes with the danger of the thorns. roses are also not the tempermental shrub that they reputedly have. they give maximum bang for the buck for most of the growing season, and can fill a number of needs within the garden:
they make great shrubs, borders, specimens, hanging baskets, and can cover a trellis in a couple of seasons.
i look around at other gardens and see very little roses planted and the ones that are, are usually sad looking units. with a little care, anyone can have breathtaking roses- i am living proof of that- i have over 25 in my very tiny patio garden.
Comment by joey barton — May 7, 2009 @ 12:47 pm
Gotta say, I just don’t like ‘em.
I couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe because I find them a bit wiffly, the horticultural equivalent of granny’s frilly bloomers.
They’re just a bit too genteel and dainty for my liking…
Comment by The Drooling Vegetable — May 7, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
What better way to explore colour in the modern garden than with roses? Like a throw pillow or rug, they can inject warmth and personality into an otherwise sterile environment. A garden without roses is like a house without art on the walls.
Comment by Niki P — May 8, 2009 @ 11:25 am
The yellow rose of Texas…the song rings in my ears whenever anyone talks about roses! Being born & raised in Texas I have seen my share of yellow roses in addition to a wide variety of colors, shapes & styles. No garden or garden area is complete without at least a single rose bush to bring the whole place together. The heart & soul of a garden rests on that same concept of “The Secret Garden” that has arbors, climbing rose bushes and splashes of colors & smells. However simple or elaborate this fabulous flower may appear…it is extreme to the max in durability, presence, fragrence & beauty. “The yellow rose of Texas….”
Comment by Pam Cirkiel — May 8, 2009 @ 3:47 pm
Roses give such long bloom times, but I actually like all the uses of the spent petals! I use them in soap, bathbomb and candle making and even collected 2 huge shopping bagfuls which kids spread around at our wedding!
Comment by Alison Mills — May 8, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
Roses! Take me away!
Comment by Stephy — May 12, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
@#49 – Really? I think they’re more like the horticultural equivalent of saucy ruffles on a can-can dancer’s skirt. Certain roses may be prim, but smelling the rich scent of a damask rose or watching the light absorb into the dark velvety red petals of a ‘Black Beauty’ or a ‘Crimson Bouquet’ is more self-indulgent and luxurious than genteel. Maybe it’s the rich literary tradition as much as the plant, but to me roses exude passion, the thorny side of love as well as the pleasurable. Not to mention the voluptuous red hips! If that’s schmaltzy, well, then, I’m OK with some schmaltz. Chicness and modernity are transitory (black mondo grass anyone?). Roses are timeless.
And @ 13 other Megan – Yes! Rosa glauca is extraordinary!
Comment by Megan the 2nd — May 12, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
whew! I’m getting tired, just scrolling past all of those comments just to get to the bottom of the page. wow, so roses. I myself have the sad burden of having a split-personality when I am gardening. One part of me longs for the climbing ivy and roses of regency england, a sweet fantasy of simpler times. The other is an urgent fascination of the urban, modern, and often chic gardens that ooze with ingenuity and individuality. Here is my attmept to bridge the two, most opposite worlds. As the rose head it’s self has many attributes, both edible and ornamental, merely the flower is not the only call for attention. The rose its self is the perfect bridge between past and present for it holds all that we sterioize in the two. The head is a pungent scent encases in layer upon layer of petal history, the stem a resistent rebel of thorns and vice. When coupled with an urban background, such as concret or steel is enhances the rebel vibe.whether you are looking for the romantic element of roses, such as here http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/3215206791/
the more urban quality herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/fatoooma/2344489863/
or something alltogether different. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosephotosetc/200105803/
I hope that if you choose roses, it is not for the aroma, the color, or the edibility, it is because just as every other flower, it is unique, verisitile,and has a very vain personality of it’s own. I can understand how you can have an aversion to a certain flower. My friend recently went to a tulip festival, I was less than interested,as I have always seen tulips as a common, silly flower. But, after hearing her descriptions of colors and scents, I was gently swayed into the favor of what I would have formerly seen as a lesser flower. I urge you to not only picture the traditional red rose in your mind amongst blue-haired ladies and walking sticks, but to look into the modern varieties of roses, such as can be found here http://www.ashdownroses.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=104
Thank you for continuing to strain your eyes to hear my small bit of defense to an all-too-often underappreciated flower. Sincerely, Shelby Harper (teen gardener) (www.shelbyharper.blogspot.com)
Comment by Shelby — May 12, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
ah, and remember,as an old greek proverb says: “The rose’s prime lasts one brief hour of morn,that past, I find no rose-only thorn.” and yet a thorn it’s self is still something to be admired. What is a rose, if not a flower, so stubborn that it loses it’s brilliant head before it would lose it’s defenses.
