In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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March 18, 2008

One rosarian's favorite roses for valley conditions

Someone recently left me a brief phone message: What are the best hybrid tea and floribunda roses for Sacramento Valley heat, she asked. Then, click, no phone number, no name.

That’s a great question, and one that forced me to call in a local expert, the American Rose Society master rosarian Baldo Villegas.

He found it tough, too.

“To come down with a short list of roses that do best for the area is just like saying ‘which are your favorite kids!’ Generally I like to recommend roses by color range, rather than just giving a short list of roses.”

Also, we know nothing about the reader’s garden or preferences. But here goes, Villegas says.

HYBRID TEAS
1) Gemini/Secret – best pink blend roses for the area; Of the two, Secret is more fragrant.
2) Veterans Honor/Black Magic/Let Freedom Ring – If you want red roses, you can't go wrong with any of these three roses especially as cut flowers; Black Magic is a very dark red rose that hold well in our heat.
3) Marilyn Monroe - If an apricot blend is your color, Marilyn is your rose but watch out for the thorns as she is the thorniest modern rose.
4) Neptune - If you want a different color, Neptune is a mauve blend rose that is also very fragrant and is a great cut flower as well.
5) Saint Patrick - Medium yellow, tolerates the heat of the Sacramento area and the bloom color ranges from greenish to medium yellow.

FLORIBUNDAS
1) Julia Child – This is a yellow-flowered floribunda that is always in bloom in my yard and produces. It looks great as a landscape rose as well as a cut flower.
2) Hot Cocoa – A russet colored rose whose color is always the attraction in my rose garden. It's always in bloom and a very healthy grower.
3) Bolero - A white rose with the old fashion quartered shaped flowers. It is very fragrant and the flowers are long lasting.
4) Sunsprite - A bright yellow rose that is always in bloom and very fragrant to boot. It is great as a cut flower as well as for landscape color.
5) Lavaglut (Lavaglow) - A medium to dark red rose that produces huge sprays of roses.
6) Playboy - For many years my favorite multicolored rose. It has shiny foliage and flowers with multicolored petals that start yellow and as the flowers age, the petal color changes from yellow to red towards the upper edges. It is one of the most colorful roses in my garden.

For more information about all things Sacramento and roses, visit Villegas’ Web site at www.sactorose.org.

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