10 award-winning, reliable roses

Nurseries that breed roses are increasingly developing selections that are pest and disease-resistant. They don’t spray their roses in development, and discard those that become infected. As a result they introduce only the healthiest.

Here are 10 roses, both old and new, that are both unusually healthy and have been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Gorgeous ground cover

Healthy and tolerant of summer heat, this is a rose for the future

The whole Flower Carpet Series of ground cover roses, currently numbering thirteen selections, is known for its disease resistance and Rosa Flower Carpet Amber (‘Noa97400a’) combines this with good performance in unusually hot summers. Its semi-double flowers open in orange yellow with a brighter yellow centre and mature to soft pink with peachy overtones. They are held in 30cm (12in) wide clusters of up to 45 flowers. Ground cover. 90cm (3ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Superb pink climber

Now over 70 years old, this cultivar has stood the test of time

Rosa ‘Aloha’ is one of the finest of all climbers. Its small clusters of elegant

A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers.

A hybrid plant is the offspring produced by cross-pollinating one specific cultivar with another different cultivar. This process of cross-pollination, rather than pollination between plants of the same cultivar, generally creates stronger, healthier, improved offspring, said to have ‘hybrid vigour’.

Hybrid

Prolific single flowers

Loved by bees, this rose has many open-faced flowers over a long period in summer

Sometimes listed as a Polyantha, but more correctly a Hybrid Musk, the generous profusion of single flowers makes Rosa ‘Ballerina’ stand out. Each flower is dark pink as it opens, then develops a white eye which enlarges as the flower matures until only a rim of pink remains. The result is that each prolific cluster features every stage of colouring. Hybrid Musk. 1.5m (5ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Flowers, foliage and fragrance

This rose’s delicate, pure white flowers belie its tough constitution

Rugosa roses are amongst the most healthy of all, and Rosa ‘Blanche Double de Coubert’ is one of the best. Semi-double, richly scented, pure white flowers open over an extended season and are followed by large orange hips and bright yellow autumn leaf colour. Also, it tolerates poor soils, drought and neglect – but is very thorny. 1.5m (5ft). Hardiness rating H7.

Rampant rambler

A wonderfully scented, vigorous rose: just don’t plant it in a small garden

There are a number of superb, unusually healthy rambling roses that produce large clusters of small flowers and Rosa ‘Bobbie James’ is one of the finest. The huge flower clusters are packed with masses of yellow-centred white blooms with their heady, musky fragrance which are followed by small orange hips. Found as a seedling in a Yorkshire garden by the famous rosarian Graham Thomas. Rambler. 5m (16ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Buff and beautiful

Warm apricot flowers fade to a multitude of other colours as they age

Making an arching and elegant shrub, Rosa ‘Buff Beauty’ develops rather open clusters of fully

A type of flower that has extra petals, often having a fuller appearance. Plants with double flowers are often considered more ornamental and showy than those with single flowers, though they are generally not as good for wildlife, having little or no pollen. Some plants naturally produce double flowers, while others may be bred for this trait. Examples of plants with double flowers include roses, sunflowers, dahlias, and zinnias.

English elegance

With good form and beautifully shaped flowers ‘Charlotte’ makes an excellent garden plant

Many of David Austin’s English Roses show unusually good disease resistance and Rosa Charlotte (‘Auspoly’) is a fine representative. A seedling of the universally-admired Graham Thomas (‘Ausmas’), its raiser suggests that in some ways it is a better variety as it makes a small plant and its slightly paler, beautifully formed, soft yellow colouring is more useful in the garden. Has a strong tea fragrance. English Rose. 90cm (3ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Multiple award winner

If you’d like to try growing roses in pots, try Lucky!

In 2009 Rosa Lucky! (‘Frylucy’) was voted Rose Of The Year, and with good reason. This neat, yet impressively prolific, Floribunda produces a long succession of elegantly shaped, well-scented flowers in a lovely rich but soft shade of lilac pink. Valuable in borders, its compact bushy habit, its overwhelming display and its general resilience also makes it useful in large containers. Floribunda. 90cm (3ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Star Hybrid Tea

This pure white rose does well in warm, dry gardens

The long, elegantly-shaped buds of Rosa Silver Anniversary (‘Poulari’) open to pure white, lightly scented flowers with a hint of primrose yellow at the heart set attractively against pale green foliage. Held singly or in small clusters, the flowers show off their qualities best, and the plant develops the best habit, in fertile soil and in relatively sunny and dry conditions. Hybrid Tea. 1.5m (5ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Super-scented miniature

Somewhat unusually for a patio rose, ‘Sweet Magic’ has a strong fragrance

Combining a wonderful fragrance with a healthy constitution, unusual in a patio rose, Rosa Sweet Magic (‘Dicmagic’) was joint Rose Of The Year in 1987. Large clusters of deep golden orange flowers open in continual flushes all summer, each 4cm (1½in) bloom developing pink tinges as it matures and set effectively against dark green foliage. Good in containers or at the front of a patio border. Miniature Patio. 45cm (1.5ft). Hardiness rating H6.