Run for the Roses

Published May 25, 2012 | Updated December 31, 2022

Roses continue to be a hot seller across the supply chain. From shrub roses to varieties based on the old-fashioned types, roses continue to provide good sell-through for growers and retailers. Peruse this list of 2012 and 2013 introductions and releases to find your next big seller.

All a’Twitter
Released by Weeks Roses, All a’Twitter is a miniature rose with a bushy and rounded habit. Flowers are a true orange set off by the deep, glossy-green foliage. Flower color carries well throughout the life of the flower. The double flowers grow to about 1½ inches in diameter with a petal count of 15 to 20. It has a light fragrance. Use in a patio pot, in a garden border or as a tree rose.

Easy Elegance Champagne Wishes
Released by Bailey Nurseries, effervescent clusters of soft apricot buds open to full blooms in shades of antique white with a hint of apricot. Champagne Wishes pairs perfectly with perennials. It grows up to 4 feet tall and wide. The full flowers grow to 3 inches in diameter. It’s hardy in Zones 4-7.

Eyeconic Melon Lemonade
Released by Conard-Pyle, the overall flower effect of Eyeconic Melon Lemonade is orange to apricot, with a red ring around the inside of the petals. Flowers finish light pink with the red blotch turning to purple. This rose is only recommended for the western states due to its susceptibility to leaf spot diseases. It grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It’s hardy in Zones 6-9.

Amber Sunblaze and Sweet Sunblaze
Available from Greenheart Farms, this collection of miniature roses has been selected for outstanding potted plant production and garden performance. Hardy and easy to grow, Sunblaze roses will flower from spring until fall. All varieties in the Sunblaze collection have dense, dark green foliage with 2- to 3-inch large, grandiflora blooms. There are 12 varieties total in the collection. They grow up to 18 inches high and 24 inches wide. They are hardy in Zones 5-9. Amber Sunblaze has a bright orange flower and Sweet Sunblaze has a light pink, double flower.

Easy Elegance Music Box
This everblooming rose from Bailey Nurseries features creamy yellow blooms touched with delicate pink blends. The double flowers sit atop glossy medium green foliage. It’s everblooming and grows up to 4 feet tall and wide. The double flowers grow to 2 inches in diameter. It’s hardy in Zones 4-9. Years before selection, these roses undergo rigorous testing. This includes purposely inviting diseases such as powdery mildew and black spot. Any rose that shows signs of disease is quickly eliminated from the Easy Elegance program.

Eyeconic Pomegranate Lemonade
Conard-Pyle expects growers and retailers to be wowed by this variety. It’s one of two new Eyeconic Roses from breeder Jim Sproul. Eyeconic Pomegranate Lemonade has an exceptionally large flower for a miniature rose. It is repeat flowering and maintains the distinctive blotch characteristic of the Hulthemia roses at all stages of flowering. This rose is only recommended for the western states due to its susceptibility to leaf spot diseases. Flowers are deep pink suffused with white and a deep magenta eye. It grows up to 12 inches high and 18 inches wide. It’s hardy in Zones 6-9.

Flamingo Kolorscape and Milano Kolorscape
The Kolorscape collection from Greenheart Farms will help inspire confidence in the inexperienced gardener. These compact, mounded shrubs have stunning flower power and a generous bloom cycle that will continue until the first hard frost. The collection is self-cleaning and heat tolerant throughout the U.S. There are four varieties in the collection. They grow up from 36-42 inches tall and 24-30 inches wide. They’re hardy in Zones 5-9. Flamingo Kolorscape features a hot pink flower and Milano Kolorscape has a bright red flower.

Koko Loko
This floribunda from Weeks Roses features a milky chocolate color suffusing to lavender. The classic flowers are fully double and grow up to 4½ inches in diameter. Petal count is 30-35. This unusual selection is early to flower.

Look-A-Likes Hydrangeaful
Released by Conard-Pyle, Look-A-Likes Hydrangeaful is a unique new rose with densely flowered clusters of small red blooms with a white eye. It remains low to the ground (2 feet tall and 3 feet wide), requiring little maintenance. Its first flush of blooms is stunning, but it does not repeat bloom well. Plant it toward the front of mixed borders where other flowering perennials will cover it later in the season. It’s hardy in Zones 5-9.

