If I remember correctly, when they came out many years ago, the original Flower carpet roses were tested in Australia by Anthony Tesselaar of that country. They are rated for zones 5 to 10 so should do well in Southern California. Hybridized in Germany by Reinhard Noack, the flower carpet roses were promoted by Anthony Tesselaar, a horticultural marketer and promoter who picks up on plant fads and promotes them world wide. Perhaps some of you remember the Dream Rose series from several years ago. That's one of his promotions. He did not hybridize them, just marketed them. They were hybridized by Jerry F. Twomey. The flower carpet roses are supposed to require less water that other types. Most info I've had suggests they do best in warmer climates so should do OK for you.
I've tried growing them in my zone but never had much luck. None survived the first winter.

Thank you for the info, Karl; it's much appreciated. I suppose when you plant a rose on a day when the temperature reaches 93 degrees it won't be at its best, no matter how much you water or mulch. I'll baby it until it gets cooler (only another four and a half months to go) and hope for the best.

Ingrid

The HOA planted some a couple years ago. They are like short Knock Outs, a splash of garden color. They start blooming a lot later (6-8 weeks later) than most other roses in this area.

Flower Carpet roses are amazing here. Each individual bloom is nice, but does not last long. What's great about this rose is the sheer number of blooms and the speed of repeat. The foliage is very full and shiny. I do not spray or feed my FC roses. They are about 6' wide and 4' high.

Flower Carpet Red:

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They are frequently used by home owners associations here because they stay shorter than knockouts and require a lot less water. Rebloom is constant until late in the fall. Only drawback is they have substantial winter dieback and, like Hoovb said, they start blooming much later than others. I don't think I've seen any over 3 feet tall, and my yellow ones barely reach 18 inches tall, grown in very poor soil.

I keep thinking about how late SoCalif Rosarian Bill Hillman detested Flower Carpet Roses.
To him, weaned on Hybrid Teas, those Flower Carpet roses were the ugliest things ever created.

All you had to do, to set Bill off was mention Flower Carpet.

Jeri

I see from Harry's post that this is not a color I would have chosen. For some reason at HD the flowers looked cerise but now the new buds opening are red which I dislike, unless it has a purple cast to it. Oh well, this may have been just another mistake, because I was in a hurry to fill a space. When will I ever learn? Thanks so much for all your replies.

Ingrid

Ingrid, there are now many colors in the Flower Carpet line.
The original was a medium pink.
(I have seen it mildew here, so its disease-resistance appears not to be complete.)

Jeri

i have a pink one i bought last year thinking it was a mini rose (they told me it was ). then i got educated and realized it was gonna sprawl. i transplanted it four times in one year, and now it is in the shade and i cannot kill it; it even had bad downy mildew earlier this spring and it went away on its own. cockroached and FC roses will be the only thing left after armageddon lol.

I have 3 pink FC here in Zone 5 Illinois and they have been been hardy. I accidentially buried one completely in mulch this spring and couldn't find it but it has poked its head out and is blooming. I don't spray these guys and they do not get BS or mildew. I even planted them under a Japanese Whitespire birch and they get spotty sun during the day and hostas would thirve, but they continue to rhive where most roses would have died by now.

They do get their first flush late; they're blooming right now.

Well, I hated the one I bought which is the single red and went back today to buy Angel Face which I should have bought in the first place. They were out of every single rose except the Flower Carpet roses! I was not a happy girl. Anyhow, I came home with a white semidouble Flower Carpet rose, which actually looks quite pretty, to replace the dreaded red. Strangely enough, the white flowers are much larger than the red ones, and I imagine the breeding must be completely different. Anyhow, it will be an experiment for me, especially since I don't normally love modern roses. One plus is that these roses are supposed to be drought-resistant, a definite plus in our brave new parched world.

Ingrid

I just bought one too at Home Depot. It's a Yellow Carpet Rose. I didn't realize it was not bushy. I have it planted next to White Iceburg rose bush. I wonder if I'll need to transplant it now. Does it climb or just sprawl on the ground?

In my observation of it, it sprawls on the ground.
Like a CARPET. :-)

Jeri