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| Photo Credit: Texas Agricultural Extension Service |
| Carefree Beauty’s double pink flowers really pop as a perennial border accent. |
Who doesn’t love roses? The look, the scent, the romance…the work?! As beautiful as the plants are, it’s the maintenance issue that tends to scare some home gardeners away. So the folks at Texas A&M University set out to identify the toughest roses on the market. After a five-year study, testing more than 100 roses, they’ve named 15 varieties as being environmentally-friendly – requiring little supplemental irrigation and almost no maintenance (that is, no harsh chemicals).
Say hello to EarthKind™ roses. Evaluated in Texas statewide, these winners were found to thrive in almost any soil type, from the well-drained acid sands of east Texas to the poorly aerated, highly alkaline clays of the central and southwest parts of the state. All showed good heat- and drought tolerance, and they maintained bloom production even through searing summers. And although these beauties aren’t immune to pest problems, their tolerance is so great, gardeners rarely have to use chemical pesticides. While the plants were tested under Texas conditions, some thrive in Southern climes and are hardy to the northernmost areas of the country, too. So no matter where you live, chances are at least one of these environmentally-friendly roses will fit nicely in your garden. The long-blooming plants (most flower from April-November) cover the gamut – some are old rose varieties, others are “found,” and there are some rather recent introductions, as well. Rosa ‘Belinda’s Dream’ is a medium-sized shrub rose with double, fragrant, pink flowers. Hardy to Zone 5, this very showy bloomer reaches 5 feet tall and wide and makes a great garden specimen or large-container planting. Rosa ‘BUCbi’ (Carefree Beauty™) is a moderately fragrant found pink rose with double flowers. Reaching 5 feet tall and wide, this bush’s nice form creates an attractive accent for perennial borders and beds, as well as a striking sea of color in a mass planting. It’s got large hips come fall and is hardy to Zone 4.
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