A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at Roses, Inc. Green Country in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, one of my favorite towns. Speaking about tough roses for the Oklahoma landscape, makes me think of all the roses I’ve loved and grown here. It is a wonderful thing to get to chat with folks who adore the same plant you enjoy. Roses were my first passion, and while I don’t buy every new one now because of Rose Rosette Disease, I still love them, and I love gardeners who do too.
The nursery tempted me, and I brought home four roses for my garden. ‘September Song’, a Griffith Buck rose, was one. I do enjoy Dr. Buck’s roses, and September is my birthday month. It seemed a good one to add. I also got another ‘Darcey Bussell’ which I placed in front of Mary in her garden. Behind it is ‘Tropicana,’ a Hybrid Tea that Bill was growing when I met him. It’s probably 35 years old. I think he had it ten years before he met me. You may remember I tested three different roses for David Austin a few years ago. ‘Darcey Bussell’ is the hardiest, most fragrant and disease resistant of the three. I also got ‘South Africa’ which is the first Grandiflora I’ve grown in years. I put it in a special place in front of ‘Peaches and Cream’ Japanese maple and ‘Molineaux’ rose of David Austin. ‘Molineaux’ struggles here, but is still hanging on.
Here are some other current favorites. This list is ever changing and is only what works best in my Oklahoma garden right now. The roses I like best at the moment are the shrub type. I still harbor a fervent desire for ‘Carefree Beauty’, but I also love the newer shrubs created through good breeding for disease resistance and good plant habit. I am pretty excited about the Drift roses. I especially like Apricot Drift, Coral Drift and Pink Drift. I’m also in the second year of testing OSO Easy Lemon Zest. It’s very pretty. I still like OSO Easy Paprika a lot. It’s in the orange section of the garden. I know many of you don’t like orange, but I find it refreshing in our hot summer sun.
Last winter, I lost ‘About Face‘ which makes me sad. I haven’t a clue why I lost it. It just up and died. Roses do this sometimes. Interestingly, ‘Cliffs of Dover’ did the same thing, but now it’s back from its roots and is growing like gangbusters. I bought ‘Gourmet Popcorn’ yesterday from Roses, Inc. because I’ve always wanted it. I placed it in a spot where it should really be happy. I normally put a purple fountain grass there, but I decided to try this rose instead.
As always, ‘The Fairy’ is blooming spectacularly. She always does and has few problems which is good because she’s as prickly a rose as they come. None of the roses look all that good in the rain, and we’ve had a lot of rain for several days. I am so grateful. Maybe this will break the drought. Maybe not.
The Rainbow Knockout roses below are strutting their stuff. They always look better in spring and fall because they don’t bleach out so much.
As for all the roses I had to cut to the ground, they are starting to grow. ‘Dame de Coeur’ has already grown pretty large. ‘Frontier Twirl’ is still very small as is ‘Mutabilis.’ I’m sure once the heat really starts, they will make up for lost time. I still need to cut back the crapemyrtles now that I can see how far the cold nipped them back. That will be some fun work in a few days. I also have a few roses to cut back even now. I know that’s terrible, but I only had so much time to work in the garden this year, and I don’t have a helper. Anyone out there in north central Oklahoma want to come and work in my garden? I would pay for some help once a week. Email me. Ha! I only have about six left to work on. I’ll do them next week too. Plus, I need to feed the soil around a few of them. There’s always work to do in the garden, but it’s blessed work.
Oh! I forgot. I found the ‘Peggy Martin‘ rose when I was in Texas. It is famous for having survived Hurricane Katrina and is considered one of the toughest roses there is. Plus, it doesn’t have thorns. I’m thinking of placing it on one side of the arbor where ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ presently sulks, or on the other arbor where ‘Don Juan’ once bloomed. I bought ‘Peggy Martin’ from Barton Springs Nursery, which has a wonderful selection of antique and OGR roses. I’m still trying to decide where Peggy should ramble. I’ll let you know when I figure that one out.
That’s it for the rose parade this week. Soon, it will be daylily season–my favorite time of the year.
Dee, You take great pictures and your roses are wonderful! I love that you told us about how well each one grows in your area. I’m a novice and just bought 3 rose “sticks”….2 bushes and 1 climber…..reluctantly because, in the past, they were always so hard to grow. Growing season is in full swing……what fun! Happy Gardening!
Hi Sally! I try to tell everyone what works best in my garden. Of course, your garden will probably be different. I’d love to hear which roses you bought. They are all so different. Happy gardening to you too.
