Due to several unique challenges home gardeners and nursery owners are often baffled when trying to incorporate roses into landscapes. Consequently, they ignore roses altogether or limit themselves to cultivars in the knockout or drift series. While knockout roses and drift roses are commonly planted throughout the lower south, and deservedly so, many other roses that will perform equally well should be considered for inclusion into landscapes and flower gardens.
‘Anna Jung’ Tea Rose. Image Credit: Matthew J. Orwat, UF / IFAS Extension
While there are several rose classes that will perform well throughout the Florida panhandle, the focus here will be on the Tea class. Roses in the Tea class originated in China over 1000 years ago. Many cultivars of ancient origin reached Europe through trade routes with Italy, England, and France. In the 1700s, the art and science of plant breeding was taking Europe by storm, so horticulturists were crossing the repeat-blooming Chinese roses with well-known European and Middle Eastern cultivars such as the Autumn Damask and Tuscany. Throughout the 1800s, many of these European and Chinese hybrid roses were created to grow around the Mediterranean. In the mid-1800s, Tea roses began to be bred with high centered form and long vase life, therefore aristocratic families throughout northern Europe began to grow them in greenhouses for rose exhibitions and competitions.
At the end of the 1700s and throughout the 1800s, a substantial quantity of Tea roses were brought to the southern USA where they were noted to be of easy culture outdoors. Thus, by the mid-1800s, they graced the gardens of both the humble and the aristocratic. These roses became popular foundation landscape plants from zone 7b to 10, all the way to Bermuda, where many “mystery roses” are found growing today.
Although the popularity of the Tea roses were eclipsed in the 1920s by the showier Hybrid Teas, they have regained popularity in mild-climate locales in the USA due to their ease of culture and prolific blooming habits. Most showy Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses require fungicide sprays to thrive in the humid Florida Panhandle climate, but most of the Tea roses will thrive without the application of fungicide sprays of any kind. When established, most are drought and insect resistant, and flower well into November and December, unless an early hard freeze occurs. One small disadvantage to Tea roses is that they are more cold-tender than other classes of roses. Almost all these roses will survive well in zones 8a-10, with a few of the climbing types only suited for zones 9a and warmer. None of the Tea in the author’s garden were killed by the December hard freeze, and only a few showed damage.
While there are over 100 worthy Tea cultivars to recommend, this article will focus on five Tea roses:
Anna Jung: Bred in 1903 by Nabonnand, Anna Jung is a showy cream and pink tea in the tradition of other large Tea roses Marie van Houtte and Safrano. It makes a six-by-five-foot shrub clothed in large apple-green leaves. Flower color is variable but ranges from cream and light pink to fuchsia in warm weather conditions. The scent is pungent, like freshly dried green tea leaves. This rose is highly vigorous and free flowering and tough, the author’s plant survived being partially uprooted by Hurricane Michael and is thriving again. Anna Jung was lost to commerce for decades in the United States, imported once again from France, where it has been available in the nursery trade continuously since its introduction. It is now sold by a few specialty rose nurseries in the southern USA.
Single flower of the Tea Rose Anna Jung. Image Credit: Matthew J. Orwat, UF / IFAS Extension
Le Pactole: This Tea rose was bred in 1834 and has been grown in the United States for many years. Some time in the 1930s-1950s it was no longer available commercially and was thought extinct but was found by rose hunters in California and re-introduced to the public in the 1990s. It has light yellow flowers, fading to white, with a lemon-tea scent that floats in the air. This prolifically blooming rose is rather thorny and makes a handsome plant 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide in zone 8a. This rose experiences some dieback under prolonged freezing conditions below 20 degrees F. It recovers well from setbacks and is relatively easy to grow.
Fragrant Tea Rose Le Pactole. Image Credit: Matthew J. Orwat, UF / IFAS Extension
Rosette Delizy: In 1922, the Tea roses were on their way out, but Paul Nabonnand had one last trick up his sleeve with the introduction of Rosette Delizy. This rose was meant to make a splash in European greenhouse rose production with its perfectly formed yellow and pink flowers, but it made an unlikely hit in the Gulf South due to its disease resistance and vibrant colors. Although Rosette Delizy struggles with cold hardiness north of USDA zone 8a, it is perfectly suited to the Florida panhandle.
Especially brightly colored example of Rosette Delizy, a Tea Rose introduced in 1922. Image Credit: Matthew J. Orwat, IF / IFAS Extension
Safrano: Peachy and cream blooms adorn this 4–5-foot plant with an eight-foot-wide, spreading habit. The new growth is deep red, and the foliage is dark green. Safrano can produce the most beautiful flowers in the garden during spring and fall, but summer blooms are small and few-petaled. This rose is ideal for a foundational landscape planting because of its wide stature and nearly evergreen foliage in zone 8b and warmer. Safrano is also one of the oldest available Tea roses, being introduced in 1839.
Spice:Often thought to be one of the original tea roses, ‘Hume’s Blush Tea Scented China’ or the 1830s rose ‘Caroline’, the cultivar we now refer to as “Spice” or “Bermuda Spice” was re-introduced to the horticultural world in the 1970s from the island of Bermuda. Spice thrives in the sub-tropical climate of the Florida panhandle, staying evergreen and producing flowers almost year-round. Blooms are light pink, fragrant, and often borne in clusters. This is one of the most disease-resistant roses of all, rarely showing any incidence of blackspot or powdery mildew. Mature plants are drought and heat tolerant and sit at about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
“Spice”, the Bermuda Mystery Rose, might actually be the original ‘Hume’s Blush’, or the old Tea Rose ‘Caroline’ . Image Credit: Matthew J. Orwat, UF / IFAS Extension
A few notes about Tea rose culture:
They do not like to be pruned back hard, during the first 5 years of growth, only remove dead or diseased wood. Since they are usually sold own root, they need 3-4 years in the garden to become well established. Lastly, Tea roses do not bloom much during the hottest part of the summer but make up for it during late winter and late fall.
