Easy Roses

The June 2008 issue of Fine Gardening includes an article by Suzy Verrier, the person responsible for getting me interested in rugosa roses.

They’re the ultimate class of roses for gardeners who want beautiful results with very little work. Rugosas aren’t great as cut flowers—they don’t have the substance to last very long—but they are fragrant, beautiful, cold-hardy, and disease-resistant. Many offer the additional benefits of colorful fall foliage and hips (the fruit of the rose).

 The article (sadly not available on the internet—or at least I couldn’t find it) mentions a couple of new cultivars that I’m interested in, notably the beautiful ‘Foxi’ (or ‘Foxi Pavement’), a fragrant semidouble rose in a rich, cool pink. Verrier describes it as “an excellently performing new variety . . . [with] a heady fragrance.”

The article’s photos also make me want to try ‘Polar Ice’, which I’d heard of but never seen. The blooms, Verrier says, are “creamy white . . . with shell-pink petals and deeper pink centers.” The blooms, she says, smell like baby powder. Fall foliage is bright yellow.

By the way: Verrier’s book, pictured above, is excellent, as is her Rosa Gallica. First published in the 1990s, both are still in print—a minor miracle that speaks to the quality of the books.