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Love roses? Help rate new varieties

Participate in national Roses in Review survey

This is Buttercream Drift, a groundcover rose that stays under 2 feet tall

This is Buttercream Drift, a groundcover rose that stays under 2 feet tall Photo courtesy Star Roses

Love it or hate it? When it comes to evaluating new varieties, gardeners always have opinions.

Here’s an opportunity to make those opinions count!

It’s the annual Roses in Review survey, conducted by the American Rose Society. Gardeners from coast to coast are asked to rate newly introduced rose varieties. The scores are then compiled and averaged into a national rose rating, published in the ARS’s annual “Handbook for Selecting Roses.”

“This will be the 99th time Roses in Review will be conducted in which rose growers everywhere can review new roses they’ve grown in their own garden,” says the ARS. “Roses included in the survey have generally been on the market one to four years and are available commercially, although some on a limited basis.”

Diversity of reporters is important, notes national coordinator Don Swanson. “We need your evaluations, whether you grow one of the varieties on the survey list or dozens of them. We welcome evaluations from you whether you are a new rose grower, a ‘garden’ rose-grower or a seasoned veteran grower; whether you grow roses for your landscape and garden or if you also grow them to exhibit or arrange.”

ARS membership is not necessary; anyone who grows roses is invited to take part.

New rose varieties are scored on a scale of 6 to 10 for such attributes as color, fragrance and disease resistance. (Why not 1 to 10? If a rose earns less than a 6 or “C” grade, it’s not worth growing.)

The survey includes two ratings: Garden and Exhibition. “Garden” rates how that rose looks and performs in a garden on the bush. (Is it always in bloom? Does it look nice with little effort?) “Exhibition” rates how that rose performs as a cut flower in a rose show. (Are the stems long? Does the cut flower hold its form without falling apart?)

Rose lovers are notoriously hard scorers; even the very best rose varieties very rarely earn a 10.

Here’s a scoring breakdown from Swanson:

10: Outstanding – One of the best roses ever. This score should be seldom used.

9: Excellent – Has major positive features and minor negatives – top 1 percent.

8: Very Good Rose – You would recommend it without hesitation.

7: Average – Solid rose. Good features easily outweigh the negatives.

6: Below Average – You can find better roses easily.

(That also offers insight into the published ratings.)

Not all roses are rated every year – there are too many! (Thousands of roses have ratings.) Instead, the roses on the review list are mostly new varieties or ones that had not yet been rated but are becoming known to a wider audience. Most roses on this year’s list first hit nurseries in 2020 or later. There also are five varieties that for whatever reason had not been previously rated or needed revisions.

Among the roses on this year’s review list are several low-growing “groundcover” or landscape roses such as Buttercream Drift as well as more traditional hybrid teas and floribundas.

Deadline is coming soon – 5 p.m. PDT Sept. 26. The survey is conducted online at www.rose.org. Roll down to find the link to the list of 200-plus candidates, under the “List of cultivars.”

The survey uses a series of drop-down menus. One question will be to name your "district" (that's your rose-growing region). Use "NCNH" -- Northern California, Nevada, Hawaii. Otherwise, it's pretty simple and fast.

Future rose growers will thank you!

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 16

Take advantage of this nice weather. There’s plenty to do as your garden starts to switch into high gear for spring growth.

* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before their buds open. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees.

* Check soil moisture before resuming irrigation. Most likely, your soil is still pretty damp.

* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.

* Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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