Dee, you always have such great advice! I would love to grow more roses, but I don’t want anything that’s too fussy, because I know I’d kill it with neglect, as I did with a couple of hybrid teas I tried. I did have ‘Don Juan,’ which was beautiful, but it mysteriously died last year. My knockouts are slow to grow this year; I’m hoping the awful winter didn’t hurt them too badly. I’m curious–a local garden center was selling drift roses this year, and someone asked me what they were, but I had no idea. Are they a type of shrub rose?
Hi Rose, it was a tough winter for roses. I had to clip some of mine all the way to the ground. However, they are now rebounding. I’m trying very hard to keep the other perennials from encroaching on these small roses until they get their footing. As for Drift roses, I love several of them. I think ‘Pink Drift’ is my current favorite because I love the sweet little blooms. I also have ‘Peach Drift.’ It’s just okay. ‘Apricot Drift’ has a double bloom which is nice too. I have the red one, and I like it as well. Yes, they are all shrub roses and very easy care.
What a great post. I have to agree that Knockout is one touch customer. We had a terrible winter and my Hybrid Tea roses took a real hit and I think my Peace rose is a gonner along with a few others. They all died right back to the ground. The Knockout is looking hale and hearty and has beautiful new growth on it’s two foot canes that didn’t die back. I’ve decided to just make that bed all Knockouts as I have to replace the Tea Roses. Oh yes, the Fairy roses also came through the winter in great shape as well.
Great post! I planted “Carefree Beauty” at my mother’s house and it is wonderful. I wish I had room for it in my garden. My “Mutabalis” is having a very slow comeback from the winter cold. I just love that rose!
Hi Sue, I’ve not yet lost a single Knockout to Rose Rosette Disease, and I haven’t a clue why when they are dying like flies all over. I have lost six or eight other roses to the virus though. All were older shrubs, and it was sad to see them go. I can only surmise that I bought my Knockouts in the first batch of plants. Maybe later ones didn’t have the kind of hygiene that was needed to prevent spread of the disease. I’m sure I’ll never know.
I do speak to garden clubs all the time, and I’ve email you. Thanks for asking.~~Dee
Hi Dee,
I am new to Oklahoma and new to gardening. Roses have always been my favorite flower. Upon moving to OKC, I knew our first house was “ours” when I saw roses growing in front. I have no idea as to their type, but they have continued to grow beautifully over the past 2 years.
I recently bought 3 different meidilands, all of which shortly after obtained the black spot. Blech.
I’m currently digging out new flower beds. Upon completion, I’m hoping to obtain a couple of climbing roses.
I’m thankful for your blog. It’s wonderful to know what works, and doesn’t work, in Oklahoma gardens. 🙂
I’m so glad I can help. It’s not easy to grow things in Oklahoma. I’m sorry about your meidilands. That’s the pits. I expect some blackspot on my roses after all of this rain. However, I’ll take the rain. I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a search function in the sidebar if you want to look up other topics. I also have a vegetable blog, http://20-30somethinggardenguide.com/. 🙂
My favourite posts are posts about roses ! It was fascinating to hear which ones do well in your climate and compare it to what does well in mine (UK). I grow lots of David Austin roses, not Darcy Bussell, but lots of others. They do well for the most part. The healthiest are the shrub roses like ‘Buff Beauty’ and ‘Cream Abundance’. Of course it is difficult to generalise though as different conditions favour different roses, every season.
Isn’t that the truth? Different years favor different roses, and I only included a few of the ones that grow well here. There are so many. I know our conditions are different, but ‘Buff Beauty’ also performs well here. I love it. Thanks for stopping by!~~Dee
We tied! I bought 4 as well : Carefree Beauty, Julia Child, About Face, and the Therese Bugnet. Carefree Beauty and Bugnet found a home in Monett bed. Julia just got potted up yesterday she is going by the bench next to kitchen garden. About Face I potted up for deck although she might end up in the cutting bed.
Oh and everybody I gave your book to as gifts just loved it!
Annie, you chose well. You got some great roses. Thank you for giving my book as a gift. I appreciate it, and I’m glad they liked it. Looking forward to your posts about your roses on Facebook this season.~~Dee
I’ve never seen the Rainbow Knockout. I must look for one. We have 26 knockout on our farm in pink and red. That one would be nice to add. I wonder where I could put more roses? 😉
Hi Kim, I’m not sure Rainbow Knockout is sold much anymore. It was never a big hit with rose enthusiasts, but I find it blooms well is a pretty rose for the background. It also never gets any blackspot.~~Dee
Love your “Ramblings” and your insights. I lost almost all my Knockout roses to rosette disease. Must have been too good to be true.
Dee, do you address garden clubs or give tours of your gardens? I have been a member of a very old club for almost 15 yeas now and you would be a wonderful and very welcome speaker.
My email is sloftis22@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for sharing all your experiences.
Sue