Gardening With Charlie
By Charlie Nardozzi

I love roses, but they can be fussy, hard to grow and prone to insects and diseases. I used to avoid growing them, and then I discovered “landscape” or “modern shrub” roses. This loosely defined group comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they all are widely adapted, hardy, pest-free and easy to maintain. Plus, these attractive shrubs flower all season.

Landscape roses are versatile. They can be planted next to the house as foundation shrubs, they fit nicely in a border as a complement to peonies and lilies and other perennials, and they can be grown as an informal hedge to block an unsightly view or your neighbor’s yard.

Diane Shrifts, an American Rose Society Master Consulting Rosarian in Michigan, loves to plant landscape roses right in the middle of her front yard.

    "I plant different varieties with similar flower colors and heights all together, so by summer it's all flowers and foliage," she says. "These are wash-and-wear roses. All I do is give them a little fertilizer and mulch, and they bloom beautifully from spring until fall."

No matter where you plant them, landscape roses require little attention and provide months of elegant blossoms.

Shrub Rose Selections

Here are some of the best shrub roses I've grown in my yard:

• The Fairy. This 3-foot-tall shrub produces an abundance of 1-1/2-inch-diameter pink or red flower clusters from early summer until frost. It's hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9.
• Rosa rugosa. These are some of the toughest, most reliable shrub roses. They grow in most any type of soil, even sand, and thrive in regions as cold as zone 3. Rugosa roses grow about 6 feet tall, with wrinkled foliage and a spreading habit. They produce fragrant white, pink or red flowers, which form beautiful red fruits (hips) in fall. The newer hybrids have the longest blooming time.
• Flower Carpet. These low-growing roses stay 1 to 3 feet tall and spread along the ground. They produce white, pink, coral or red flower clusters on dark green, disease-resistant foliage, and are hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10.
• Bonica. This 4- to 5-foot-tall, disease-resistant shrub produces an abundance of shell pink roses. It's hardy to zone 4 and was voted the World's Favorite Rose in 1997 by the World Federation of Rose Societies.
• Knock Out. This 4-foot-tall and wide shrub rose is known for its exceptional resistance to black spot disease and its ability to produce a wealth of pink, red or orange blossoms all summer. It grows well in part sun, doesn't need deadheading and is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 10.

Landscape Rose Maintenance

Because landscape roses are so carefree, they require little ongoing maintenance. Plant them in full sun on well-drained soil. Keep them watered and apply an annual dose of fertilizer in spring. Prune only to remove dead and diseased wood and to keep the shrubs in bounds.

Charlie Nardozzi, a nationally recognized garden writer, book author, speaker and radio and television personality, has appeared on HGTV, PBS and Discovery Channel television networks. He is the senior horticulturist and spokesperson for the National Gardening Association and Chief Gardening Officer for the Hilton Garden Inn.

Materials courtesy of National Gardening Association