Copper Colored Roses

Very Short Copper Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Ginger Snap	Cluster Flowered	Zone 4	Delbard Chabard

Moderately Short Copper Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Irish Rich Marbled	Burnet	Zone 4
Bonnie Hamilton	Cluster Flowered	Zone 4	Cocker
Octoberfest	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	McGredy	7.5
Pride of Maldon	Cluster Flowered	Zone 4	Harkness
Singin’ in the Rain	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	McGredy	7.7
Caribbean	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Kordes	7.5
Else Knoll	Large Flowered	Zone 6
Royal Dane	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Poulsen	7.1
Tropicana	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Tantau	7.5
Victor Borge	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Poulsen	7.7

Moderately Tall Copper Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Fragrant Apricot	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	Zary	7.8
Norwich Castle	Cluster Flowered	Zone 6	Beales
Cressida	English Rose	Zone 5	Austin
Westerland	Large Flower Climber	Zone 5	Kordes	8.1
Betty Uprichard	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Dickson
Gitte	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Kordes	6.5
Helen Hayes	Large Flowered
Pure Bliss	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Dickson
Goldbusch	Modern Shrub	Zone 4	Kordes	7.5

Climbing Copper Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Polka	Large Flowered Climber	Zone 5	Meilland	7.8
Paul Transon	Large Flower Climber	Zone 5	Barbier

Rambling Copper Roses

none

Comments

Copper is one of the most troublesome colors to define in roses. One is the elusive nature of the color itself. Sometimes it appears orange, sometimes coral or sometimes tan. A second problem is that man y roses that have coppery colors do so by virtue of some rather unstable mix of color pigments. A coppery rose in one garden may be distinctly pink or orange or yellow or buff in another. If one looks at photos of the roses in this group one might be left with the impression that the only reason they were not defined as being some other color was that that color space was being too narrowly construed when the rose was placed in this color bin. Consequently, the roses catalogued here as copper cover a huge swathe of color parameter space. It is hard, sometimes to imagine they belong to the same color group.

Sadly, copper colored roses rarely prove to be exemplary garden performers. But the sting of this fact is mitigated by the fact that copper can sometimes be difficult to use in the garden. It really does not go well with a lot of the cooler rose colors. It does goe well with some apricots and buffs and the occasional scarlet, as it does with most of its related colors. When it works well it can be quite striking.

Pictured is Caribbean growing in a municipal garden in NJ. It is a little stronger in color than our definition of copper would normally admit, yet it fits with copper better than with any other color. There was a sense in which Caribbean was the brightest, strongest, cheeriest, and most exotic color in the rose garden on the day this picture was taken. And this proves that the color is worthy of serious consideration.