Comment by Shelby — May 12, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
Roses most certainly deserve a place in a modern garden. I am saying this not because I am a rose nut, not because I love roses, write about roses or talk about roses. Roses are not just for the rich or people with lot of time to take care of them. They are for all who can appreciate beauty. However, have a few rose bushes (not more than ten) that are fairly disease resistant and fragrant. We associate fragrance and beauty with roses. David Austin roses have fragrance, and beauty; they are cold hardy, and fairly disease resistant. These modern English roses have the shape, form and fragrance of Old Garden roses and at the same time English roses are repeat bloomers. You cannot simply use lack of time, energy or space as excuse for not having roses in a modern garden. Be smart to choose the right variety to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of roses.
Comment by Dr. Lakshmi Sridharan — May 14, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
Do roses desreve a place in a modern garden? I will go one step farther, my friend—A rose is a must in any garden– Cottagey, English, country or modern. You can certainly have an environmentally friendly garden with Earth kind roses. Have not you heard of “Knock Out” roses that come in different colors? You can certainly have a couple of these gorgeous trouble free roses in a modern garden; no need to spray harmful fungicides or pesticides that poison Mother Earth or the air you breathe in. You just have to be selective and wise in the choice of roses in a landscape. It is easy to take care of a few rose plants with drip irrigation, mulching and fertilizing with compost and bio-fertilizers. Companion planting is another way to spice up the garden and have blooms all around the year. No excuses, Lady. If I can do it with a tight schedule and enjoy the company of roses, you can do it also.
Comment by Dr. T. M. Vatsala — May 15, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
roses-I have a climbing rose that has survived my 29 years of living in this house and its lovely to see it bloom every year-in fact people in the alley get to enjoy it as well. Once you learn how to prune and fertilize occasionally roses are not that difficult-well okay there are all the various things that can go wrong but I think they are beautiful-big small what ever-they are classic and of course are a nice analogy to life in general…
Comment by Meredyth — May 17, 2009 @ 6:58 am
Roses are classics and that’s enough for me. Classics endure while other trands come and go. There’s a reason people still wear the little black cocktail dress even if what you accessorize it with changes from decade to decade. With the huge variety of styles, colours, scents and what not, a rose bush or two can be a lovely anchor for your garden, whatever style you go far. The flowers or the foliage make a superb backdrop for all kinds of other perennials or annuals. And a nice climber is superb for someone in the city with only a small balcony for their garden. One large pot with the rose, throw a decorative grass or two in as well or some scented annuals and you get privacy plus a sense of the country in the middle of the city. Makes even a small balcony a quiet spot for a glass of wine or cup of tea as you choose.
You can make tea with the hips, use the petals to decorate a very chic dish to serve friends and… oh my, the list goes on. Roses have endured many a fashion change in gardens and they always will.
Keep the classics alive and play with the other things to keep contemporary, I say.
Comment by Lynn Welburn — May 17, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Roses.
I’ll admit it, I do not care very much for them.
I have to take care of a formal rose garden once a week and it never ceases to put me in a disagreeable mood.
I’m not into chemical warfare but my client demands a perfect looking rose so all winter long after the major skin puncturing pruning season I work on spraying the roses with copper, sulphur and all the other supposed ‘organic’ sprays to fend off the dreaded summer diseases.
It does no good. Black spot, rust, and powdery mildew all come to mock me for my good intentions.
I spend hours picking off diseased leaves while shredding my arms to bits.
If I could afford it, I’d drop this job in a NY minute.
I hate maintaining roses.
They are not worth the amount of labor required.
Blahhhhhkkkkkk. hate ‘em.
Comment by Michelle D. — May 18, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
Roses remind me of the love of my life, my wife of nearly 50 years, whose beauty never fades. Like her, they’re responsive to tender loving care which I give them. They bring daily delight as I see their radiant beauty.
My life would have been so barren in comparison with the one I’ve shared with my beautiful Val. So barren too would be our garden without the beauty of the roses that grow there.
