Top 10 Roses for 2022

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Top 10 Roses for disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat blooming

Even though I am nuts about Roses, I am also discerning. When choosing which cultivars we carry, I select based on disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat flowering. I exclude any variety with low scores in those categories. I also favor Roses that are good for cut flowers. We have a lot of choices for 2022, and you can’t really go wrong with any of the varieties that we stock  Since I am just bananas about Roses it is really hard for me to pick only 10 to name as my favorites. I will confess: I am making a whole new garden bed so I have room for this year’s irresistables!

Brandy

Since I grow Roses for flower arranging, I cannot resist this old favorite. I love the rich apricot color that works so well with many color schemes, and the stem length makes it easy to use these fragrant flowers. This AARS winner performs best once established and has good disease resistance.  It is a large plant (4’ – 6’ tall and 2’ – 3’ wide) with large blooms.

Colette (Climbing)

This climber gives us the best of the old-world looks – full and fluffy – with modern (excellent!) disease resistance and performance. Her blooms of pinkish-peach have an intoxicating citrus scent – just heavenly! Give this one some room; she grows 8’ – 10’ tall with a spreading habit.

Dee Lish

This Rose has won multiple awards for disease resistance, so that always puts a plant on my short list. But even more – the pink blooms are packed with petals and hold their strong color. The fragrance is outstanding, and you’ll be thrilled to know it is a great cut flower too! This is a big, very upright hybrid tea that can grow up to 6’ tall.

Earth Angel Parfuma

If you can’t get enough of Peonies then you will love this Rose! The blooms are voluptuous and a most romantic shade of blush pink with a classic Rose fragrance. It offers award-winning disease resistance and has outstanding vigor. This one will earn her keep in your garden! Though a hybrid tea, this plant is fairly bushy and can grow 5’ tall and 4’ wide.

Fiji Eleganza

This is a robust hybrid tea rose with multiple blooms of a vivid cherry pink. You’ll pick this bloom when you are looking for some va-voom in your life!! It is an easy-care plant with outstanding disease resistance, strong stems, and is a reliable repeat-bloomer. You don’t need a load of room for this 4’ x 3’ grower.

Florentina Arborose

This is a compact climber (7’ by 3’), a modern plant with a strong sense of nostalgia with clusters of classic red blooms. It has award winning disease resistance and is a repeat bloomer. The lush green foliage will be an asset in the garden!

Intrigue

This big bushy rose (5’ by 30”) will intrigue your eyes with its captivating, unique shade of mauve-plum, and your nose with its strong citrusy-rosy fragrance.  It is an AARS winner with good disease resistance which means that the foliage should stick around and be an attractive feature on this plant.

Moonlight Romantica

If you love yellow, then this big bushy rose will be an asset in your garden. It offers fragrant, fluffy butter-yellow blooms that have a sweet, honey-like fragrance. Excellent disease resistance and repeat bloom.  4’ – 6’ tall by 3’ – 4’ wide.

Tequila Supreme

Don’t think less of this Rose just because it sounds like a cocktail that would be served at Taco Bell! This excellent variety is not only an AARS winner but it won the American Rose Trials for Sustainability. This means it is a disease-resistant, easy-care plant! What’s more is the blooms are showstoppers. The ruffled, scalloped blooms are so intriguing and the color is a juicy blend of copper, apricot, pink and orange. And of course, it is a repeat bloomer.

White Eden Climber

This vigorous, disease-resistant large climber (8’ – 12’) will pump out creamy, buff white blooms throughout the summer. Sometimes, especially in cooler weather, those flowers can be tinged with pink. It offers a light fragrance. This is a classic cottage garden Rose.

We’ve have more great posts to help you grow the best roses ever: How To Plant A Bare Root Rose and How To Have Success with Roses Happy gardening!

Conifers for Whidbey Island Gardens

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Gardening on Whidbey Island can sometimes be tricky! We are not without our host of challenges: wind, deer, rabbits, and poor soil are just a few of the obstacles many gardeners face. Tough conditions require tough plants, and frequently a Conifer is the answer!

