SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
06-15-07
Ann's Organic Garden: Rose-lovers should meet these gorgeous old gals
By Ann Lovejoy
Those who love roses often claim they can't be grown without toxic sprays in the
Seattle area. Our winters are too mild to kill off foliage pathogens. Our springs
are too wet for plant health, and excess rain causes double roses to rot and
mold. Our summers aren't warm enough to properly ripen the wood of many
hybrid teas.
Fortunately, as last week's column made plain (I hope), there are plenty of tough
roses that like it here just fine. In recent years, many hybridizers have started
growing their seedling crops without pesticides. The plants that are susceptible to
black spot and mold and so on look dreadful in the field. No matter how pretty the
blossom, these losers don't make the cut.
A few hybridizers have developed extra-hardy roses that can take cold and heat
in stride, even when grown without much extra food or water.
One of the best is called, appropriately enough, 'Carefree Beauty.' Bred by
Griffith Buck at Iowa State University, 'Carefree Beauty' grows 5 to 6 feet high
and wide. In nearly any climate or condition (except damp shade), this amazing
plant will produce bursts of large, fragrant rose-pink blossoms from early summer
until frost.
It sets handsome hips as well, but hip formation is tied to reduced late bloom, so
don't let the hips mature too soon. To get the most from your 'Carefree Beauty' or
any long bloomer, deadhead it weekly through late summer. Do allow a few
roses to set hips in late August and early September. That triggers a biological
process that causes the stem wood to harden, making the plant better able to
withstand winter cold.
For some gardeners, the only roses worth growing are those that smell
absolutely sumptuous. For many years, the most fragrant rose in my garden was
an old heritage climber called 'Madame Alfred Carriere.'
Madame Alfred is a vigorous old gal who produces masses of plump flowers
shaded from creamy pink to warm white. To my nose, her utterly delicious
perfume combines the slightly fruity scent of iced tea with honey and a faint hint
of lemon.
When I wrote about this rose years ago, several readers sent me notes about
their favorite candidates for the fragrance queen. Three suggested that I was
grossly mistaken, because another ancient lady, 'Madame Isaac Pereire,' has a
far superior fragrance. Some readers even suggested that I had confused the
two.
That was not likely, since Madame Isaac's flowers are the hot magenta pink
displayed by so many old roses. Beautifully fat and cabbage-like, Madame I's
blossoms are classified as bourbon shrub or pillar roses. Their scent is indeed
powerful, exuding a rich, singing sweetness that will fill a room almost to excess.
Without wishing to provoke the passionate advocates of Madame Isaac, I still
prefer the somewhat lighter, cleaner perfume of Madame Alfred. Such matters of
personal taste can't be subjected to rules; if one fragrance is stronger than
another, it is not automatically "better."
Both plants, however, are terrifically energetic old ladies who will clamber up
almost any support with panache. Both are recurrent bloomers, which means
they produce most of their flowers in early summer, with scattered bursts
following over the next few months.
Madame Isaac is famous for her second wind, for in most years she puts on a fall
display that is nearly as good as her earlier effort. She is a more compact plant
as well, rarely exceeding 10 feet, which makes her easier to place well in a small
garden.
For a truly amazing show, peg down those long branches or fasten them
horizontally to a fence (something like making an espalier hedge). In time, new
flower buds will break at every node, producing absolutely amazing quantities of
blossom. However, this is a job that's best passed on to your garden slaves, if
possible, since Madame Isaac's large and extremely sharp thorns are as
legendary as her scent.
Weeding under her skirts is an unforgettable experience that can leave unwary
gardeners looking as if they lost a catfight. Full battle gear helps; it's best to wear
long gauntlet gloves, a leather jacket and pants, and a helmet, as well as
goggles. True, it's hard to function that way, but at least you'll live through the
session.
Less vicious but a lot larger, Madame Alfred can get to 20 feet in time,
smothering a homely garage or hiding a sullen purple-leaved plum tree with style.
She has the distinction of flowering well in dappled or partial shade, as long as
there is plenty of indirect light. Her foliage remains clean even in bad years, when
lesser roses succumb to black spot and powdery mildew. She has thorns, but
they are smaller and much less fierce.
All of these roses grow in Seattle gardens with vigor and alacrity, needing no
chemical fixes to keep them strong and healthy. All also thrive without massive
feeding, though appreciating annual feeding mulches of compost and a
combination of aged manure and alfalfa pellets in spring.
If you can't find these roses locally, all are widely available online (just search for
them by name and you'll get tons of vendor sites).