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February 14, 2012

Easy Elegance roses make for easy growing

Don Gordon Special to The Free Press

— Until the last few years, trying to grow roses organically was a real challenge. Numerous gardeners have told me they loved roses, but they were tired of the constant spraying and losing plants to our Minnesota winters. 

 
I must confess I felt the same way.
 
I also grew weary of the time involved in their care. I simply did not have the time to tip them in the fall and to pamper them during the growing season. 
 
Bailey Nursery, Minnesota's largest wholesale nursery, heard the complaints of rose growers and embarked on a plan to simplify rose growing. In 1992, Bailey hired rose breeder Ping Lim and charged him with the task of developing hardy shrub roses with good disease resistance that required minimal care. 
 
To date, after making thousands of hybridizing crosses, Lim has produced 24 varieties in a series called Easy Elegance. 
 
All of the roses in this series are grown on their own root, which means there is no worry of graft-union freeze-out. Many of the selections are super-hardy; thus, there is no need for elaborate winter protection such as the "Minnesota Tip." 
 
That does not mean that gardeners should do nothing for winter protection. Some minimal mulching is recommended. 
 
These roses have built-in genetic resistance to black spot and mildew; thus, no pesticides are needed for these major rose diseases. Easy Elegance roses are recurrent bloomers with plenty of flowers from spring to fall. 
 
Suggested varieties for our area comprising a range of colors would include: All the Rage, Como Park, High Voltage, Kasmir, Little Mischief, Paint the Town, Snowdrift, Sunrise Sunset and Superhero. 
 
The Easy Elegance series has been tested at more than 20 sites throughout the United States and many may be seen in the shrub rose collection at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Bailey's is so confident of their superiority that they are offering a two-year guarantee on their survival. Come spring, many of these varieties will be available from local nurseries. 
 
Don Gordon is professor emeritus of botany at Minnesota State University. Send questions  concerning horticulture or the environment with a stamped, self-addressed, long envelope to 52794 Deerwood Trail, Mankato, MN, or e-mail to osokato@aol.com.

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