Floribunda roses are gaining in popularity each season and for good reason. Here in Georgia, as elsewhere throughout the United States, we have found that they have unbounded charm in the landscape.
There are Iow varieties for bordering walks or fronting small shrubs, medium-tall types for beds and borders, and taller varieties for fronting tali shrubs or trees.
Beautiful in spring, they continue to flower through hot summer weather and build up to the climactic display of brilliance in fall. Is there anyone who is not charmed by such performance and loveliness?
Perfectly-Shaped Buds
The perfectly shaped buds, gems for corsages and arrangements, are a bonus feature of the floribundas. It is possible to cut blooms from such varieties as PINK ROSETTE and CRIMSON ROSETTE with stems 24” to 30” inches long.
One cluster of a half-dozen or more perfectly shaped buds frequently makes an entire bouquet. The flowers are just as beautiful when fully open as in buds, and some, such as FASHION, are even more attractive in the advanced stages of flower development.
Floribundas Obtained By Crossing
Most floribundas were obtained by crossing dwarf polyanthus with hybrid teas. The result: flowers shaped like the hybrid teas but clustered like the polyanthus and other rose plants with vitality, floriferousness, and constancy of bloom characteristic of the polyanthus.
There are perfect singles, such as FAIRY CLUSTER, and doubles, such as RED PINOCCHIO.
In addition, a few of the taller types, notably GERANIUM RED, produce single flowers to a stem as well as flowers in clusters.
Aside from their vitality, the floribundas thrive under a wider range of temperatures and soil types than any other roses.
Originally produced in Denmark and Holstein in answer to the need for roses for cold areas, they grow equally well, perhaps even better, in temperate and often very hot areas.
Blooming Floribundas In Summer
Floribundas bloom profusely for us in Thomasville, Georgia, throughout the long rose-flowering season, and their summer performance is almost miraculous.
In 1954 we experienced not only one of our hottest but one of the driest summers in years, and in our fields, where there were no facilities for watering and where all we could do was keep the bushes cultivated, such varieties as:
- GERANIUM RED
- JIMINY CRICKET
- DONALD PRIOR
- RED PINOCCHIO
- FASHION
- FLORIDORA
- MA PERKINS
- POULSEN’S REDDER continued to bloom
Radiance Rose
If you can grow the lazy gardener’s rose, RADIANCE, with which I do not quarrel, you can grow most of the floribundas, but don’t assume that, like RADIANCE, the floribundas will grow with practically no care.
In my enthusiasm for floribundas, I would not want to lead anyone to believe that growing them is a “picnic.” Thought and effort must go into choosing a location, preparing the beds, and planting and caring for them.
Grows In Variety of Soils
Contrary to general belief, roses will grow in quite a variety of soils as long as the soils contain humus.
The type of organic matter used to obtain humus varies. Peat moss is usually available and heads the list, but well-rotted leaves and straw are good, as are ground corn cobs and rotted peanut hulls.
Another good source of humus is rotted cow manure, where straw and leaves have been used in the animals’ bedding. Again, fertilization, possibly enough for the first year’s need, is supplied when it is used.
Selecting Location For Floribundas
In selecting a location for your floribundas, choose one that is well-drained. They can stand a lot of rain as long as the water doesn’t puddle to seal the soil pores and prevent aeration necessary for plant life.
Drainage material in the bottom of the planting hole is not to be recommended, but if one must resort to this practice for proper drainage, cinders are preferred to large stones or rocks.
Cinders seem to take off the surplus moisture and hold it at the bottom of the bed, while large stones take the water off too rapidly and cause the plants to become excessively dry when there are periods without rain.
Heavy Feeder Floribundas
Floribundas are heavy feeders, and a complete fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash should be supplied early in the growing season.
The analysis I like is 6-8-8, but there are many similar fertilizers, especially for roses, and they are also quite satisfactory. Follow package directions: in determining the quantity to use.
A good location, properly prepared soil and correct feeding go a long way in helping you have beautiful floribundas (and other roses, too), but if fewer diseases are prevented or checked, most varieties will lose their foliage with resulting cane dieback.
When we prune our roses about halfway back in late winter, we destroy the pruned tops and spray the bushes and ground with a good fungicide, usually 10 tablespoonfuls of Bordeaux mixture in a gallon of water.
Worst Enemies Of Roses
The worst enemy of the rose is a black spot, and until recently, the only preventative treatment for it was a dust or spray of sulfur.
