CHOOSING THE RIGHT ROSE or which rose suits my garden?
Cottage garden = roses. Lots of roses.
And for all of you who say: They have thorns, they have diseases or I don't like roses (who on earth doesn't like roses??? Write to me, pleaaaaase - I look forward to a heated exchange) - there are thornless ones, very healthy ones and sooo many different ones.
And that makes the choice difficult.
With over 30,000 varieties of roses , this is not so easy.
That's why I'm giving you a guide on how to best choose the right roses for you to transform your garden into a blooming and fragrant dream.
First, a few basic questions need to be clarified.
What kind of rose should it be anyway?
A shrub rose? A climbing rose? One for the pot?
What color should it be? What size?
Fragrance would be nice. A filled one or an insect-friendly unfilled one? Disease-resistant, of course. And flowers? Preferably all year round!
So that you don't get lost in this jungle, I have put together a guide to help you find the right rose for your garden. And it's best to go through it in the following order:
1st location
2. Soil condition
3. Desired size
4th color
5. Flowering period
However, there are other criteria that should be the next priority in the decision, such as frost resistance, scent, pot suitability and whether it produces rose hips.
But first, let’s look at the decisive factors:
1. The location
In which direction will the rose be placed? How many hours of sun will it get there per day? Roses are basically sun worshippers, which means they need a lot of light. A rose needs around 5 - 6 hours of sun per day, but there are also roses that do well in partial shade.
Although they like it warm, they also need air circulation. They don't like standing heat, such as on south-facing walls. Southeast or southwest locations are best.
2. What is the condition of the soil?
Roses prefer well-drained, deep soils. They like clay soils, but waterlogging in heavy soils or poor nutrient storage in sandy soils are not suitable (except for the "beach rose" Rosa rugosa, for example, which also copes well there). But any soil can also be improved and replaced at certain points.
It is important that a rose is not planted where a rose has already grown. If it is to be planted in the same location, the soil must be completely replaced - about 50 cm deep.
3. The size of the rose
There are many different groups of roses, from shrub roses, bed roses, ground cover roses, climbing roses to rambling roses and standard roses, each with its own characteristic growth type. Since it is not entirely unimportant how big the plant will grow, this should also be carefully considered.
How much space is available at the desired location? Should the rose decorate a bare wall, provide privacy, should larger areas be planted or should it set accents in the garden? At the edge of the bed (smaller) or more in the background (larger). Alone, in a group or in a pot?
Once these questions have been answered, you are one step closer to finding the right rose.
A rough overview:
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Shrub roses can grow up to three meters tall. They are suitable as background planting or eye-catchers in beds, as solitaires or next to each other, but they also make beautiful hedges.
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Bed roses , smaller and more reserved, they look excellent in the perennial bed, e.g. together with salvia, catnip, phlox or delphinium.
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Ground cover roses , the even smaller variant, are, as the name suggests, an ideal plant for larger areas or slopes.
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Standard roses , i.e. rose trees, add a noble touch and emphasize certain points in the garden. They are also well suited for lines of sight, for example. And in a (deep) pot they brighten up a balcony or terrace.
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Cascade roses , my insider tip for giving the garden an enchanted touch with simple means. Just one is enough to set accents in special places.
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Climbing roses and rambler roses are my absolute favorites, indispensable in a cottage garden. Rambler roses can grow between three and twelve meters high, depending on the variety, enchant trees with a second bloom, cover old sheds, decorate bare corners, cover terraces and shade favorite spots.
4. The colors
Roses come in every color imaginable: from white, cream, apricot, yellow, pale pink, strong pink, pink, red, dark red, purple-violet to almost shimmering black and multi-colored. There are no blue roses. The decision for a certain color is ultimately a matter of taste.
The location may be a good guide here: If the rose is to be planted in a bed with other perennials, it would be nice if they match in color. If the rose is planted alone, e.g. in a cascade, a splash of color can be a nice eye-catcher. If it is planted in front of a lot of greenery or is to brighten up a dark spot, white is a good choice.
The color often also depends on which rose variety meets the other desired criteria.
5. Flowering period
Who doesn't want a rose garden that blooms all summer long? It's important to note that the main rose blooming season usually takes place in June.
To our great joy, there are now many, many roses that bloom more often, some of which are even reliable perpetual bloomers.
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Once-blooming roses, especially the historical roses, usually begin flowering in mid to late June and can last up to five or six weeks.
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Repeat-flowering or remontant roses, mostly modern varieties, usually open their flowers in June and then delight us with further flowers throughout the summer. Some even bloom well into autumn.
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Some wild roses bloom as early as the beginning of May and produce rose hips in the fall.
If you combine roses with different flowering periods and staggered flowering times, you can get the summer-long flowering
Rosengarten is very close.
Let me just point out a few minor things.
insect happiness
Unfilled or slightly filled roses are buffets for bees and insects. The open flowers invite the industrious beneficial insects to collect their nectar and many of them provide food for birds with the rose hips they form in the autumn.
roses for the pot
If you don't have a garden but still want to decorate your balcony or terrace with roses, there are many types of roses that are suitable for pots. Bed roses, ground cover roses, small shrub roses or hybrid tea roses.
Proven varieties include Heidetraum, Chippendale, Rose de Resht, Jacques Cartier, Lady of Shallot, Darcey Bussell, Marie Curie, Hansestadt Rostock...
And even compact climbing roses like Jasmina or Florentina do well.
The pot should be at least 40 cm deep and 35 cm in diameter. Please avoid waterlogging. You can also place weaker-growing partners at the rose's feet, such as hanging bellflowers or ornamental sage.
Diseases
If you already have a few roses in your shortlist, pay attention to their susceptibility to disease. This is sometimes related to the intended location - too little air circulation, too little sun, depleted soil, waterlogging?
To be on the safe side, you can look for the ADR seal. These types are usually very robust.
winter hardiness
In our latitudes it is also advisable to take winter hardiness into account.
There are winter hardy and winter hardier ones :-)
scent
And finally – do you want to walk through your garden and stick your nose into each flower?
Then you should perhaps go for the historical roses, they smell delicious, are also hardy and frost-hardy.
The only disadvantage: most varieties only bloom once.
You can easily order roses from large rose growers online.
On their pages you will usually also find appropriate selection criteria that will help you with your search.
Then I wish you much success in choosing your new roses and a rose-filled summer!
And here is a selection of my personal favorite roses (click on them to see their names):
