Disease Resistant Hardy Southern Roses

Antique Roses

• While nostalgia plays a part in the popularity of antique varieties in the South, gardeners also enjoy the hardiness and disease resistance of the old roses, not to mention their quick growth and powerful fragrance. Antique varieties include the China Rose, Tea Rose, Hybrid Perpetual, Moss Rose, Damask, Bourbon and Noisette varieties.

Oriental Roses

• Some oriental varieties such as Lady Banks Rose ( Rosa banksiae), McCartney Rose (Rosa bracteata), Himalayan Musk Rose (Rosa brunonii), The Gigantic Rose ( Rosa gigantea) and the Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata) do very well in the South, They do so that that some have almost become pests, escaping gardens and growing into the forest fringes. Two particularly hardy Oriental species, Rosa wichurana (Memorial Rose) and Rosa multiflora (Japanese Rose), seed themselves freely with little intervention.

Hybrids

• Though many rose hybrids lose some of their hardiness in exchange for color, complexity of shape size, several hybrid varieties have managed to capture the hardiness of their parent varieties. Some hybrid Tea roses such as the Tea-Noisettes have proved to be disease and weather resistant. Antique China Roses crossed with old European varieties such as Gallicas, Damasks, Albas and Cabbage or Provence types, create hybrids that tolerate heat and disease but do not need long winter dormancy periods to produce spectacular blooms.