Three Winners of the 2009 AARS (All-American Rose Selections) Award of Excellence offer attractive options for rose growers. All roses considered for the award undergo extensive testing across the country in a two-year trial program where they are judged on flower production, diseases resistance, color, and fragrance.
“Pink Promise” (Hybrid Tea) The high centered flowers of this long stemmed beauty has up to 30 petals in various shades of pink set off by lush dark green foliage. The 5” flowers give off a lightly fruit-scented fragrance. The large, upright plants have good disease resistant and grow well even in cooler climates. The National Breast Cancer Foundation chose this rose as its official rose and a percentage of every sales price will go to help support the Foundation.
“Cinco de Mayo” (Floribunda) Your first glimpse of this rose tells you that it is special. The multi-colored flowers up to 3 ½” across are a blend of smoked lavender and rusty red-orange and are borne in large fragrant clusters on stems up to 60” long. The medium sized bush is very rounded and bushy and sports attractive, glossy green foliage and dark red new growth. The bushes rebloom quickly, have excellent disease resistance, and will grow well in gardens across the country.
“Carefree Spirit” (Landscape rose) This is one of those really tough roses that almost anybody can grow and in test trials needed no fungicides because it has excellent resistance to black spot and total resistance to mildew and rust. This very vigorous, bushy, mounding rose sports medium to dark green glossy foliage and single 2” –21/2”cherry red blossoms with a white eye that finish deep pink in heat. It performs well in all parts of the country but, unfortunately, has no fragrance.
