“A rose that grows well all over the country is a rose that doesn’t exist,” says Paul Zimmerman. He would know—he’s grown roses on the West Coast, in Miami, and now in upstate South Carolina through his rose-centric landscape consulting business. Along the way—and with a little help from a series of rose trials he runs at Biltmore—he’s sussed out the varieties that work best in Southern climes. “This is a great place to grow roses,” he says, “as long as you choose the right variety.”
The primary challenge roses face in the region is the high humidity, he explains. Moist conditions can lead to black spot, a fungal disease that plagues many types of roses and their would-be growers, who often turn to spraying in frustration. But fungicide is not the answer. “In the Southeast, because we have the humidity and we have the heat and we have the cold, I want to grow a rose that’s vigorous within its DNA and not vigorous because I’m artificially supplying it with fertilizer and fungicide,” he says. “My own garden is full of roses, and they’re all no-spray.”
Below, find some of Zimmerman’s top rose varieties and tips for growing them in Southern gardens. “There’s so much history and romance associated with roses, and they are just so fragrant and beautiful,” he says. “And they can absolutely do well here.”
Consider tea roses…
“Tea roses are very hard to beat for the Southeast,” Zimmerman says. This old garden rose—which preceded the hybrid tea rose created in 1867—was popular in the mid- to late 1800s. The whole class is known for hardiness, disease resistance, and vigorous growth, and Zimmerman favors the Monsieur Tillier, William Allen Smith, and Souvenir d’un Ami varieties in particular.
And noisettes.
Noisettes, another old garden rose, are a class of climbing roses created by John Champney, a rice plantation farmer in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1800s. “This is the only real class of roses native to North America,” Zimmerman says. As such, they thrive in the South—try the original, Champney’s Pink Cluster, or Madame Alfred Carriere or Reve d’Or.
Don’t overlook more modern roses either.
“Many newer hybrid teas will do very well in our climate and are bred to be disease resistant,” Zimmerman says. In his own garden, a favorite modern shrub is the mauve-colored Petite Prince. He also favors the more recently created Big Ben as well as the James L. Austen rose. And he advises keeping an eye on two no-spray trials that run in the United States called the American Gardens Rose Selections and the American Rose Trials for Sustainability. Both include sections on the Southeast and highlight the best tried-and-true varieties out there.
Pick the right spot in your garden.
Since much of the South receives a lot of rain, make sure you stake out an area for your new rose that has good drainage, as “roses don’t like wet feet,” Zimmerman says. They do, however, like full sun, so keep that in mind, too.
Give a new rose time.
“When a child first goes to school, they seem to catch everything, but then they build up their immunities,” Zimmerman says. Roses are like that, too—as a rule of thumb, he gives a new rose two or three years to settle into a climate and garden. “If your rose has black spot for the first three months, just give it time. But if it has black spot after three years, it’s time to get a shovel.”
Ask for help.
Botanical gardens in your area can be a great source of inspiration and knowledge, Zimmerman says, but with a catch—ask them if they spray. “That’s the key to the whole thing.” If they don’t, their varieties will likely work well for you, too. Zimmerman also suggests paying a visit or perusing the websites of two of his favorite speciality rose purveyors, Roses Unlimited in Laurens, South Carolina, or Angel Gardens in Alachua County, Florida. And you can always join Zimmerman’s Facebook group, which at 22,000 strong offers plenty of counsel and support.
