Roses for Zone 6a

Hybrid Teas

• Hybrid tea roses, the traditional favorite of many rose growers, produce one beautifully formed 5-inch or larger fragrant bloom per stem in a wide spectrum of colors, making them perfect for enjoying in the garden or as cut flowers. Depending on variety, hybrid teas such as “Tropicana,” “Peace,” “Elizabeth Taylor” and “Midas Touch” are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, bloom repeatedly, and grow spread-out, upright canes, reaching heights of 6 feet tall. They do require more maintenance than other types of roses to keep them in peak performance, such as deadheading, a heavy layer of mulch for for protection from extreme winter cold, and annual pruning to remove old, dead or deformed canes.

Heirlooms

• Heirloom or “old rose” varieties are usually the most fragrant and musky-scented of all the roses in zone 6a and are used to breed many of the modern rose hybrids. Gallicas, Albas, Damasks, Centifolias and Moss varieties make up the categories of heirloom-type roses. They are easy to grow and come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from small shrubs to climbing ramblers. Heirloom roses generally only bloom once per season for most varieties and are very cold hardy, growing from USDA zones 3 through 9, depending on variety. Must-have varieties to consider for your zone 6a garden are “Great Maiden’s Blush,” “La Ville de Bruxelles” and “Alfred de Dalmas.”

Climbing

• Gain height in your garden with the graceful sprays of blooms from climbing roses, which can be anchored to walls, trellises, fences or posts to accent an entrance way or create a covered alcove. Most climbing roses varieties, including “Eden,” “A Shropshire Lad,” “Fourth of July” and “Royal Gold,” start out the season with a heavy cover of blooms, followed by scattered repeat blooms throughout the growing season before ending with a final magnificent fall flush of flowers before frost. The flower shapes and sizes vary with the variety of climbing rose, as do the fragrance levels but most generally bloom in sprays or clusters of flowers. Climbing roses require much less pruning than other rose types and range in winter hardiness from USDA zones 5 or 6 through 10.

Landscape

• Landscape or shrub roses make colorful mass plantings and are good for hedges and screening because of their fast-growing nature. Most varieties are easy to grow, offer repeat blooming and are very fragrant. Landscape roses are a diverse group of roses, ranging from small miniature blooms to hybrid tea-shaped flowers that are hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10. Dependable landscape roses for zone 6a are the ever-popular “Knock Out,” “Meidiland” and “Rugosa” series, which offer continual red, pink or white blooms throughout the summer into late fall.