Here is a list of mail-order nurseries in the Southern USA that carry tea roses. This list is not exhaustive and does not contain nurseries on the west coast. If any nurseries were left off this list, it is not the author’s intention. No endorsement is made or implied.
On Saturday, September 16th, 2017, from 9AM to 12PM, UF / IFAS Extension Washington County will be providing a rose gardening workshop for gardeners across the Panhandle. Many roses are hard to grow in the Florida Panhandle without investing considerable time and energy into spraying for insect and disease problems. This workshop will teach attendees how to select and sustainably grow roses adapted to the hot-humid conditions of the Southern Gulf Coast. There will be opportunities for outdoor learning and hands-on activities.
Topics include:
Selection of disease resistant rose cultivars adapted to the lower South
Resources to obtain hard to find easy care rose cultivars
Soil and Nutrient Management
Disease and insect management
Irrigation
Rose Propagation
Participants will be given the opportunity to propagate their own rose and take home their own propagation assembly to grow their own roses from scratch.
Refreshments will be provided and a door prize will be available.
Address: Washington County Ag Center Auditorium, 1424 Jackson Ave, Chipley FL 32428.
Pre Registration required for count: Contact Nikki or Cynthia at 850-638-6180 or email Matthew Orwat at mjorwat@ufl.edu
Banana pepper in container. Photo by Molly Jameson.
Interested in having a garden, but have limited space? Maybe you live in an apartment, have poor soil quality, or you just don’t have many areas that get enough sunlight. Maybe you’ve tried gardening, but given up, labeling yourself as one of those who “just doesn’t have a green thumb.” Well, I’m here to tell you, don’t give up! Try container gardening. Growing your own vegetables in containers is easy and can be a very rewarding experience. Container gardens also tend to have fewer weed, pest, and disease problems then regular in-ground gardens. Following just a few guidelines, you can have a bountiful harvest of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs right by your front (or back) door-step!
Grow vegetables easily in a large planter. Photo by Molly Jameson.
So, what are these guidelines, you ask? Well, you first want to choose the right container. This could be a large flowerpot, window box, planter, 5-gallon bucket, half-barrel, recycled material…the list can be endless. Just as long as your container is big enough and has proper drainage. Generally, the container should be at least 10 inches wide and 10 inches deep. The bigger the better, as it will give the roots more space to grow, and the soil will not dry out as fast. Tomatoes, for instance, do best in larger pots, preferably the size of a five-gallon bucket. For many herbs, you can get away with planting two or three different types in the same container. It is also important that your container has drainage holes, so water can escape and air can circulate. Use a one-fourth inch drill bit to create holes in the bottom or along the sides near the bottom of the container if it does not have holes.
Most of us know plants need both sunlight and soil. But just how much sunlight and what type of soil? If you are growing vegetables, it is best to have full sun – which means at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. An advantage of growing in containers is that you can easily place a container in an area of your yard or on a balcony that receives adequate sunlight, when it would be much more difficult to build a garden in these same areas.
Buy potting soil in bulk to cut down on costs. Photo by Molly Jameson.
So what about soil? When growing in containers, you want to make sure you get potting soil that is made for containers. These mixes will contain materials such as peat, perlite, and vermiculite for both good drainage and moisture-holding capacity, and materials such as compost and nutrient amendments that will keep your plants healthy. You can simply ask your nursery specialist for a mix formulated to grow vegetables in large outdoor containers. If you are growing a lot of vegetables, you can cut down on costs by making your own mix. Just make sure you have a good balance of the aforementioned materials, and mix in a slow-release vegetable fertilizer, following directions on the label.
Now that you have your container, your soil, and a sunny location, it is time to get the plants. Some plants are best bought as transplants or grown from seed started indoors. Vegetables such as broccoli, collards, kale, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and strawberries fall into this category. Other plants, such as root crops, arugula, lettuce, spinach, mustards, beans, peas, cucumbers, squash, okra, cilantro, and basil can be started from seed directly into containers.
For some vegetables, buy transplants from your local nursery. Photo by Molly Jameson.
Okay, so you have all the materials. Now what? If you are growing from transplants, first thoroughly moisten the potting mix and the plant’s soil. “Transplant shock” is reduced when there is proper moisture. Set plants at about the same level they were growing in their original pot. For tomatoes, remove lower leaves and plant deeper in the container. If you are growing from seed, simply plant the seeds according to their label. A good rule of thumb is to plant the seed to a depth of about two to three times the seed’s diameter. If you are worried about your seeds not germinating, go ahead and plant more seeds than you need. But remember to thin to appropriate spacing if they do, indeed, all come up. Spacing will be specific to the type of vegetable.
After planting, water gently but thoroughly. Monitor your container garden, making sure the potting mix does not dry out. You can reduce evaporation by mulching with leaf litter, straw, or a similar material. Plants that grow tall or produce vines, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, will need support. A wire cage or pole, inserted into the container at planting time, will support the plant as it grows.
Last step is to call over all your friends and family and show off your beautiful vegetable plants! They will surely be impressed by your “green thumb” and will be eager to learn your gardening secrets.
