Bees don't work roses as much as people think they do..

i'm in college station.. where are you?

i have 12 beehives on my farm, along with about 400 roses⦠just don't see em on the rosesâ¦

The best candidates for carefree growing tend to be the native species of the area, or those from similar climates nearby. Your reasonably local choices would be R. arkansana and R. carolina, and R. californica might be another possibility.

Beyond the species, there's the matter of selection. (A selection is which particular strain within a species someone may have found and propagated.) Some arkansana, for example, blooms in flushes, and some californica blooms all season, given acceptable conditions. The best selections may be very hard to obtain, however, e.g. there used to be one tiny producer distributing the reblooming arkansana, but they closed their doors a few years back, so now if you want any, you'd better find someone who grows it.

R. arkansana is the most drought tolerant of the bunch, californica somewhat less so, and carolina a bit less still, but all are drought resistant compared to a normal garden cultivar. Arkansana and californica get a little rust in some climates, but all three species are generally disease resistant. Carolina seems pretty much immune to rose rosette disease, californica also resists it well. Arkansana's RRD resistance is a bit less clear, but probably also pretty good.

Know that all of these species sucker aggressively (on their own roots). Unless you want them to gradually fill the entire yard, you'll probably want to limit the need for digging suckers up by planting them in a spot where they can't send them in all directions.

Also consider 'R. moschata', since it will start blooming after most other species have finished, and keep going until frost. Plant it upwind of where you gather in the yard during Summer so you'll be able to enjoy its fragrance.

:-)

~Christopher

If you are looking for species roses, try Forestfarm. They usually have lots more than just about any other nursery. Both R. carolina and R. arkansana are in stock now.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses at Forestfarm

Duplicate deleted.

Melissa

This post was edited by Tessiess on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 14:41

What about 'Basye's Blueberry'? It has both Rosa virginiana alba and Rosa carolina var. alba Raf. (through 'Commander Gillette' ) in its breeding. It does well in many areas of Texas, it repeats its bloom, and it produces semi-double flowers that are more attractive to bees than very full rose blossoms are. The Antique Rose Emporium in Independence sells it, as do many other vendors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basye's Blueberry on HMFRoses

Bur Bayse's Blueberry is a horrible hybrid. Why would you allow horrible hybrids even though they flower 90% more during the season and don't consume 90% of your garden?

I would suggest you try looking at Lady Banks roses. Banksia being the species name. They grow like crazy in just about anywhere in Texas. They do only bloom in the spring though.

Amandahugg:
"Bur Bayse's Blueberry is a horrible hybrid. Why would you allow horrible hybrids even though they flower 90% more during the season and don't consume 90% of your garden?"

With the drought going on, and no fertilizer being applied, my Blueberry barely bloomed in May, and not at all after, but my R. palustris was in bloom until last week. Disregarding rootstocks, 67% of my species roses have some sort of repeat in garden conditions, but only about 60% of my horrible hybrids ever rebloom. I have California climate helping me, but still, I don't think the contrast is quite as stark as all that. :-P