Eye Candy

Good enough to…drink?
Eyeconic Lemonade and Pink Lemonade from Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses are hybrid Hulthemia floribundas. Lemonade features a bright-yellow flower with a red ring inside of the petal. It's a vigorous grower with a bushy habit. It grows up to 4½ feet tall and wide. Pink Lemonade has a melon flower with a red ring inside of the petal. This compact shrub grows up to 3 feet tall and wide. What more can we say but "Yum!"?
www.conard-pyle.com, www.starroses.com

English ladies and more
David Austin Roses is introducing three new varieties for the U.S. wholesale market in 2012.

Lady of Shalott is one of the hardier roses in the company's collection. The young buds are a rich orange-red and open to a salmon pink upper side with a golden-yellow reverse. It has a large, bushy habit and grows up to 4 feet tall and 3½ feet wide.

Munstead Wood features deep, velvety crimson centers while the outer petals remain lighter. This fragrant variety is a repeat bloomer and grows up to 3 feet tall and 2½ feet wide.

Susan Williams-Ellis has a pure-white flower with a strong fragrance. It flowers early in the season. It grows up to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
www.davidaustinroses.com

Tiny treasures
Gold Medallion is the newest introduction in Greenheart Farms' Garden Treasures micro-miniature collection. The compact, heavy-branching plants reach 12 inches tall and wide. These disease-resistant roses are self-cleaning and low-maintenance. They are heavy bloomers and will continue to flower throughout the season. Flowering begins in late March and continues until first frost. Garden Treasures can be sold as annuals or perennials in 2¼-inch pots up to 1-quart containers. They are hardy to Zones 4b-11.
www.greenheartfarms.com

Prized jewel
Cape Diamond rose from Weeks Roses is a double-flowered variety that has the look of an old-fashioned rose. Plants are vigorous and can be grown as a large, spreading shrub or trained as a climber. Cape Diamond can take the cold, too. It was bred in Canada, which makes it quite hardy and ideal for Northern climates.
www.weeksroses.com

Most valuable player
Pink Home Run from Proven Winners ColorChoice has all the great attributes of the original Home Run rose—continuous bloom, black spot and mildew resistance and heat tolerance. But this time gardeners are treated to vivid, rich-pink flowers. This landscape rose grows 3 ½- to 4-feet tall. It's hardy in Zones 4-9.
www.provenwinners.com