Plant Guide

Group/Class:  Polyantha Rose

Description:

A popular old-fashioned shrub rose, featuring clusters of double light pink flowers all season long; compact and very low-growing, hardy and resistant to disease, makes an excellent flowering groundcover; all roses need full sun and well-drained soil

Ornamental Features

The Fairy Rose is clothed in stunning lightly-scented shell pink flowers with pink overtones at the ends of the branches from late spring to late summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The oval compound leaves turn yellow in fall.

Landscape Attributes

The Fairy Rose is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a high maintenance shrub that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Disease
• Spiny

The Fairy Rose is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

The Fairy Rose will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

The Fairy Rose makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.