HEAT’S ON

These Roses Can Handle A Serious Scorcher

Real deals thrive in Sacramento’s stellar rose gardens, including McKinley Rose Garden and World Peace. A visit delivers visual, in-person insight into choosing roses. Local nurseries also are excellent resources for selection and care information.

Time to name names from insider perspectives. Plucked from lists provided by Longanecker and David, these roses are endorsed by both: Gemini (orange-pink, hybrid tea), Marilyn Monroe (light apricot, hybrid tea), All My Loving (magenta, hybrid tea), St. Patrick (yellow, hybrid tea), Olympiad (red, hybrid tea), Crescendo (pink blend, hybrid tea), Julia Child (yellow, floribunda), and Sparkle and Shine (yellow, floribunda).

A few more recommended roses:

Hybrid teas—Jewel Grace (pink blend), Veterans’ Honor (red), Neil Diamond (pink and white).

Floribundas—Our Lady of Guadalupe (pink), Playboy (orange-red blend), Purple Tiger (purple), Celestial Night (purple).

Climbers—Fourth of July (red and white stripes), Altissimo (red), Soaring Spirits (pink and white stripes), Pearly Gates (pink).

Shrubs—Flower Girl (pink), Sally Holmes (white).

Sadly, my garden boasts just one excessive heat-tolerant rose on the lists—Memorial Day, a pink hybrid tea rose. However, Whisper and Mister Lincoln thrive to produce ample long-stem hybrid tea roses for bouquets. Afternoon shade is the secret.

“Ellie uses garden umbrellas in her rose garden to shade some roses and it actually adds to the garden experience when somebody visits,” David says.

David and Longanecker both prefer mulching roses with organic compost and not the more prevalent bark chips. Compost feeds the soil for an added benefit.

Roses require regular watering during periods of high temperatures, perhaps daily depending on the type of soil and if in containers. They are heavy feeders and perform best with fertilizer during bloom season.

“When it comes to newly planted roses, I don’t fertilize until after the first blooms and then at 50% less than a mature plant,” David says. “I don’t want to burn the roots.”

Embrace Sacramento’s first flush of rose blooms. Soon, our beloved roses may be scorched like a toaster Pop-Tart.

The American Rose Society says temperatures above 90 degrees for a protracted length of time trigger dormancy and dieback. Our national flower, the rose endures much more abuse in local gardens.

Since 2016, Sacramento braved five heat waves of eight consecutive days above 100 degrees. Two of those streaks were last year. One persisted for 10 days and averaged 108 degrees. A record 116 degrees incinerated Downtown last Sept. 6. Mercy!