Now, Captan has been found highly effective in its control, and it may be applied when the temperature reaches 90° degrees Fahrenheit without burning the foliage, as is the case with sulfur.
I always act on the theory that to keep roses blooming, we must keep the fungicide on as a preventive measure, so I spray with Captan every ten days during the growing season. The eminent rosarian, Roy Hennessey of Oregon, claims Captan to be a super black spot killer.
Controlling Mildew
With cold nights and warm days, mildew appears, but it may be controlled with such remedies as Mildex or one of the sulfur compounds, materials that combine with Captan.
Insects are troublesome, but in addition to some of the special rose insecticides, I have found sprays containing malathion to be effective against aphids, thrips, spider mites, and others. It, too, will combine with Captan as a spray.
Some prefer to dust rather than spray, which is satisfactory if thorough coverage is obtained. However, I prefer spraying and using a nozzle that permits full coverage of the undersides and tops of the leaves.
As mentioned, Captan, malathion, and the sulfur compounds will combine, and all three may be mixed and applied in a single application.
Sometimes we add a foliar fertilizer, such as Ra-PidGro or Orthogra, to the pest control spray once every ten days for three applications.
There are many dependable fungicides and insecticides for roses, and as all formulas are not the same, package directions must be followed.
Variety Evaluation
A group of floribundas according to height. Among my favorites in the tall group are:
- GERANIUM RED
- ELSIE POULSEN
- DONALD PRIOR
Medium tall:
- FASHION
- MA PERKINS
- GOLDILOCKS
- POULSEN’S BEDDER
- RED PINOCCHIO
Dwarf:
- PINKIE and the rosettes
American Rose Society Winners
JIMINY CRICKET is the 1955 All-America Award Winner. It is a tangerine red resulting from a cross of two Southern favorites, GERANIUM RED and GOLDILOCKS.
Other comparatively new floribundas which have made a fine showing in our test garden are:
- INDEPENDENCE
- EMBERS
- LILIBET
- CHIC
Three of the old varieties:
- FRENSHAM
- BETTY PRIOR
- THE FAIRY continues to rate high in the American Rose Society popularity polls.
Favorite Floribundas By Color
If asked to name my favorite floribundas by color, and if I could only name one in each color group, the red choice would be GERANIUM RED; pink, MA PERKINS; and yellow, GOLDILOCKS.
I would back up this choice as follows:
- GERANIUM RED is a strong grower and consistent bloomer. Its flowers are well formed, produced on long stems, and their color is brilliant. The flowers fairly shine under artificial light when used as cut flowers. It is fragrant.
- MA PERKINS is vigorous, branching in habit, profuse in blooming, and has abundant foliage that holds well. It is long-lasting as a cut flower.
Its color is salmon pink and much lighter in the South than most pictures would indicate. All roses, incidentally, are more beautiful than any color illustration can portray!
- GOLDILOCKS is, by all odds, the finest yellow floribunda to date. It is a strong grower that surprises some people of the Lower South, including Floridians, who think that yellow roses are not satisfactory in hot climates.
It has a branched growth and is a profuse bloomer. The small double flowers are borne in clusters and arc exquisite in both form and color.
Other Fine Floribundas
FASHION, for example, is a most unusual color and is of sturdy growth. A rose must be strong for a bird to nest in, and Mrs. J. P. Scott of Thomasville, Georgia, has had a mockingbird nest in her FASHION hush the past two seasons.
RED Pinocchio, aside from its dark red, double blooms in great profusion, is of compact spreading growth and is one of the floribundas that is excellent for borders or hedges.
The New Grandifloras
Grandifloras, a brand-new class, are lovely, vigorous, and versatile roses combining several characteristics of both hybrid teas and floribundas.
They are tall, free-flowering plants that sometimes produce clustered and sometimes single blooms on long stems. They are excellent as cut flowers.
Their flower size falls between the hybrid teas and floribunda, while the flower and bud form is similar to the hybrid teas. Ease of growth ranks them with the floribundas.
Queen Elizabeth
The 1955 All-America Award-winning grandiflora is QUEEN ELIZABETH. It has all the qualities that make a top-ranking rose. It is a wonderful pink and has been the most admired rose in our gardens and fields this year.
CARROUSEL, originally considered a floribunda, actually falls in the grandiflora class for it has tall growth and larger flowers than floribundas. It is an easy variety to grow and is a dependable dark red.
Hybridizers are turning more attention to this class of roses. In the future, we will perhaps sec in it the wide color range found in the floribundas
44659 by Sam C. Hjort