Francis Meilland
Francis Meilland from Conard-Pyle is a tall hybrid tea rose with a large bloom and strong fragrance. It is a multiple award winner in Europe for disease resistance as well as aesthetics. It is the first hybrid tea rose to win the prestigious ADR contest in Germany where roses are observed for two years under no spray conditions. It is the 2013 AARS winner in the U.S. Flowers are shell pink, turning white as it ages. It grows up to 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It’s hardy in Zones 5-9.

Lady of Shalott
One of the most reliable and hardy roses in the David Austin Roses collection, Lady of Shalott is highly resistant to disease and will consistently bloom throughout the season. The young buds are a rich orange-red and open to form chalice-shaped blooms, filled with loosely arranged petals. Each petal has a salmon pink upper side which contrasts with the attractive golden yellow reverse. The flowers have a warm tea fragrance, with hints of spiced apple and cloves. It quickly forms a large, bushy shrub with slightly arching stems. It grows 4 feet tall and 3½ feet wide.

Look-A-Likes Phloxy Baby
Look-A-Likes Phloxy Baby from Conard-Pyle is a Polyantha hybrid from the hybridizer of The Knock Out rose. It displays extremely good disease resistance and is more upright than most polyantha roses. It’s a great choice for use as a hedge. Phloxy Baby produces more than 50 blooms per stem and attracts bees. Flower color is medium pink finishing to light pink. It grows to 5½ feet tall and 4-5 feet wide. It’s hard in Zones 5-9.

Ketchup & Mustard
This floribunda from Weeks Roses is an attention getter. Its red flowers have a deep yellow reverse. Flower size is up to 3½ inches in diameter and petal count is around 25. Flowers hold their color tones to the end, dropping from the well-behaved plant as the next round of flowers appear. Ketchup & Mustard has a rounded and bushy habit and bright, glossy apple-green foliage. Use in a container, in the landscape or as a rose tree.

Majesty Shrub Rose
The disease-resistant Majesty Shrub Rose, from the Southern Living Plant Collection, produces velvety, deep-red, semi-double blooms and re-blooms spring until fall. Majesty grows to a very manageable 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide with a moderate to fast growth rate.

Princess Anne
Princess Anne from David Austin Roses exhibits pure deep-pink flowers that are produced over a long period, held in large clusters. There is a medium-strong tea rose fragrance. It will form a compact, bushy, upright shrub, with highly polished foliage that is disease resistant. It’s an ideal variety for borders or large pots and containers. It may also be grown as a repeat-flowering hedge. It grows 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

Sugar Moon
This hybrid tea from Weeks Roses features a clean, bright-white flower and glossy dark-green foliage. Large, full flowers grow up to 5 inches in diameter with a petal count of about 35. It has an intense fragrance of sweet citrus and rose. Good rebloom, natural vigor and long cutting stems make this a good choice for a cutting garden.

Oso Happy Smoothie
The newest member of the Oso Happy series of roses, Oso Happy Smoothie from Proven Winners ColorChoice is a thornless polyantha type. Its single flowers are deep pink on the edges shading away to white toward the center, and are produced all season long. Its smooth, thorn-free stems makes it kid- and pet-friendly and also give it the unexpected benefit of being a joy to arrange in the vase, particularly in autumn when it is covered in brilliant red fruit.

Stormy Weather
Released by Weeks Roses, this climbing rose has long canes of 6-8 feet. Flowers are deep smoky purple with a lighter reverse. The double flowers grow to 4 inches in diameter. Petal count is 15-20. Stormy Weather has a moderate spice fragrance. It’s a repeat bloomer in the first season.

Wollerton Old Hall
This 2013 release from David Austin Roses has the distinctive myrrh scent which is rarely found in roses. The plump buds have attractive flashes of red. These open to form round, rich buttery yellow colored blooms which eventually pale to a softer creamy color. It forms a bushy shrub with many stems shooting from the base. It is relatively upright and has few thorns. With its soft coloring Wollerton Old Hall will very easily blend with a wide range of color schemes, planted with roses or other shrubs and perennials. It grows 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

Popcorn Drift
Popcorn Drift from Conard-Pyle is a mutation of Peach Drift. Popcorn Drift represents a new color in the series. The color starts out yellow and fades to cream white, sometimes suffused with light pink. The overall impression is yellow and cream; reminiscent of butter drenched popped corn. It grows to 1½ feet tall and 2 feet wide. It’s hardy in Zones 5-11.