Low Maintenance Roses for Aesthetic Value and Landscape Use
Authors: D.V.S. Raju, Prabhat Kumar and Namita
Division of Floriculture and Landscaping
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012

Roses are one of the important plants that are used in landscaping and for aesthetic values. The concept of landscape roses is in vogue in the West and slowly it is gaining importance in developing countries. Generally, landscape roses are low maintenance roses which bloom continuously in the season, having pest and disease resistance and hardy with large clusters of colourful roses. This Easy to Grow Roses are Colourful and Long Blooming. These are strong performing plants that work hard with minimal care even in the dead of summer, when landscape duties are the last thing on our mind. Generally such roses are preferred which require very little spraying for plant protection. This need in environmentally sensitive areas has led to the development of low maintenance roses. If any plant has a bad reputation as far as maintenance is concerned - it’s the rose. While beautiful in bloom, many often shy away from this plant because of the pruning, insects, and its bare winter form. Many landscape designers are often coming to the defense of the Jekyll and Hyde of the plant world. To be at their best, they should be groomed during the blooming season, often succumb to insect attack, (need chemical control- spray or systemic application) and need to be pruned in a specific manner during the dormant season. Another negative of the hybrid tea roses is their bare winter form. It is preferable to spot this type of rose throughout the landscape, or place a rose garden in a spot where its “Bone Yard Nature” does not command prime attention in the winter garden.

The Butterfly Roses, sporting single flowers that change colour as the flower matures. Chinese Butterfly Rose having creamy yellow, pink and mauve coloured flowers is a large screening plant which grows to approximately 12 feet wide and 8 feet tall. It blooms all season, and is nearly evergreen in the winter - a rare trait for a rose. Other Butterfly roses are Flutter by and Tequila Sunrise. Flutter by has overlapping yellow and peachy - orange flowers and grows to about 7 feet tall by 5 feet wide. Tequila Sunrise is a blend of red, peach, white and orange. All Butterfly roses have single type flowers and are self cleaning. This means that when the flower is spent, they simply fall from the plant, and disappear - no cleanup needed. These roses can grow for years without any pruning whatsoever. However, because of the wide spreading nature of the Mutabilis variety, edging may be necessary to control its wide spreading nature - therefore spot it carefully. They need only a hard pruning once every 5 to 8 years.

Rose varieties having very good foliage preferably pigmented are required as flowering in landscape roses is limited to a season. Generally landscape roses come in a large range of colors, sizes and habits. The roses with compact rounded habit are required to be bred. The varieties which look leggy and naked when not in flowering are not preferred. Varieties which bear in clusters and the flowers or petals dropping giving way to new blooms are required. The varieties which look bad with the retained spent blooms are to be avoided. Varieties viz., Pink Knock Out and Pinata which flower continuously and are disease resistant are suitable as landscape or low maintenance roses. Varieties like Pusa Ajay, Pusa Baramasi and Sadabahar developed at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi are suitable as low maintenance roses. One more important factor is the selection of root stock for different climates and landscape situations. The root stocks resistant to salinity and other difficult conditions should be tested and bred so that the spectrum of conditions where roses are grown can be improved.

VARIETIES

Knock Out

Flowers medium, Light red to deep pink, single 5-11 petals, 1.5 inches, born in small clusters, slight tea fragrance, prickles are moderate, foliage large, medium green, semi-glossy, very resistant to diseases, bushy, rounded medium. It is an ideal rounded rose variety for landscaping. It does not require dead heading and, in winter, displays showy rose hips, a berry like fruit. The plant gets 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. The branches can be cut for indoor arrangements.

Pinata

Buds are ovoid, flowers yellow overlaid with vermillion, double 28 petals, 3 inches, exhibition form, slight fragrance, semi climbing growth.

Folklore

Hybrid tea, buds long pointed, flowers orange, reverse lighter, double, 44 petals, 4.5 inches, exhibition form, intense fragrance, foliage glossy, very tall and vigorous, upright, bushy.

Arjun

It is a hybrid seedling of Blithe Sprit and Montezuma. It has very long shoots of medium thickness emerging from the base. Porcelain rose colour, large, beautiful shaped blooms are borned on long shoots. It produces on an average 13 blooms per bush during winter flush. This is upright growing hardy plant, tolerant to diseases and pests.

Priyadarshani

It is a hybrid seedling of Pink Parfait and First Prize. The flowers of rhodamine pink colour suffused with deeper pink towards the edges of petals produce a bicolour effect. The flowers are produced in great profusion on medium and long shoots on compact bushes. Flowers are slightly fragrant.

Raktagandha

A hybrid seedling of Christian Dior x seedling of Carrousel. It has shining red, orange pointed buds open to large high centered flowers. The flowers are tolerant to winter injury and having slight fragrant.

Arunima

It is a seedling of Frolic. Deep pink flowers are produced in small bunches which are having long lasting quality. They are very compact bushes and need low maintenance for overall growth.

Himangini

A seedling of Saratoga. Ivory white, medium sized flowers are produced in huge trusses. Plants get covered with a mass of white flowers of very long lasting quality. It has recurrent flowering.

Rose Sherbet

A seedling of well known rose Gruss a Tepletz. It has free flowering and produces large number of flowers in small clusters. The variety has deep pink, scented and stands up to cold nights in winter. This is suitable for mass planting and for rose hedge.

Sadabahar

It is a seedling of Frolic. Deep pink flowers are produced in clusters in such a great numbers that the plant remains covered with mass of flowers almost throughout the season. Very vigorous, winter hardy and tolerant to most of the diseases.

Pusa Ajay

Foliage is pigmented and glossy, dark pink coloured flowers, The petals (numbering 35-40) are fleshy and are dark pink in colour. Recurrent blooming. This variety is moderately tolerant to powdery mildew and black spot diseases. The blooms are mildly fragrant and are suitable for cut flower and exhibition purpose.

Flower Carpet

These roses were one of the first roses marketed as groundcovers. These all-summer bloomers get 18 to 24 inches tall and wide and come in red, white, yellow, pink, apple blossom and coral. Several of these have dense clusters of semi-double flowers. It can be cut for indoor arrangements. This is the top-selling landscape rose in the world

The Lady Elsie May

The rose has a coral, semi-double, slightly fragrant flower on a shrub that gets about 3 feet tall and wide. Another All-America Rose Selection winner, the stems are long enough for cutting for indoor arrangements.

William Baffin

It is one of the hardiest of the low maintenance shrub roses. The deep strawberry pink blooms are extremely cold-hardy. This shrub rose was hybridized by Kordessii in 1983. The blooms come in clusters of 30 more flowers. The colour is a lovely deep strawberry pink, with just a touch of white in the center. Flowers are semi-double, with brilliant yellow stamens. The foliage on these low maintenance roses is a medium green color, and very glossy.




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