The Latest Thing in Roses
All-America Rose Selections has introduced three great roses this year. Each year this organization evaluates seedlings in 17 nationwide trial grounds for a 2-year period. The best performers are designated as AARS Award Winners.
‘Strike It Rich’ is a gorgeous grandiflora with spicy fragrance, loads of blooms and super-long, elegant buds of gold polished with rosy pink. The long-lasting apricot-colored flowers contrast beautifully with the dark green leaves and unusual red stems. It’s natural disease resistance and strong vigor make this a winning rose.
The second AARS introduction is a lovely white floribunda named ‘Moondance’. Big clusters of beautifully formed buds open to sparkling creamy white blooms held atop lots of deep green leaves. It grows 4 to 5 feet tall in an upright form. With a light raspberry fragrance and consistent bloom in all climates, this is a fine rose to light up the garden.
‘Rainbow Knock Out’ is the third winner for 2007. This shrub rose has soft coral-pink flowers with yellow centers. Disease resistant and long blooming, it makes a bushy 3-by-3-foot shrub that is almost complete resistance to blackspot, powdery mildew, and rust. It reblooms from spring through fall in most climates, with lovely, single 2-inch blooms that change colors as they mature. The various colors of buds, new blooms, and mature flowers make an ever-changing array of color.
Another offspring of the famous ‘Knock Out’ rose is called ‘Home Run’. This flame-red, single rose is extremely disease-resistant. The rounded, bushy plant grows 3-4 feet tall and wide. It is fast to flower and it blooms all season long with minimum effort on your part.
Although ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ was introduced in England in 2003, it comes to us this year for the first time from Weeks Roses. This lovely floribunda is a completely new color in roses. It’s dark violet-blue flowers have a striking white center which appears as the 15-20 petaled flowers mature. The foliage is a light, clean, sunny green, and the flowers are carried in large clusters on a medium growing plant with shrub-like growth. It has good disease-resistance and a moderately sweet spicy fragrance.
The most unusual rose to appear this year is ‘Topsy Turvy’. Gorgeous long white buds swirl open to reveal a surprising scarlet interior. With petals that open in an unusual pinwheel form, the flower clusters are bright red with white accents, which can be mistaken for azaleas at a distance.
If English roses are your favorites, consider ‘Noble Anthony’, a bright magenta pink rose with very double flowers and a strong old rose fragrance. Its beautifully formed flowers are borne on a short, upright bush that is resistant to black spot.
Whether you’re thinking of adding some new roses to your garden, or giving one as a gift for Valentine’s Day, now is a perfect time to look for new roses.
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