Conifers are cone-bearing plants. They are typically (but not always!) evergreen. Their foliage offers great texture, and many offer excellent color as well as year-round interest for the garden. Many of us are familiar with Firs, Hemlock, and Cedar. Since they are native to our area, they are common and well adapted to many Island gardens. But there are many other types of Conifers that offer interesting and alternative choices. From low-growing groundcovers to shrubs to towering trees, here are a few of my favorites.

Pine (Pinus)

These plants offer great choices for a beachside garden. If you garden with wind, strong sun, and droughty sandy soils, you might want to consider a Pine. They are also deer- and rabbit-resistant. (A clear bonus!) A Mugo Pine is a great choice for a shrubby shape. A striking and strong Japanese Black Pine is great if you’d like a real centerpiece – maybe P. thunbergiana ‘Thunderhead’.  If blue is a color you love in your garden, you might like a ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’ Limber Pine for a soft blue backdrop, with a Pinus parviflora glauca as a specimen. Of course, there are lots of others to choose from, but these are my favorite Pines.

Juniper (Juniperus)

As a young city gardener, I discounted Junipers. I thought of them just as scratchy things that smelled like the cat box. After over 14 years gardening on Whidbey, I have come to appreciate this genus. Deer and rabbits leave them alone. They take wind, drought, and terrible soil without missing a beat – they actually seem to thrive on neglect! I have several Juniper varieties in my garden. I use Wichita Blue and Moonglow for their strong columnar structure, and I love my ‘Grey Owl’ for its horizontal shape and excellent steely blue color. ‘Daub’s Frosted’ is the next one I will plant – the two-toned gold and blue foliage makes it a stunning low groundcover.

Cypress & False Cypress (Chamaecyparis) & Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria)

If you have a hard time loving Conifers because you think they are scratchy and needle-y, then take a look at the plants in this genus. There are many “pet-able” plant pals to meet! This is also a great group for foliage color! From Cryptomeria japonica ‘Spiralis’, a rounded shrub also known as “Granny’s Ringlets” for its lime-green, curly lock-like foliage, to Chamaecyparis ‘Blue Feathers’ or ‘Heatherbun’ with their soft bluish foliage. For a pop of yellow, look to Chamaecyparis p. ‘Filifera Mops’, the Golden Threadleaf Cypress. For a rich deep green with creamy tips, consider Cham. ‘Mariesii’. Note that while the Cryptomeria genus is still drought-tolerant, some prefer a bit more water, especially to get established, than the Pines and Junipers do. For example, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ loves moist soil. This is a gorgeous, quick-growing tree that works well as either a specimen or in the back of a border.

Hemlock (Tsuga)

Since Hemlocks are native to the Northwest, they grow well in Whidbey Island gardens. One of my favorites is ‘Gentsch White’, whose new growth offers white tips. This plant can be sheared into a shrub-like shape or left to grow into a tree form. My other favorite Hemlock is ‘Jeddeloh’, with its low-growing, mounding shape.

For those of you who are looking for a quick-growing screen, consider Thuja ‘Green Giant’. This is a great alternative to our much wider-growing Western Red Cedar. ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae grows quickly to 50’ but only gets 12’ wide. 

The most important things to keep in mind when working with Conifers are these:

  • Even if they are drought-tolerant, they will need water to get established. Do hand water deeply for the first 3 years.
  • While deer may not like to eat these plants, they may still want to rub their antlers on them to remove the velvet and leave their scent to attract mates. It is wise to protect your trees with wire mesh, plastic netting, or some sort of wire or monofilament surround to deter them from doing this until your trees are strong enough not to fall over, and they are thick enough that a few missing branches or scarred bark won’t be an issue.
  • Do consider the ultimate size of these plants when you are placing them. Remember that a giant just might be lurking in that little pot. Give them the room they need to flourish and become beautiful specimens in your garden.

Want a fun piece of plant-dork trivia? A Ginkgo is a Conifer! Now isn’t that a surprise?

Remember, if you need help choosing a conifer for your garden or siting one, our Venture Out garden coaching and design service is just a phone call (360-321-9931) or email (contact@ventureoutnursery.com) away!