Everyday Roses How to Grow Knock Out® and Other Easy-Care Garden Roses

194 Pages·2013·30.48 MB·english

by  Paul Zimmerman

e v e r y d a y
How to Grow KnocK out® and otHer easy-care Garden roses
Ro s e s
Paul Zimmerman
eve r yd ay
Ro s e s

eve r yd ay
How to Grow KnocK out® and otHer easy-care Garden roses
Ro s e s
Paul Zimmerman
t
For Pam: The most beautiful rose God created.
Text © 2013 by Paul Zimmerman
Photographs © 2013 by Rob Cardillo, except as noted on p. 181
This work of Everyday Roses, ISBN 978-1-60085-778-2, is published with grateful acknowledgment
to Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle for their contributions to the book.
All rights reserved.
Pp
The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
e-mail: [email protected]
Editor: Renee Iwaszkiewicz Neiger
Copy editor: Betty Christiansen
Indexer: Barbara Mortenson
Jacket/Cover design: Carol Singer / notice design
Interior design: Rita Sowins/Sowins Design
Layout: Rita Sowins/Sowins Design
The following names/manufacturers appearing in Everyday Roses are trademarks: Abbaye de Cluny™,
The Alnwick®, Biltmore®, Biltmore Naturals™, Black Forest™, Bolero™, Brite Eyes™, Brothers Grimm™,
Cancan™, Carefree Delight™, Carefree Spirit™, Carefree Sunshine™, Carefree Wonder™, Climbing Eden™,
David Austin®, Dawn®, Drift®, Earth-Kind®, Easy Elegance®, Eden Climber™, Felco®, Flamingo Kolorscape™,
Home Run®, Jean Giono™, Knock Out®, The Knock Out® Family of Roses, Kordes Golden Gate™, Mandarin Ice™,
Marjorie Fair®, Meidiland®, Morning Magic™, Mystic Fairy®, Orchid Romance™, Oso Easy®, Oso Happy™,
Proven Winners®, Raspberry Cream Twirl™, Romantica®, Roxy™, Solero Vigorosa®, Star® Roses and Plants/
Conard-Pyle, Traviata™, Winners Circle™, White Eden™
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zimmerman, Paul, 1958-
Everyday roses : how to grow Knock Out® and other easy-care garden roses / Paul Zimmerman.
p. cm.
Every day roses
How to grow Knock Out? and other easy-care garden roses
Includes index.
E-Book ISBN 978-1-62113-842-6
1. Roses--United States. 2. Roses--Varieties--United States. I. Title. II. Title: Every day roses. III. Title: How to
grow Knock Out? and other easy-care garden roses.
SB411.Z56 2013
635.9’33734--dc23
2012047103
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acknowledgments
“I don’t know whether nice people tend to grow roses, or grow-
ing roses makes people nice.” –Roland A. Brown, American professor
Being a first-time author, I have no experience thanking the “Organics Boys.” Everyone at Bierkreek Nursery
the people who have in their own ways made it possible for being so ahead of the curve. Bud Meyer for being
for me to write this book. So I’ll just jump right in. a great person and mentor. Phillip Hess for invaluable
Mr. Freer, my high school AP history teacher, who legal counsel, his knowledge of wine, and the wonder-
taught me how to learn as opposed to memorize. Steve ful friendship I have with him and his wife, Margaret.
Jones for showing that slide of Somebreuil that spun The art and production staff at The Taunton Press for
me into the world of old garden roses. Michael Mar- making this book look good. Shawna Mullen and Renee
riott for his thoughts on garden design and his orange Neiger, my editors at Taunton Press, for pushing this
marmalade recipe. David Stone for sharing his amazing through and leading this first-time book author through
gardening skills and for lovely talks with him and his the maze of “how do we do that?”
wife, Ann, during soft fall evenings on our front porch. Father Michael Doty and my Holy Cross family. Steve
All my customers of Hundred Acre Woods in Los Hutton at Star® Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle not
Angeles, who let me play and learn in their gardens. only for backing this project but also for his vision of
Clair Martin for allowing me to run rampant in the what garden roses should be. Everyone who contributed
rose study plot of the Huntington Botanical Gardens. photos and thoughts to this book. My Ashdown family.
Kim Rupert for being Kim Rupert. Marily Williams for Clifford Orent for being as over-the-top about roses as
letting me tag along in the Fineschi Garden. Tom Car- I am and most of all for being a great friend, sounding
ruth, Ralph Moore, and the other rose nursery people so board, and supporter. The entire Beales family: Amanda
generous with their time and knowledge. for her roses, Richard for his friendship and can-do
To everyone who helped and encouraged me along attitude, Joan for those morning warm cups of tea, and
the way, and you know you who you are. of course, the entire Beales family for those lovely pub
Tommy Cairns for taking me under his wing and dinners. But particularly to Peter for his confidence,
teaching me a great deal of what I know about rose his encouragement in what I was doing, his befriend-
horticulture and for giving me room to find my own ing someone new in roses that he barely knew, and
ideas—also to him and his partner, Luis Desemaro, for teaching me how to play snooker. Trish Walsh for
for some killer dinner parties. Bob Edberg for all those holding down the fort at Ashdown while I went off on
hours under that tree at Limberlost Roses and for allow- my tangents. This book wouldn’t exist without you. To
ing me access to his rose library. Mike and Irene Lowe, all the “Makers of Heavenly Roses”—without your rose-
without whom Ashdown Roses would never have been. breeding talent, this book would have been pointless.
Sue Hopkins and Marji Lynn, you crazy kids. Darren But more than anyone else, thanks to my nieces,
Gilbert, Parker Andes, Tim Rosebrock, and the gang nephews, sisters, my mother, my late father, and my
at Biltmore® for their partnership and a beautiful place partner of 20-plus years, Pam, for not thinking I was
to stop and smell the roses. Dirck, Mark, and John, totally nuts—at least that’s what they said to my face.

