Top Ten Roses for Minnesota Gardeners
Karen is Gertens staff rosarian. She has been with the company since 2017 and has been gardening for over 2 and a half decades. Her garden includes a wide variety of historical plants, water features, fountains, and over 60 varieties of roses. Her favorite gardening wisdom is: “Grow what you love!” And Karen’s favorite rose for Minnesota gardeners is the last on this list!
Note: Click on the links for pictures and more information.
Nitty Gritty Peach: Not just a pretty face, this very durable fuss-free groundcover rose produces an abundance of blooms while offering excellent disease resistance and a self-cleaning, easy-to-care-for habit. The peach-colored double blooms provide exquisite warm season color from early summer through fall.
Easy Elegance Music Box: Might as well call this gorgeous shrub rose Minnesota Peace! For lovers of classic florist rose form, this pink and yellow beauty offers the looks of a hybrid tea rose with none of the care. Hardy to Zone 4.
Carefree Wonder: Plant this en masse and prepare to be amazed. This lovely pink rose with subtle white highlights makes a fantastic short hedge, and works equally well planted in triads for an oomph of summer color. Truly carefree! Hardy to Zone 4.
Easy Elegance Oscar Peterson: Canadian gardeners have known and loved this rose, named for a famous Jazz Musician, since the 1980s. Now we get to enjoy it too! A beautiful 3’x3’ shrub with ivory flowers kissed with a yellow center. Great for bees and tough as nails. Hardy to zone 3.
Champlain: Another Canadian bred gem, Champlain will take the toughest spot you can find and come out smiling. A cheery red that takes salt, wind, heat and lots of sun, but still comes back year after year. Hardy to Zone 3.
Screaming Neon Red: Are you looking for a winner? Choose Screaming Neon Red. This rose has been awarded with all the top honors in the nation’s most prestigious rose trials. Totally disease free, and a bee’s best friend, this rose’s charming red single, curled petals are a delight in the garden. Hardy to Zone 4.
Dwarf Pavement: Ready for a show? Dwarf Pavement gives you everything you could want in a rose! Heavily perfumed flowers start in May and don’t give up blooming until late in the Autumn. Tomato like rose hips and great autumn color add to the show starting in September. One of the toughest rose classes we offer, rugosas like Dwarf Pavement take arctic temperatures, salt spray, and light shade like a champ. Even hungry rabbits are more likely to leave the tightly bristled canes alone. The best rose for beginners! Hardy to Zone 3.
Above and Beyond: Bred locally at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, this introduction is a carefree climbing rose for the ages! Gorgeous apricot blooms with a soft, fruity scent adorn this rose heavily in June, and will repeat again as the rose ages. Climbing up to 10 feet, this rose is a great decoration for trellis, arbor, pillar, or wall. Site it in morning light for deep, saturated color. Plant it and step back, this rose will go above and beyond your every expectation. Hardy to Zone 3.
Cherry Frost: A rose bred for the coldest winters, by hybridizer Julie Overom in Duluth, Minnesota. Gertens is so proud to carry this Minnesota bred beauty, which at 7’ tall at maturity, makes a fantastic specimen shrub or climbing rose. An abundance of true cherry red blossoms decorate this rose all summer. When Autumn comes, this rose stands out with autumn color that rivals the best viburnums or dogwoods! Like any good Minnesotan, Cherry Frost takes the worst winter can throw at her and comes out smiling in the Spring. Hardy to zone 3.
Coral Drift: is perfect for small gardens growing just 1 to 2 ft tall. It's covered in small coral orange flowers from spring to frost. It's highly disease and pest resistant. It makes for pretty petite accents in a large landscape too.
'Cherry Frost’
