The Perils of Garden Snobbery

For a long time, I thought rose bushes were too common.

Everyone has rose bushes around here.

So I refrained from adding one to the garden.

My loss! I missed out on this 'Carefree Beauty' all those years...

It's been a champ throughout our hot, humid summer. It grows in full sun from morning through early afternoon and then has shade for the rest of the day.

Early on in the season, I was disappointed with the way it suffered from Japanese beetle attacks, but the beetles soon went away and the rose recovered and flourished with little help from me.

In August, I started cutting just about-to-open roses every few days and bringing them inside to adorn the kitchen or dining tables.

I'd say that Carefree Beauty has a light but delicious fragrance. I don't think I'll go bananas about sprinkling roses throughout my garden. I'm too nervous about rose rosette disease (RRD) to do that. But I do hope to add a couple more tough, vigorous and hopefully even more fragrant roses.

I've got my eye on Jacqueline du Pre. And I'm also interested in the native Carolina rose, which reportedly is resistant to RRD.

Class of 2016 -- Rosa 'Carefree Beauty', shrub rose

'Carefree Beauty' shrub rose, photo by Malcolm Manners

Why I'm growing 'Carefree Beauty' in my garden...

1) My wife likes roses!

2) I would describe some kinds of popular roses as ecologically inert. The only insects they seem to attract are Japanese beetles! But Sarah Rummery, Horticulture and Grounds Manager at the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State says that 'Carefree Beauty' has flowers that attract bees and other pollinators, while the rose hips that follow provide food for wildlife.

3) I was impressed by Dee Nash's enthusiastic review and beautiful photos at Red Dirt Ramblings.

PS - I hesitated to grow any roses in my garden after reading about the scourge of Rose Rosette Disease, but I figured I'd take a chance with just a couple of roses in the garden.

Do you grow roses? If so, which are your favorites and have you had any problems with Rose Rosette Disease?