Contents
foreword by Peter Beales ... 2
Preface ... 4
introduction: What Is a Garden Rose? ... 6
Part 1: essentials ... 12
cHaPter one: Buying Roses ... 14
cHaPter two: Planting ... 28
Part 2: basic care ... 46
cHaPter tHree: Mulching, Watering, and Feeding ... 48
cHaPter four: Disease and Insects ... 64
cHaPter fiVe: Pruning and Grooming ... 78
Part 3: rose gallery ... 104
cHaPter six: Roses in the Landscape ... 106
Part 4: rose guide ... 146
cHaPter seVen: Suggested Roses ... 148
aPPendix ... 166
A Brief History of Roses ... 166
Should a Rose’s Growth Habit Determine Its Class? ... 169
Rose Classes ... 171
Metric equiValency cHart ... 175
Zone MaP ... 175
glossary ... 176
resources ... 178
PHoto credits ... 181
index ... 182
Foreword
I first met Paul at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in be a good idea for me to copy this quotation and display
Pasadena, California, 12 years ago. I had just delivered a it for all to see in my sales office.
lecture, and Paul was one of the audience members who Another element of Paul’s philosophy with which I
asked questions of me at the end. It was not difficult to concur is avoiding the use of chemicals for disease and
ascertain from the questions he asked that he was a man pest control. I know that, like me, Paul loves old garden
who already knew quite a lot about our shared subject, roses, but sadly, quite a few of the beautiful oldies are
but he was keen to learn even more. Since then, Paul and rather more prone to disease than some of modern culti-
I have become close friends, and I have come to respect vars, such as the Knock Out rose. Paul goes into consid-
his knowledge of the subject to the point where I now erable detail on chemical-free disease control. And one
ask him questions and have learned to respect his answers thing that becomes clear is that there are many modern
as being accurate, straightforward, and to the point. It is roses that are very disease resistant. However, if your taste
these three features that best sum up Paul’s work in this is for the older cultivars, avoid the use of chemicals from
book. This said, there is a danger that such adjectives the start and these grand old roses will build up their own
could imply a dull, dry read; far from it. For Paul has the resistance to ill health and will take their rightful place
ability to use his command of the English language to along modern garden roses.
bring even the dullest of items to life. To conclude, I believe that anyone who reads this book
Another word that springs to mind from reading this and follows Paul’s philosophy cannot help but have a
book is enthusiasm, for it is impossible to read more than garden of healthy roses and furthermore, by so doing,
two or three pages without realizing that it is written by will get tremendous pleasure from the experience.
a man in love with his subject and who wishes to impart
—Peter Beales, author and rose expert
this love to his readers. Refreshing is another word that
amply describes Paul’s approach to his subject. It’s
refreshing because he challenges lots of the old, estab-
lished methods of growing roses, not to mention that
he possesses a readiness to express firmly held opinions
about types and cultivars, which will make some of the
“old school” rose growers raise their eyebrows! I didn’t
need to raise mine, as without exception, I agree whole-
heartedly with everything he has written.
At this point, I feel that a direct quote is appropriate:
“I hope in its own way, this book will teach you that you
can grow roses sustainably using simple techniques and
your own gardener’s instincts, all applied with a healthy
dose of common sense.” As a nurseryman in touch with
gardeners and rose growers on a daily basis, I feel it would Paul Zimmerman (left) and Peter Beales (right).
2