5. Balcony Roses: Never Mind What Your Mother Grew (March)

My mother was justifiably proud of her beautiful yellow roses that covered a trellised white arbour in our back yard on Pleasant Avenue. (Yes, really. Pleasant Avenue). But while Mum loved those roses during their short June blooming period, even as a small child I can recall that the beauty of the blooms couldn’t seem to reduce her complaints about how finicky those roses were!  She watered, she fertilized, she sprayed, she pruned, she carefully plucked off each dying leaf. No wonder I grew up convinced that growing roses was not a fun project.

Rose guru Brad Jalbert from Select Roses, a farm-style home-based rose nursery in Langley, BC (just east of Vancouver), once explained that, in fact“many favourite roses of the past are just too disease-prone to be sold today”:

” Iceberg roses, once hugely popular floribunda rose bushes, are now so prone to black spot, they shouldn’t even be sold here. New Dawn, a striking pink climber, was also a big seller in the past, but today it is considered a mildew magnet.”

Here are just a few of Brad’s recommendations for roses that will do well growing in our specific west coast climate – but check these out to see if they’ll also be as terrific in your own area, too):

1. The Germany-bred Kordes roses, especially the Vigorosa collection. Brad adds: “They have won trial garden awards and they excel as low-maintenance shrub roses. The rose called ‘Ruby’ has long-lasting red blooms, and grows to about 90 cm/3 feet. These are roses meant for mass planting at shopping malls and public areas, but also fit well into the home garden. They are definitely bullet-proof. You can prune them with hedge trimmers if you like. One established plant will produce more than 100 flowers in its first flush.”

2. Flower Carpet roses are widely available, but of all nine colours available in this collection, Jalbert gives ‘Pink Supreme’ the highest rating: “Gardeners tell me it produces masses of flowers and outlives most other roses they grow.”

3. Weeks Roses“Julia Child” is an award-winning yellow floribunda rose. A spectacular mass planting of Julia grows in the small but perfect rose garden next to the British Columbia Provincial Legislature Building in downtown Victoria. “What an amazing rose this has turned out to be,” says Brad Jalbert. “Landscapers, park gardeners and home owners have all said that this is one of their very best easy-care roses. It has a wonderful bright yellow flower, unique licorice fragrance, and healthy glossy foliage. It’s one of the best yellow roses for our climate and it is proving itself to be one of the best roses in the world.”

4. “Elina” is a creamy, pale yellow hybrid tea rose that’s known to be tolerant of urban pollution, producing large, flawless blooms that also make lovely cut flowers to bring indoors. “It’s a member of the World Rose Hall of Fame and is one that our customers always recommend and praise,” says Brad Jalbert.

In reviewing Brad’s list of favourite roses for our coastal conditions, I’m most drawn to the first two listed (“Ruby” and “Pink Supreme”) – perfect smallish sizes for my balcony planters. But I’m also madly in love with “Julia Child” (having walked past the stunning plantings near the Legislature many times). Yet those “Julias” seemed far taller when I walk past them in real life than the 2-3′ that most sources describe their maximum height. I’ll have to do more sleuthing on these as my favourite son Ben and I continue to learn more about becoming rose-growers.

Meanwhile, I’ll have to learn which roses will be just as happy living in pots.