Sure, they require lots of care and sometimes, despite our best efforts to nurture and protect them, things don’t work out. Many friends have said to me, ” I don’t grow roses, they’re too much trouble.” If we had said that after the difficult times in our life together, and not wanted to care for each other, we wouldn’t have had the wonderful life we’ve had.
So, if we’d not troubled to grow roses as we have in the nearly 30 years we’ve lived in British Columbia, we would not have had the reward of seeing the radiant blooms and delightful foliage and smelling the sensuous fragrance hanging in the air. This is what greets us each (in season)when we open the front door of our home and look out on our avenue of tree roses to the large rose bed in our front garden.
That experience is exceeded only by our marriage (50 years this September.) That is why we believe roses deserve a place of honour in the modern garden.
Comment by Brian Cole — May 20, 2009 @ 11:06 am
Roses, Roses, Roses, and more roses and particularly Rugosa Roses. They are the ones that light up my life when I turn into the driveway. I converted the grass lawn to a bed of Rugosa roses. Planted closely together they form a sea of roses. When they are all in full bloom, the scent is heartwarming, and heart uplifting. In the fall the hips add that special colour to bring full circle to the growing season.
Comment by Beatrijs Brett — May 20, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
Roses are a sophisticated and distinguished plant whose characteristics set them apart from all others. Their stature is one of strength with tough thorny canes projecting a sense of masculinity, stunning colorful flowers a soft touch of timeless feminine beauty, and glossy green foliage and an upright build a sense of regal superiority. They are truly the royalty of the plant world. No other plant has flowers with such a diversity of style and color. Roses certainly have a place in the modern garden and are for the modern gardener. Anyone can grow a rose bush with a few common-sense principles. With that said, a gardener becomes a rose grower in their quest to master their roses’ complexities and perfect their beauty. Are roses too complex, too finicky? That depends if you actually like to garden of if you just like to look at your garden. If you are the later I can assure you that your other plants will not see their potential either. I have an inordinate number of rose bushes and frankly I spend more time on my lawn.
Roses are only for blue-haired old ladies? You have got to be kidding me!
What is old fashioned about doing internet research on all of the many products available that aid in disease prevention and growth stimulation and where you can buy these? What is geriatric about lugging around 50 pound bags of organic soil amendments because your too thrifty to buy expensive fertilizer at the hardware store? How often do you see your grandmother at the local soil supply outlet picking up a truck load of compost? These are things I do FOR my grandmother, not the other way around.
I have spent my whole life growing and perfecting my rose garden. I am quite sure that with a gardener’s youthful exuberance and the aid of technology roses are perhaps even better suited for a younger generation of gardeners in today’s modern garden.
Comment by Jason — May 20, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
Reasons why rose is a must in a modern garden:
1. It creates a beautiful focal point in your garden and grabs yours and your visitors like nothing else does.
2. What other perennial plant rewards with beauty and fragrance for such a long period? Some roses bloom from spring to hard frost while most perennial plants only flower for few weeks in a year.
3. Contrasts to popular beliefs, roses aren’t just for cottages and English gardens. You can find hundreds of modern looking roses in a rainbow colors that will go well with any modern gardens.
4. Roses aren’t diva queens that need lots of pampering to stay alive and look good. They are very winter hardy and a lot of roses are quite low in maintenance.
5. Roses symbolize love and friendship. I think of my loved ones when I see them. Heucheras or herbs just don’t bring out the romance in people.
6. Few other plants are as useful as roses: beautiful flowers to enjoy fresh or dried. Even thorny canes come in handy – I use them to build a fence around an area in my yard that a raccoon uses as his personal dumping ground. He hasn’t pooped there since. Yay!
7. Roses live a long long time, some for a few generations. I think it’s really neat to plant a rose that your grandchilden can enjoy and remember you by.
8. Last but not least, if you don’t like the roses you have seen, you probably just haven’t found the right one yet. Go ask Brad at Select Roses to pick a good one for you. As a serious gardener, I think you need to explore a bit more on rose planting!
Comment by Kelly — May 20, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
Roses are known to more people on this planet than the gardners who cultivate them. They are admired for the deeper beauty that parallels life itself. Roses are the marriage of our senses.
