Thanks for bringing up your question on roses! Is your organization committed to having all the roses be the same, or would some variety be welcome?

KnockOut roses are known for long blooming and disease resistance (except rose rosette disease) so often chosen for public gardens. However, they are reputed to be short lived. Earthkind, Kordes  are bred for vigor as well as blooming, and likely have more fragrance than KnockOut.

Texas A&M has a large rose breeding program, Sustainable Roses, and is a good resource on newer disease resistant roses.

The Potomac Rose Society is a local resource, worth consulting, and a chance to actually see varieties growing and blooming in our humid climate, which can be a challenge for roses. Here is a link to discussion on choosing varieties: https://potomacrose.org/Blog/12144592

American Rose Trials for Sustainability provides recommendations by climate region: https://www.americanrosetrialsforsustainability.org/cfa

Of course, it is always worth considering some native roses, which are adapted to our region and would provide wildlife benefits, which would seem in keeping with a park: https://bluewaterbaltimore.org/blog/native-roses-of-maryland/

Diseases can spread to roses in multiple ways, but one is splashing from the soil. So some gardeners have moved away from the bare earth/bark mulch to planting ground covers such as ferns in rose beds, which minimizes splashing on the rose leaves during rains. Ground covers provide other benefits, such as shading the soil thus keeping it a bit cooler on hot sunny days.

This is more of a compilation of many good options than a single choice, so please feel free to let us know which, if any, of these options are of interest so that we can help narrow it down per your organization’s interests.

KatieMac, UDC Extension Team 

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