[Image: roses]The LSU AgCenter has long had an All-America Rose Selections Display Garden, first at the Hill Farm location on the LSU campus and now at Burden Center in Baton Rouge. Many rose varieties have been evaluated over the years for their landscape performance characteristics and their susceptibility to black spot and other diseases troublesome to rose gardeners in Louisiana.
A new, cooperative effort with Texas A&M University has been initiated to evaluate the performance of Earth Kind roses in the Baton Rouge area. These traditional roses are recommended by Texas A&M because of their low maintenance requirements and reduced susceptibility to powdery mildew and black spot. Some varieties included are Spice, New Dawn, Louis Philippe, Nac-ogdoches, Puerto Rico, Georgetown Tea, Mrs. Dudley Cross, Reve d’Or, Ducher, Marie Pavie, Carefree Beauty, Belinda’s Dream, Mrs. B. R. Cant, Bon Si-lene, Maggie, Mutabilis, Isabella Sprunt, The Fairy, Pinkie, Perle d’Or, Cecile Brunner, Caldwell Pink and Kirsten Poulsen.
Some varieties were planted in 2003, with additional varieties added in March 2004. Unfortunately, powdery mildew has been a major problem on most of these varieties already. So, we can see that because of the varying climatic conditions betw[Image: roses]een Louisiana and Texas, some varieties recommended for Texas may not do well in South Louisiana. Initial data have been collected, and updates will be provided on this project over the next couple of years.
In another project with Jackson and Perkins, a well-known rose grower, we are evaluating own-root roses (those that are not grafted) versus budded roses (those that are grafted) in a landscape setting. Jackson and Perkins recently began marketing some of their rose varieties, which are being called New Generation roses. Ten varieties are included in this study. The study was initiated in February 2003 and will continue through the fall of 2005.
Data from the 2003 and 2004 seasons indicated only slight differences in flowering and landscape performance.
Many rose growers are now marketing own-root rose bushes instead of budded or grafted bushes because of efforts to improve establishment, growth and long-term performance in the landscape. Additional information and results from this study will be available later from the AgCenter.