Regarding the rose

The rose family is comprised of thousands of diverse species and varieties to grow and hybridize. This great assortment, along with consumer demand for easy-to-grow plants, has provided rose lovers with incredibly popular landscape varieties like Knockouts, Carpet and Drift roses.

But has the popularity of landscape roses diverted attention from qualities that could help nurseries increase sales of other roses? Many nursery owners may be missing opportunities to introduce customers, including the new generation of gardeners, to plants that produce flowers with unmatched character, substance and beauty, plus perform well in their gardens. Selling tactics like creative plant displays and informative signage will help invigorate enthusiasm for growing all types of roses. Here are a few additional ways to market a nursery’s roses.

Award-winning fragrance
Pleasant fragrance never goes out of style. Although many roses are fragrant, there are some that are notably outstanding. For more than 50 years, the American Rose Society (www.ars.org) has awarded the James Alexander Gamble Fragrance Medal to varieties with outstanding fragrance.

Less than 20 roses have won, including popular hybrid teas such as ‘Mister Lincoln,’ ‘Fragrant Cloud,’ ‘Sutter’s Gold,’ ‘Double Delight’ and ‘Secret.’ Winning floribundas like ‘Sunsprite’ and ‘Sheila’s Perfume,’ and even a miniature, ‘Sweet Chariot,’ are a few other notables. Encourage customers to stop and smell the variety of scents the roses offer.

Single flowers
Single-flowered roses can have four to eight petals but usually have five. They embody a completely different character than the familiar double roses, which can have up to 100 petals. Single roses are more open-faced, almost like dogwood blooms. Some also have very prominent yellow stamens. Many popular landscape roses have single flowers, but more spectacular are the large flowered varieties like climbers ‘Altissimo’ (deep velvety red), ‘Dortmund’ (deep red), ‘Eyepaint’ (red with white eye), and ‘Sally Holmes’ (white often touched pink). The pink hybrid tea ‘Dainty Bess,’ the red shrub ‘Home Run’ and the white flowering shrub ‘Starry Night’ are also excellent, as are many old-fashioned and species roses.

Group roses with single flowers among plants that have distinctively different textures. Try plants with spiky blooms like salvia, delphinium or penstemon, or even bold foliaged plants like coral bells and purple foliaged sweet potato.

Stunning bouquets
Inspire customers’ creativity by displaying roses that combine to make beautiful bouquets. The fragrant roses previously mentioned are great choices for cut flowers, but go beyond fragrance and great color combinations and think texture.

The full-petaled English roses are perfect as cut flowers, providing fragrance and old-time elegance. Even roses with large clusters of small flowers like 'Gourmet Popcorn' can add a special touch to bouquets.

Another suggestion is to include other plants that would combine well with the roses and not just the flowering plants. Foliage from plants such as ornamental grasses, ivy or purple smoke tree look beautiful in bouquets, as do branches with colorful fruit. To ensure customers achieve the best results, post information in the nursery with instructions for cutting flowers and extending their vase life.

Wild and wonderful colors
Just about every color imaginable, including the increasingly popular striped roses, is available to grow. Striped varieties include red and white climber ‘Fourth of July,’ yellow and orange shrub ‘Oranges ‘n’ Lemons,’ red and yellow floribunda ‘George Burns,’ and the shocking purple and white, striped and blotched floribunda ‘Purple Tiger.’ There are also the new iconic roses ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Pink Lemonade,’ which produce yellow or pink flowers with unique red centers. Dramatically colored roses really shine when grouped with plants blooming in single but complementary colors. For example, ‘George Burns’ looks great surrounded by yellow marigolds or red zinnias.
 

Local and proven favorites
Using the nursery as a location to share local rose and flower research can help increase customer confidence in making a purchase. Local rose societies, wholesale rose nurseries, state cooperative extension offices and organizations, such as the American Rose Society and All-America Rose Selections (www.rose.org), publish regional lists of recommended roses.

For example, varieties designated ‘Earth-Kind’ roses have been proven by the Texas AgriLife Extension to be especially well-adapted to Texas. The Earth-Kind testing program is spreading to other states as well.

On a national level, American Rose Society members regularly evaluate and score rose varieties. Varieties designated member’s choice, such as ‘Home Run,’ ‘Julia Child,’ ‘Hot Cocoa,’ ‘Gemini’ and ‘Knockout’ are roses with the highest garden ratings.

Perfect companions
Certain plants are ideal companions for roses and help enhance the look of individual roses. For example, hybrid tea roses are often open and unsightly at the base of the plant. By planting low and spreading plants, such as hardy geraniums, lambs ear’s or variegated salvia, in front of the roses, the bases will not only be covered, but this will complement the flowers and improve the overall look. Bold, upright plants like salvias and ornamental grasses, and silver foliage plants like dusty miller and artemisia are also natural rose companions. Use companions and complementary bloomers to help sell roses.

Roses with personality
Because so many roses are named after presidents, singers and other celebrities, an opportunity exists to create some fun and connect with customers in new and different ways. Promoting such roses on holidays or to correspond with current events can increase the chance for sale. With some more recent introductions, like the mauve hybrid tea ‘Barbra Streisand,’ the specific rose to be used as a namesake was actually chosen by the celebrity, presenting a real opportunity to link with fans. Be careful which celebrity roses you let interact, however. For example, you might think twice about placing ‘John F. Kennedy’ too close to ‘Marilyn Monroe.’

Lance Walheim is a Bayer Advanced garden expert and author of Roses for Dummies.