New Rose Is A Winner - Apr 23, 2008
Flower Carpet Roses have been a huge success since they were introduced more than 15 years ago. They were advertised as the first ever disease resistant ground cover rose. They have lived up to this but in truth they are sprawling small shrubs rather than ground covers. Growing to 80 cms high by 1.2m's wide they don't get that horrible Black Spot fungus disease like other roses if you plant them in your garden in a sunny position. They flower non stop for 10 months of the year. They get at least 50% more flowers if you prune and fertilise them every 6 weeks. Pruning is as simple as cutting off any spent flowers. This encourages more new growth and more flowers.
Over the years new colours of Flower Carpet rose have been released but up till now the original dark pink variety has been the best performing. This Autumn a new generation flower carpet rose called " Amber "has been released. It's too early just yet to say wether it's going to be as good as the pink but wow the flower colour is amazing.Flower Carpet " Amber "has orange buds that open to golden amber then fade to soft apricot pink. The plants are vigorous growers with lush green foliage. I'm so impressed with this new variety I have mass planted them in our garden at Campbelltown. If you have room in your garden plant a few together and the flower display will be much more powerful. Flower Carpet Roses perform best in gardens that don't have root competition from trees so plant them wisely and you will be rewarded.
Tim Pickles is horticulturist and director of Tim's Garden Centre 2 Queen St Campbelltown 46267022.