If you like roses but don’t grow any of your own because of the work involved in their upkeep, you may want to try growing shrub roses to get your feet wet.
The benefits of shrub roses are many. Shrub roses come in all colors so you’re not limited in color variety. Shrub roses come in different heights and widths so you’re not limited by size. They don’t have pruning rules so you don’t have to worry about the angle of the cut or where on the branch to cut. All you really need to get started with shrub roses is an area with full sun that you can reach with a watering hose.
If you like pink roses, The Fairy may be for you. The Fairy is one of the easiet shrub roses to grow and it gets covered with pink blossoms. It grows to about two feet tall and is winter hardy. If you live in the Northeast, The Fairy may be just the rose bush you’re looking for that can survive a Northeast winter. Another easy to manage pink shrub rose is Bonica. Bonica is also winter hardy and resistant to disease. Bonica grows taller than The Fairy and can average between three to five feet tall.
If you prefer white roses, you may want to look at Alba Meidiland. It’s your basic ground cover shrub rose. It’s great in full sun spots that you want to fill with foliage but don’t want to spend a lot of time planting. It grows about six feet wide but won’t block the view of other shrubbery since it only reaches about two feet tall. If you would like a similar effect but in red, then try Scarlet Meidiland. It blooms in clusters and it is winter hardy. It grows the same six feet wide like Alba Meidiland but grows a little bit taller reaching to three feet in height.
Not to be left out of a discussion on shrub roses, the Rosa Rugosa reigns supreme of the easy care winter hardy shrub rose category. Rosa Rugosa originally came from Asia though there are some people that still believe they’re native to New England since they’re peppered along so many New England beaches. Almost every beach on Cape Cod has Rosa Rugosas somewhere on the outskirts. Rosa Rugosas are very fragrant and are known for having large rose hips that some people like to make into jelly. The are disease resistant and winter hardy. They have a strong growth pattern and send shoots underground that you may see pop up near your main planting.
The main point of upkeep for shrub roses is to keep them in full sun and give them a deep watering once a week to promote strong root growth. They are easy to dead-head once the flowers go by and dead heading them will keep them looking pretty and will give you practice in beginning rose care.
