Roses for an increasingly dry climate

TinyGardenGIrl

I'm finding that in the last 2 summers my roses have not performed well in the front garden. Instead , they have stalled and in fact my front garden now looks best in autumn when it is cooler. Therefore I'd like to buy some more robust rose bushes , preferable in white or cream.

Could anybody recommend any roses that still continuously bloom during our dry  summers please?

Marlorena

...which vendor will you be using please?... I could recommend lots of roses but you might not find them locally...  generally speaking, look towards floribunda and shrub roses.... not hybrid teas... 

edhelka

Where do you live? While it's probably true that it is getting dryer, the UK is still less dry and less hot than continental Europe in summer and they can have very beautiful roses. Is your problem drought, too high temperatures or too harsh sun? Do you water roses in summer (many roses are happy in hot weather as long as they are watered). What soil do you have - free-draining or moisture-retaining? Have you done anything to make the soil more moisture retentive and do you mulch?

TinyGardenGIrl

Hi,
Marlorena, I'm happy to order from any online retailer . I've ordered from DA , Peter Beales and eBay in the past.
@edhelka, I live in Yorkshire and my soil is heavy clay. I do water the front garden only about once a week or less as I don't have a tap round the front . The roses have previously been doing really well all summer  until the summer drought of 2018. I don't mulch as there is gravel there .
The front gets direct sun from the afternoon onwards but it's not really harsh sunshine. 
You are right , I've heard of lovely roses in Europe so it shouldn't be too difficult in my garden . Unfortunately I don't know the name of my rose bushes as I picked them up in b&q as a novice many years ago but I did think they seemed like the iceberg rose. I also have Reines des violettes there but that's only a year old.

Marlorena

@TinyGardenGIrl   ...ok... I will be surprised if Reine des Violettes thrives in that location... double purple roses are the worst for dry spots and this one needs rich treatment to see at its best....
...here are 3 to be going on with that you should consider...
'Scarborough Fair'.... 'Winchester Cathedral'... and 'Souvenir de St. Anne's'...
...all of these will do well with minimum fuss... in the white/cream range... they are also good with disease resistance...


'Scarborough Fair' blooming well during hot dry 2018.. in poor soil roadside... continuous bloom form... it is pink/white though...

edhelka

Marlorena is the best for advice about particular roses (and I can vouch for Scarborough Fair, it's a very robust rose).

My questions were meant to find out if you really need drought-tolerant roses or if there could be some other reason for them to not performing well. It could be that they are slow repeaters and what you are experiencing is their normal bloom frequency. Or they could deplete nutrients in the soil for their first flush and need a little boost to perform well afterwards.

Loxley

@Marlorena, what are your thoughts on The Fairy as a rose for a tough spot such as a roadside verge?

Marlorena

@WillDB … 'The Fairy' is one of those oft seen ground cover roses.... well suited to difficult spots, so rightly famous as a result.... however it has no scent, and the major drawback for me is that it has lots of vicious thorns... and for a rose that sprawls and splays outwards... not suitable for my garden... I just got rid of a similar variety because of its thorns...  but yes a tough floriferous rose... I admit I prefer something more glamorous though... 

TinyGardenGIrl

Thank you for your helpful replies. I like the look of Scarborough fair , so I shall order some in December when I'm fed up of the winter. I think I'll also move the Reines des Violette's in that case Marlorena .

Obelixx

@nyflowerguy - this is a UK based forum so your attempt at advertising is not only against the rules here but a waste of time and space.   Nice try tho.  Better luck in the States.

Nollie

I grow roses on clay in my hotter climate, but I enrich the soil with lots of bagged manure and compost then mulch deeply. That, combined with deep watering - a 12 litre can at the roots, twice weekly in summer, plus feeding, keeps them going. 

But, like you, mine suffered this year during the heatwaves despite the deep watering. Many take a break from flowering in August, but this year, stopped blooming from mid June until mid September. Even Iceberg, which was specially chosen for my conditions. The single exception was a yellow floribunda, Absolutely Fabulous, which flowered non-stop and is still going. I am looking at replacing a number of roses with tougher ones, the following white ones are on my list of possibles, but I need to do a bit more research on them, so they are not recommendations:

Kordes: White Roadrunner (short rugosa hybrid, fragrant), Diamant, Escimo or Inocencia 
Meilland: White Meilove or Creme Chantilly

Don’t know about UK availability but if any appeal I could put you in touch with a european supplier.