Comment by Len Bidwell — May 20, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
Roses deserve a place in the modern garden because their “curb appeal” is outstanding. Sure the honeysuckles smell fantastic and squashs are equally fun and unruly but nothing gets the neighbours sniffing, smelling and saying what a pretty flower, great job and green thumb you have faster then a rose in bloom –remember these are the flowers people pay a fortune for at least once a year!
Comment by Tava Henault — May 21, 2009 @ 3:54 pm
Ah, the rose in the ‘modern’ garden. You enter a rose garden and close your eyes first. Your nose will lead you to the romantic gardens of Persia, the voluptuous and blousy formal gardens of France, the fruitily scented orchards of our own Okanagan. You open your eyes for the gift of colour they give, the riots of every shade but true blue.
These are ageless beauties that even as hybrid teas, can be cared for easily and organically. The scents, the colours, and the tastes of roses – the benefits of those vitamin enriched and fulsome red hips in jellies and beverages, the sweetly and fruitily scented petals scattered in your favourite soaking tub, scattered about your dining table, and even pressed with almond oil for a wonderful scented perfume. And of course, lest we forget, cut and set in any container, they are blissful.
I have grown roses of many types for many years now – flicking or squirting off maurauding aphids if need be, religiously burying old fish heads and parts deep beside the bushes in spring, and spending most of my time just enjoying them. The first rose I loved was in my Uncle’s garden when I was about 8. That ‘Peace’ rose was beautiful, and the thorns on the new growth would snap off at the stem obligingly, and with a bit of spit, I would gleefully stick it onto my nose and run inside, telling my Uncle I was a rhinosaurus! Of course he’d bluster a bit about my being at his roses again, but I also saw him smile, and he’d tell me about how he would care for them, and how beautiful they were. A love affair was born.
The modern garden? It should never be without at least 1 rose, whether a hardy groundcover, a tough, hip laden rugosa or an infatuously fragrant english or old world rose. Easy, tough, giving of scent, colour, fruit and beautiful memories.
Plant a rose today. I think I will! :-)
Comment by Darlene Mercer — May 25, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
Rose
sweet smelling
birds, bees, wasps, ants
Where would we be without the rose?
They charm, bewitch and beguile us
their spells enchant us
sweet smelling
r
o
s
e
Comment by R. Thatcher — May 27, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
Roses can be grown organically and should be. Many companion plants among the roses are a way to keep the balance between predator and beneficial insects. I grow grasses, lavenders, herbs, chives, and garlic among my roses.
The bloom and smell of a rose is fleeting but so moving and enjoyable to all the senses.
They definitely deserve a place of honor in all modern gardens.
Comment by Barbara May — May 30, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
In Nanaimo we have many beautiful, natural areas for walking,Buttertubs Marsh for example. Stands of wild Roses are abundant in these native areas,adding immensely to their beauty. Modern shrub Roses recreate this exquisite look in our gardens,doing it even better! There is no better plant than the Rose to provide structure in New American Style gardens(Van Sweden, Oehme). Modern Roses are disease free, drought tolerant, adapt to most soil conditions or light levels and have four season interest. Brightly hued folige unfurls in early spring, promising rebirth after cold, bitter weather. Late spring to fall displays fat buds unfurling into exuberant flowers in rainbow colours. Autumn finds Rose leaves adding to the show with chameleon tones of wine and gold. Winter landscapes are enlivened by stands of twiggy branches bright with abundant berries. Snow damage is minimal, as flexible Rose canes bounce right back after being squashed by heavy drifts! Truely Natures gift,Roses are welcome in all types of gardens, both informal and formal. Roses whisper in our souls,their voices heavy with untold years, sparkling with new dreams. Darragh.
Comment by Darragh Worledge — June 1, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Roses have a place in every garden in that there is an extreme range of colours to compliment most any other of your plantings.
One of the grandest reasons, for me, is that they bring back poignant memories of old homesteads. My grandmother had a rose named Lincoln? I believe she called it. My mother simply had red roses & Lady Banks. “I” actually received a rose as the birthday present I asked for as a child of about 9. It is still blooming in my mother’s garden, tho she has long been passed away from the garden she loved.
Comment by Nancy Rutland — June 6, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Well, today is the last day of the World Rose Festival. Will you tell us who won the tickets and roses?
Comment by mary — June 21, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
Hi Mary,
You can read about the winners here: http://heavypetal.ca/archives/2009/06/why-grow-a-rose/
Comment by Andrea Bellamy — June 22, 2009 @ 6:56 pm