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3 Easy-Care Roses for Dallas Landscape

Roses are an iconic flower throughout the world. However, growing roses is not for everyone and certainly not for everywhere. Our climate presents certain challenges when growing roses. We have intense summer heat and poor-draining clay soils that lead to yard drainage issues in our Dallas area. These conditions are not ideal for growing most roses, certainly not the hybrid tea or spray roses you see at the florist. Nevertheless, there are some varieties and types of roses that can succeed in our climate. We have outlined three easy-care roses for Dallas landscapes below. While all the roses we list have slightly different character traits, all should be planted in full sun. They can survive with some shade but bloom better with sun.

Drift Rose

One of our very favorite roses to install throughout the Dallas and North Texas area is the Drift Rose. Growing up to 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide, you can consider the Drift Rose a small shrub, but it was actually bred to be a groundcover plant. While the blooms themselves have only a very slight fragrance, the Drift Rose blooms continuously between early spring and late fall. There is no need to deadhead the blooms, as the Drift Rose is self-cleaning. During our mild winters, it is not uncommon to see your drift rose keep all of its leaves. You can prune your Drift Rose in late winter or early spring heavily if you prefer to keep them more compact. While many roses have a propensity for diseases, the Drift Rose is resistant to most of those. The Drift Rose is available in many bloom colors, including white, popcorn, light pink, dark pink, coral and red, and some of these bloom varieties feature double blooms.

Name: Drift Rose
Foliage color: green
Bloom color: white, popcorn, light pink, dark pink, coral, red
Bloom time: early spring to late fall
Sun Exposure: full sun
Mature Size: 2 ft. height, 3 ft. width

Knockout Rose

If you are looking for a larger rose bush in your landscape, the Knockout Rose would be your best choice. The Knockout Rose bush matures comfortably to 4 feet tall and wide. The Knockout and Drift Roses have virtually identical blooming color and behavior. The Knockout also blooms from early spring to late fall, self-cleans and is available in a variety of bloom colors with some of those being double blooms. The Knockout Rose is often considered an evergreen shrub in Dallas, but this is only true occasionally. Technically, roses are semi-evergreen in North Texas. What this means is that if our winter is mild enough, roses will maintain their foliage all the way into spring. However, it shouldn’t surprise you to see your rose bush drop its foliage after a freeze. While the Knockout Rose was bred for some disease resistance to common rose problems like powdery mildew and black spot, it is highly susceptible to rose rosette virus. This specific virus is spread by the microscopic eriophyid mite. This mite carries the virus and can be carried by the wind to the Knockout Rose, where it will spread throughout the plant. Once contracted, there is no treatment, and the entire plant will need to be removed. The best way to avoid this virus is by allowing for good spacing between your Knockout Rose bushes (leaves should not touch) and routinely cutting them back every late winter.

Name: Knockout Rose
Foliage color: green
Bloom color: white, popcorn, light pink, dark pink, coral, red
Bloom time: early spring to late fall
Sun Exposure: full sun
Mature Size: 4 ft. height, 4 ft. width

Climbing Roses

There are many varieties of climbing roses that are easy to grow in Dallas. While they are all “climbers”, these roses do not actually have any tendrils to support their own growth. This means that all climbing roses will need to be given the support of a fence or trellis. We will highlight three varieties that have been proven to grow in Dallas.

Lady Banks

– Grows up to 15 feet and quickly needs large support like a fence
– Very few thorns
– Resistant to powdery mildew and black spot
– Blooms in spring, white or yellow bloom color, mild scent
– Prune right after the bloom cycle

Peggie Martin

– Vigorous climber, up to 12 feet, and would require a large trellis or fence
– Very few thorns
– Well known for being a resilient plant
– Blooms pink in spring and sometimes again in fall, mild scent
– Prune right after the bloom cycle

Climbing Pinkie

– Grows to 10 feet and would require a trellis
– Very few thorns
– Disease resistant to powdery mildew
– Blooms pink in spring, mild scent
– Prune right after the bloom cycle