Roses may seem timeless, but they are also the most adaptable of garden plants. The new generation of roses are always ready to flower yet don’t need pampering.
With roses at their best in October, it is a good time to add new roses to the garden or select your very first rose. When choosing a rose go for one that speaks to your heart, whether it is the colour, the fragrance or the shape.
Bear in mind that roses love lots of sun so choose one that will show off in the sunniest part of your garden or can be grown in a container that gets plenty of morning sun.
Besides long-time favourites like ‘Just Joey’, ‘Garden Queen’, ‘Iceberg’ and ‘My Granny’, new varieties are introduced each year, with improved disease resistance, better flowering or greater resilience to the vagaries of climate change.
What’s new for 2021
‘Pretty Yende’ (LUDkrilba(P)
Pretty Yende is a world-renowned soprano opera singer who was born and bred in South Africa. What better tribute than to name a rose after her. The rose ‘Pretty Yende’ is also a powerful performer with classically elegant blooms in soft apricot and lemon shades, exuding a delicate perfume. This South African bred rose by Ludwig Taschner is a strong growing hybrid tea rose with glossy green disease-resistant leaves. The long lasting blooms don’t fade in the sun, making this an ideal garden and picking rose for the home.
Shirley Wallington (LUDflopotige(P)
Shirley Wallington is a legendary landscape designer who loves roses and has designed many spectacular rose gardens. She has a special fondness for soft pink roses, so it was love at first sight when she saw this rose at Ludwig’s Rose farm. The formal, antique shaped blooms are strongly scented and are borne in clusters on a powerfully growing Panarosa. It is disease resistant and will be a gem in any garden, especially when trained up a trellis or over an arch.
Blooms for Joy (KORblofojo (P)
Just as the name suggests, this rose simply blooms for joy! The shallow cupped, magenta pink blooms proudly cover the entire bush. They have a strong fragrance. This tall growing sturdy floribunda flowers non-stop over its long growing season and the large glossy green huge leaves are impervious to fungus disease.
Willie Wonka
The chocolate brown-undertones of this most unusually coloured rose, inspired its name. Willie Wonka was the eccentric owner of the chocolate factory in Roald Dahl’s famous children’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The blooms change colour from bud to open bloom, with the petals turning from golden-brown in the centre to pinkish-mauve with darker swirls as they age. They are carried in clusters on a robust, arching shrub 1.8m high. It is disease resistant.
Andani Amandaline (LUDbutterthread(P)
‘Adani Amandaline’ produces large, intensely perfumed blooms that arch gracefully all over this statuesque shrub rose, which grows up to 2m high and wide. The cup-shaped white blooms deepen to a delicate pink in the centre. The large, green leaves give this rose a lush appearance and are naturally resistant to black spot fungal disease. Use it as a freestanding feature or plant several specimens as a dense hedge on borders and fences. The bonus is a continuous supply of blooms for the home and friends.
‘Antoinette Louise’ (LUDsamougrid)
This perfect red rose is dedicated to a wife and mother. The shapely, large blooms of an unfading, true red colour are carried on sturdy stems on a medium high, densely leafed hybrid-tea rose bush. It is an ideal variety for planting in groups, as a low hedge and is very pleasing to look at when grown in a large container.
Look out for the ladybird!
In the Ludwig’s Rose catalogue, disease resistant Eco Chic roses are marked with a ladybird. This means that they have a natural resistance to fungus diseases, so there’s no need to spray.
Download the 2021 -2022 digital rose catalogue at https://www.ludwigsroses.co.za/
Ludwig Taschner’s tips for low maintenance roses
- Before planting, enrich normal garden soil with compost and dig down to a depth of 60cm.
- Like all garden plants, roses require regular watering. Make life easier with an irrigation system that delivers 10 litres of water a week in summer to bush roses, more for shrubs and climbers.
- Fertilise once a month with a rose fertiliser, like Vigorosa, and water well afterwards.
