Earth Kind Roses for the Home Garden Landscape

Earth-kind roses are chosen for the minimum amount of plant maintenance needed to keep a rose garden healthy and blooming. Earth-kind roses are very self-sufficient plants requiring no fertilizing, spraying, deadheading or pruning except to remove dead wood.

Texas AgriLife Extension Service developed the Earth-kind landscaping program through which sustainable roses are designated after having proven high pest resistance and strong landscape value.

Sustainable Roses with Minimal Plant Care

Sustainable rose plants that require minimal plant care are useful for growing in a mixed planting bed with perennials or shrubs as well as in the traditional rose garden.

Gardeners will find a variety of Rosa plants with the Earth-kind designation include:

• R. ‘Louis Phillippe,’ a China type, was found in France in 1834. It is a double crimson with sporadic white streaked throughout the petals. The compact bush grows 3′ – 5′ tall and in zones 7 – 9 is evergreen and blooms all year.

• R.’ Mutabilis’ is another old rose introduced before 1894. The 6′ tall plant is hardy as far north as zone 6. The single petal colorful flowers evolve from yellow to pink to crimson but are not fragrant.

• R. ‘Lafter’ is a hybrid tea with yellow and orange, semi-double blooms. The plant grows 4′ – 6′ and is hardy in zones 5 – 9.

• R. ‘Earth Song’ is a grandiflora growing 4′ – 5′ tall. The flowers are fragrant double dark pink and a reliable rebloomer.

• R. ‘John Cabot’ is a very winter-hardy, to zone 4a, climbing rose with semi-double red flowers.

• R. ‘Else Poulsen’is a floribunda compact shrub, 3′ – 4’ tall. The fragrant pink clusters are made up of single petal flowers.

Popular very tough rose bushes like the ‘Knock Out’™ series, ‘Carefree Beauty’ and ‘The Fairy’ are also part of the Earth-kind list. Although the tough species rose, Rosa rugosa is not.

Sustainable rose varieties need moist soil after planting until the roses are established and average watering done with a soaker hose during the growing season. Roses should be planted where they will get eight hours of full sun and with good air circulation planned around each rose bush.

Demonstration Garden at Columbus Park of Roses

The Columbus Park of Roses in Clintonville, Ohio, is a demonstration garden displaying Earth-kind roses. Located in Whetstone Park, the 13 acre rose garden is planted with 11,500 roses from 400 varieties.

Columbus Park of Roses is also one of the 130 All-America Rose Selections display gardens where rose plants are tested before being made available to the gardening public.