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Separated into a separate group at the end of the twentieth century, ground cover roses rapidly gained popularity. It is not surprising, because these flowers can be called universal for decorating any personal plot: they are planted in flower beds, in single plantings, they can be used to fill empty space between tree groups or to cover a hatch. And the gentle slope of ground cover roses, blooming all summer, will not only decorate it, but also protect it from erosion and washing out of the soil.
General information about ground cover roses
Although ground cover varieties from the group of shrub roses were isolated about three decades ago, this does not mean that they did not exist earlier.
Origin of ground cover roses
Today, several new varieties of ground cover roses appear on the market every year. Most of them are distinguished by repeated abundant flowering and excellent winter hardiness.Groundcover varieties owe their origin to two types of rosehip - Rosehip Vikhura and Rosa Wrinkled, which is often called Rosa Rugosa.
Rosehip Vikhura
Both parents have an attractive appearance and high resistance to adverse weather conditions.
Rosehip Wrinkled
Classification of ground cover varieties
Details about the roses of this group described in our article.
We will only briefly repeat that ground cover roses are those varieties that are short in stature and have a spreading crown, forming a dense canopy of shoots and leaves. They are divided into four subgroups:
- Small creeping bushes with shoots covering the ground no more than 1.5 m, up to 45 cm high.
- Large bushes with creeping shoots that grow more than 1.5 m in width, 45 cm in height and above.
- Small drooping bushes up to a meter high, capable of covering an area of about 1.5 m.
- Large bushes over one meter high, with drooping shoots growing more than 1.5 m wide.
The first and second subgroups have horizontal shoots that can take root in the knees and quickly cover a wide area. Varieties belonging to the second group can be grown as climbing roses. The last two subgroups can often be classified as bush or climbing varieties. So don’t be surprised if in different catalogs you come across the same variety classified in different groups.
Growing ground cover roses
Details about care You can find out about them from our article.
You can also watch a video about caring for ground cover roses:
We want to note that ground cover varieties require minimal care. When planting, it is important to give them enough space so that they do not intertwine branches and choke other plants. Roses of the first two groups can be tied to supports, and drooping tall bushes can be grown as scrubs.
All of them only need sanitary pruning.
Varieties that bloom all summer
When we look at the description of rose varieties, we can often read in the “blooming” column that they bloom once, repeatedly, and constantly. Let's take a little more detail on this issue.
- With a single flowering, everything is clear - the roses bloomed once, even for a long time and abundantly, in the future we can only see single random buds on their bushes.
- Constantly blooming – also seems understandable. These roses should bloom all season long.
- Repeatedly flowering varieties are those in which the first wave of flowering, after a short break, is followed by a second wave, sometimes even more abundant than the previous one. With good care, roses of this group sometimes bloom continuously until frost.
But for some reason, the constantly and repeatedly flowering varieties do not always fulfill their obligations. Often, after the first lush wave of flowering, only single pathetic buds appear on the bushes, and quite small ones at that.
So read again how to properly care for roses - there should be 7 (!) feedings, not counting foliar ones.Only those who have rich, fertile soils can neglect this rule, and even then they should not cancel fertilizing, but only reduce its amount.
Varieties of ground cover roses
Naturally, we want roses to bloom all summer. This can only be achieved with proper care and adherence to the feeding schedule. In the case of ground cover roses, this is not at all difficult; as we have already said, they have excellent vitality and are absolutely not capricious. Winter-hardy varieties that bloom until frost will be presented to your attention. We decided to group them by color, for this group the standard colors are red, white, pink, the rest are uncharacteristic for ground cover roses, they can be called exotic. We will give a brief description of the variety and post a photo for clarity.
Red varieties
Red roses will decorate any garden. They will successfully create a bright spot on a lawn or flower bed, and towering varieties will invariably attract attention.
Apache
A self-cleaning variety with bright red simple flowers 6-8 cm in size, collected in 5-10 pieces. It forms a compact bush no more than 80 cm high, about 70 cm wide, and belongs to the third subgroup. This rose blooms constantly, feels good in the fifth zone, is resistant to diseases and buds getting wet.
Martha's Vineyard
This variety blooms late, but then its semi-double buds with a faint odor completely cover the shoots until frost. A bush 60-75 cm high spreads shoots 1.5 m and forms a huge flowering cushion. The flowers are more crimson than red, do not exceed 4 cm in diameter, and are most often collected in 5-10 pieces. Climatic zone – fifth, good resistance to diseases.This variety withstands low and high temperatures well.
