The right rose for beginners
BLOOMS: GO FOR ONE THAT CATCHES YOUR HEART, WHETHER IT IS COLOUR, FRAGRANCE OR SHAPE
It helps if the rose grows easily, is disease resistant and needs very little care.
Valentine’s Day is around the corner and a rose is one of the most obvious gifts. It’s beautiful, fragrant and romantic, the perfect package. Most rose lovers remember their first rose, which means that we were all beginners at some stage.
When choosing a rose as a beginner, go for one that catches your heart, whether it is the colour, the fragrance or the shape.
Of course, it helps if the rose grows easily, is disease resistant and needs very little care.
After many years of helping people to find their perfect roses, these are the five that I think are winners for beginners:
Garden Queen KORbilant (N) is a hybrid tea rose with huge, deeply perfumed pink and violet blooms that glow in the sun. It is an excellent garden rose, neat and compact, and grows to about hip height. It is also super in a container, to decorate an outdoor living area or patio. It is an Eco chic rose which means that it is disease resistant.
Garden Princess KORspobux (P) is the daughter of Garden Queen. The blooms are just as large and fragrant, but of a soft pink shade. This rose produces masses of flowers, making a show in the garden and in the home because the pickable blooms have strong, straight stems that last well in the vase. It is compact, neat, and easy to care for.
“Mr Lincoln” is the most fragrant red rose, and it has been a favourite for generations. The blooms are elegant, on long pickable stems. It is the eternal Valentine’s rose, a true classic. The plant is easy to grow, with many, long sturdy stems. It stands out in the garden and its petals can be used to make rose jam or perfume the bathwater. “Memoire” is a pure white rose that speaks of youthful innocence and purity. Every garden should have a white rose because it lights up the garden at night. This one is also strongly fragrant with long-lasting blooms. It is nice and compact, growing to hip height.
“Saints Jubilee” (LUDshedou (P) is a winner if you want strong fragrance. The blooms are eye-catching scarlet with a contrasting creamy base. It flowers repeatedly and the neat bush grows to hip height. An ideal garden cut rose.
For more information visit www.ludwigsroses.co.za