I am sure most of you can still recall your first rose garden. In many cases it could be your current one. I picked up an old copy of Ortho’s All About Roses, and I found my plot plan for my first two rose gardens. It took me back quite a few years ago. In 1985, I bought a new house that was partially landscaped in the front yard, and none in the back. The backyard was a large lot and part of it contained a hill that made planting difficult.

The front yard had a strip of dirt next to a block wall. I thought this would be a perfect spot for a rose garden. But why roses?

My mom and grandmother both had rose in their names, so us kids always did rosey things for their birthdays and Christmas. So I had this feeling that I liked roses all along. Then my girlfriend at the time always talked about the roses she grew in her old place. So I decided to give them a try. Being a little compulsive (oh all right, a lot compulsive), I had to learn everything about roses that I could find. I went down to the local nursery and bought all their rose books. I studied them intently, plotted the area, and decided on which of the top rated roses I wanted. I love different colors, so I have to spread them out. Then I went down to the nurseries to buy these roses. Well, guess, what? They didn’t have half of the roses I wanted. I wanted to know why if they were so highly rated then why the nurseries didn’t have them. Dejected, I didn’t buy any except for two, a Double Delight and Queen Elizabeth.

The roses I wanted were based solely on color, fragrance and high ratings. I didn’t know what rose diseases or pests were, nor gave much thought to size of the plant as I figured they were all the same. Big mistake…

So I had to redo my thinking with the roses that I did find at the nurseries. So my first rose garden was a row of 12 roses along a wall. Starting from the street, I had Queen Elizabeth, Tropicana, Peace, Ole, Summer Sunshine, Touch of Class, Double Delight, Angel Face, Pink Peace, Ole, Katherine Loker, and Arizona.

Now I am sure some of you will be laughing by now about my choices of plants. Let’s start with the first rose, Queen Elizabeth. I wanted this rose because it was one of the highest rated roses by the American Rose Society (ARS), and was on the cover of one of my rose books. I never thought it would get that big, so I had to keep cutting it back because it wanted to grow over the sidewalk. If you look at my roses then, you will see a rollercoaster and the heights went up and down. I didn’t think about the size of the plant, and grouping those together. Three of the roses were floribundas and they are next to hybrid teas, or teas as I called them back then. Thought it sounded cool. I got an “F” in landscaping 101.

I didn’t consider disease resistance and quickly found all of the problems with Tropicana, Touch of Class, and Arizona. These mildewed so badly that I couldn’t control it. This is when I learned about spraying and weekly spray programs. I also found out that Grandifloras can be very tall, like Queen Elizabeth (over 6’) or short like Ole (2’). I was not impressed with Summer Sunshine; it blew way too quickly. I also planted them too close together and the taller ones took over the shorter varieties. I read in one of the books to plant them on 2-foot centers. It must have been a book written for the northern climates.

I looked back on the roses that I wanted from that original list. I wanted top rated roses, including old garden roses. Needless to say, no nursery had an old garden rose, except for Lady Banks (R. banksiae lutea), which I placed on the backyard hill. The roses on my original consideration list included Confidence, Chrysler Imperial, Crimson Glory, Papa Meilland, White Masterpiece, Fashion, Cathedral, Spartan, and Ivory Fashion. In hindsight, maybe it was best I didn’t experience these roses.

Needless to say, my second rose garden was also developed on color and bloom, but they had to be somewhat disease resistant. Tropicana did not make the trip over to the new house. Even with my second rose garden which had to be redone, only few of the original roses remain today, just Brandy, Sheer Elegance, Olympiad, and French Lace. Most died when my garden flooded due to poor drainage, or were such mildew hogs that they went to the recycle bin. In time, exhibition varieties now dominate the main hybrid tea bed. A few years from now, who knows what roses will remain, as I am sure all of our gardens are ever changing…