Purple Hayes
This is one of the best repeat blooming red groundcover roses despite its simple flower. It has a rich red color and a perfect shape. The number of buds with a diameter of up to 6 cm in an inflorescence is 3-5. The bush is no more than 70 cm high, reaches a meter in width, is intended for growing in zone five, has high resistance to disease, and average resistance to getting wet.
White varieties
White roses will be appropriate everywhere. Their varieties can be combined with any shrubs or flowers of other colors - they will refresh and dilute even plantings with poorly chosen colors.
Arctic
It fully justifies its name, as it is grown even in the fourth climate zone and easily withstands frosts up to 35 degrees. This rose, up to 60 cm high and about 120 wide, can be grown as a ground cover plant. White, medium-double flowers, 4-5 cm in size, rosette-shaped, are collected in 5-10 pieces and are almost odorless. Flowering is repeated, if you do not keep the plant on a starvation diet, this rose will bloom constantly until frost. Resistance to getting wet is average, resistance to diseases is high. According to reviews, it does not need to remove faded buds.
Diamond Border
A fairly tall bush up to 90 cm wide can spread up to one and a half meters. The flowers are snow-white, with a light, pleasant aroma of rose hips, semi-double, with a diameter of no more than 10 cm, collected in 5-10 cm sections. It blooms repeatedly and is highly resistant to diseases. The rose would be ideal if not for its low resistance to getting wet.
White Flower Carpet
This is one of the best white ground cover rose varieties. It rarely grows to 50 cm in height and about 125 in width.Belongs to the first subgroup, grows in the fifth zone, has continuous flowering and is highly resistant to soaking and disease. The flowers are snow-white, semi-double, up to 6 cm in size, collected in inflorescences of 3-15 pieces.
Pink varieties
Delicate pink flowers sometimes look touching, and sometimes provocative. Look how different they can be depending on the shade.
Bluewunder
A re-blooming shrub that can be grown as ground cover bush. The bush reaches 70-80 cm in height, and in width without pruning it can spread over two meters. Semi-double flowers with wavy petals are almost odorless, reach 6 cm and are collected in groups of 5-10 at the tops of the shoots. The variety is intended for cultivation in the fifth climatic zone, resistant to diseases and soaking.
Topolina
Rose Cordes is a kind of sign of quality. The dense compact bush, up to 40 cm high and 50 cm wide, is characterized by excellent health, resistance to getting wet and is intended for the fifth climate zone. Rich pink simple flowers with a yellow center have a diameter of 3-4 cm and are collected together in 5-10 pieces; they bloom continuously on the bush until frost.
Lavender Dream
This rose has very small semi-double flowers of a cool dark pink color. They reach a diameter of only 2-3 cm, are collected in clusters of 5-10 pieces, but during the first flowering they almost completely cover the bushes. After some fading, the flowers appear again, although not in such amazing quantities. The bush reaches a height of 60-70 cm, a width of about 100. Resistance to diseases is average, intended for the fifth climatic zone.
Roses with exotic colors
If you want to surprise someone, then yellow or orange ground cover roses are just what you need.There are not so many of them, so their presence in the garden always causes admiration.
Amber Cover
A hardy and healthy variety, belonging to the third subgroup, is excellent for our conditions. The bush grows in height no more than 60-90 cm, drooping leafy shoots with a small number of spines are spread out to 1.5 m. The size of the amber-yellow spherical semi-double buds reaches 10 cm, the number of flowers in a brush is up to 5-10 pieces. This rose blooms continuously, has a rosehip scent and grows well in the fifth climate zone. Resistance to getting wet and diseases is very high.
Jazz
A rose with bronze-orange flowers up to 4 cm in diameter, which are collected in 3-5 pieces. Excellent for planting in masses. It reaches a height of 60-70 cm, the shoots first stretch upward and then droop. It blooms repeatedly, is self-cleaning and has high resistance to disease, average resistance to getting wet.
Lemon Maidiland
Pale yellow semi-double flowers up to 5 cm in size, 3-5 are collected together and have a faint aroma. A compact bush with small glossy leaves rarely reaches 50 cm in height and grows by half a meter. The re-blooming variety is intended for cultivation in the fifth zone and is highly resistant to disease and waterlogging.
Conclusion
I hope we've convinced you that ground cover roses are wonderful. They are worth growing on every site, and given the ease of care and ease of propagation, these varieties can be recommended even for low-maintenance gardens.
