Choosing the Best Rose for Your Garden

As we approach spring, it is time to start thinking about your garden. If you have a sunny spot with healthy soil, you may have a perfect blank canvas to plant roses. However, choosing a suitable rose is not as easy as just picking the first rose that strikes your fancy. Here at Botanica, there are some important factors we consider when choosing rose varieties for our Rose Garden.

Growth Habit

When choosing a spot for your rose garden, make sure it gets at least 6 hours of direct sun every day. Also, choose a rose variety that will fit the space in which you intend to put it. Roses for the landscape come in many shapes and sizes, from 1-foot tall miniature roses to 20-foot tall climbing roses. Some roses grow more upright, and some spread wide. Growers will have the growth habit listed or the expected height and spread of the rose. If that info is not listed, a simple internet search should give you a good idea of a rose’s growth habit. Small roses are ideal for the front of garden beds where they won’t hide plants behind them. Taller roses work best in the middle or back of garden beds. Climbing roses should be planted next to a structure it can tie its long, unruly canes to.

Winter Hardiness

Wichita is in Zone 7A according to USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone map. In this zone, most roses are technically winter-hardy and will survive our winters. Providing winter protection at the base of each rose significantly helps most roses through the winter, but some are still not suited for our cold, temperature-fluctuating winters. You may even want to choose one that is known to withstand zone 5 or even zone 4 winters. Griffith Buck was a rose breeder out of Iowa who bred for winter hardiness and introduced many beautiful cultivars that can withstand very cold winters. These are known as “Buck Roses”. Botanica has two of Buck’s creations, Carefree Beauty and Quietness, and both are unphased by our winters.

Disease Resistance

If a plant encounters disease, but shows little to no signs of being infected, it’s considered disease-resistant. Roses are known as high-maintenance plants partly due to the number of diseases that can infect them. When a rose is referred to as disease resistant, it’s referring to common fungal diseases such as Black Spot, Cercospora Leaf Spot, and Downy Mildew. It is not referring to a resistance to the dreaded Rose Rosette Virus (no roses have yet been found to be resistant to that disease).

About Black Spot

 At Botanica, Black Spot is the disease that our roses battle year to year. It shows up on the rose exactly how its name sounds, with black spots appearing on the leaves of the roses. This is caused by a fungus (Diplocarpon rosae) which invades the leaves and produces these spots. Eventually, it spreads through the entire leaf, turning it yellow and causing the leaves to drop off. Not only does Black Spot make rose plants unsightly, but it also reduces the number of blooms and affects the overall health of the plant.

It’s important to note that there are many different strains of Black Spot. Not all disease-resistant cultivars are immune to every strain. So even though a rose has been disease-free for one person living in a specific area or region with certain strains, it does not guarantee it will exhibit the same disease resistance in another area with a different strain. The overall climate and microclimate that a rose is planted in will have an impact as well. Just because a rose is listed as disease-resistant does not guarantee it will be disease-resistant in the space you planted it. You may still have to trial these roses to see which varieties hold up best against disease in your garden.

Combatting Black Spot at Botanica

Due to the density of our rose plantings, Botanica’s incidence of Black Spot is very high. To combat this, we spray our roses with fungicide regularly through the growing season. However, this can have a negative impact on the health of our ecosystem. This is where naturally disease-resistant roses come in! For years breeders of roses used to focus on producing roses with gorgeous blooms and intoxicating fragrances. This inadvertently bred the natural disease resistance out of them at the same time. Now, rose breeding has been shifting to make naturally disease-resistant roses more readily available. (Check out “Roses Without Chemicals” by Peter E. Kukielski for disease-resistant varieties and growing roses sustainably.)

Over the past three years, Botanica has been shifting our Rose Garden. Instead of focusing on the most colorful and fragrant roses, we’re focusing on sustainability and the health of our ecosystem. This has been a slow process, with several roses being replaced each year with disease-resistant varieties. As of the 2024 season, we have reduced the amount of fungicide that we spray on the roses by 50%!

Find Inspiration at Botanica

After finding disease-resistant options, rose selections can be based on bloom color and fragrance. When planning your rose garden, consider what other bloom colors will be surrounding it. In Botanica’s Rose Garden, we spread out the colors to give an overall balanced appearance, not concentrating one color in one area. We try to pair up colors that contrast nicely and make each bloom color pop.

Bloom fragrance is another feature to consider in your rose garden. Not all roses are fragrant, especially those bred for other characteristics like disease resistance. For fragrant roses, plant in an area where the rose is accessible and the fragrance can be enjoyed.

Bloom Color and Fragrance

If you’re dreaming of the perfect rose garden, why not take a little inspiration from Botanica’s own? Wander through our Rose Garden, soak in the vibrant colors, and breathe in the sweet fragrances. It’s the best way to see how different varieties thrive right here in Wichita. Whether you're on the hunt for a hardy, low-maintenance rose or just want to enjoy a peaceful stroll surrounded by blooms, we’d love to have you visit. Stop by, take notes, and let nature spark ideas for your own backyard oasis!