Drift Rosebushes for your Landscape or Rose Bed

Stan V. Griep, Retired American Rose Society Certified Consulting Rosarian
Photographs courtesy of Star Roses and Plants

The same folks that introduced us to the wonderful Knockout family of rosebushes have come up with another dandy for us! These wonderful roses are called Drift Roses.

The Drift roses are a cross between the regular full size groundcover roses and miniature roses. They kept the best traits of each too! Those traits being toughness, disease resistance, and winter hardiness (which is tops on the list for some of us cold climate gardeners!). One really nice trait they kept from the miniature roses is their repeat blooming nature and the nicely managed size. These wonderful roses will bloom continuously from spring to frost with an average bloom cycle of 5 to 6 weeks. Their “Bloom Smiles” (as I like to call them) are naturally smaller and very well pronounced by the attractive foliage they have.

The low and very manageable growth habit of the Drift Roses make them a perfect fit for smaller gardens, any awkward area and hillsides. They make a truly awesome border too!
Drift roses do not seem to be real picky about the type of soils they grow in as long as it is well drained, as with other roses, is not too dry and at least somewhat fertile soils. These roses will grow nicely in full sun conditions as well as morning sun only with afternoon shade conditions. They will need to be deadheaded (the removal of old spent blooms) lightly when each bloom cycle winds down. Feed your Drift roses in the early spring and again after each bloom cycle with a good natural/organic based fertilizer or the same fertilizer you use with your other rosebushes.
There are seven varieties of these wonderful roses for us to choose from, or perhaps get some of each to create great “eye-catching” borders or areas throughout your landscape! The seven varieties are:

• Apricot Drift
• Coral Drift
• Icy Drift
• Peach Drift
• Pink Drift
• Red Drift 
• Sweet Drift

You will enjoy these roses in your own garden, rose bed or landscape designs, give them a try and enjoy their pretty Bloom Smiles this season! 
About the Author: Stan V. Griep is a Retired American Rose Society Certified Consulting Rosarian; a Colorado Native Rosarian with over 40 Years of Rose Growing Experience; an Honorary Member of the Rose Society of South Australia; and Webmaster: The Colorado Rosarian Website

Posted July 18, 2014

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