Red Roses

Very Short Red Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Black Jade	Miniature	Zone 4	Bernardella	7.8
Fancy Pants	Miniature	Zone 5	King	8.1
Jingle Bells	Miniature	Zone 5	Warriner	7.8
Verdun	Polyantha	Zone 5	Barbier	8.7

Moderately Short Red Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Slater’s Crimson China	China	Zone 7		7.6
Europeana	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	de Ruiter	8.7
Lavaglut	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	Kordes	8.8
Lilli Marlene	Cluster Flowered	Zone 5	Kordes	7.7
Precious Platinum	Cluster Flowered	Zone 4	Dickson	7.6
Travemunde	Cluster Flowered	Zone 4	Kordes	8.8
Red Ribbons	Ground Cover	Zone 5	Kordes	8.2
Kentucky Derby	Hybrid Tea	Zone 4	Armstrong	8.2
Kardinal	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Kordes	8.6
Olympiad	Large Flowered	Zone 5	McGredy	8.7
Red Masterpiece	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Warriner	6.3
Veteran’s Honor	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Zary
Red Meidiland	Modern Shrub	Zone 3	Meilland	7.2
Francis Dubreuil	Tea	Zone 7	Dubreuil

Moderately Tall Red Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
L.D. Braithwaite	English Rose	Zone 5	Austin
Linda Campbell	Hybrid Rugosa	Zone 4	Moore	7.6
Chateau de Clos Vougeot	Large Flowered	Zone 6	Pernet-Ducher
Daily Mail Scented Rose	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Archer
Liebeszauber	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Kordes	7.9
Oklahoma	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Swim & Weeks	6.7
Royal William	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Kordes	6.7
Taboo	Large Flowered	Zone 4	Evers	7.2
Tatjana	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Kordes
Velvet Fragrance	Large Flowered	Zone 5	Fryer
Red Cascade	Mini Climber	Zone 5	Moore	7.4
Berlin	Modern Shrub	Zone 5	Kordes
Dame de Couer	Modern Shrub	Zone 5	Lens

Climbing Red Roses

Name	Class	Cold	Breeder	Rating
Altissimo	Cluster Flower Climber	Zone 4	Delbard	8.5
Rote Max Graf	Hybrid Rugosa	Zone 4	Kordes
Cadenza	Large Flower Climber	Zone 6	Armstrong	7.3
Danse des Sylphes	Large Flower Climber	Zone 5	Mallerin
Don Juan	Large Flower Climber	Zone 6	Melandrone	8.2
Dublin Bay	Large Flower Climber	Zone 4	McGredy	8.6
Etoile de Hollande, Climbing	Large Flower Climber	Zone 7	Verschuren	8.1
Sympathie	Large Flower Climber	Zone 4	Kordes	8.1
Guinee	Large Flowered Climber	Zone 5	Mallerin
Valentine’s Day	Mini Climber	Zone 5	Carruth
Dortmund	Cluster Flower Climber	Zone 4	W. Kordes	9.2

Rambling Red Roses

none

Comments

We have defined red very narrowly at this site because the effect of a red rose is quite a bit different from the effect of a crimson or scarlet one. Crimson goes very well with the cool pinks and purples typical of most roses. Scarlet goes better with warmer colors. For some time the red rose was an amalgam of crimson or purplish pigment and yellow pigment and when the yellow went away the rose would turn bluish. Newer red roses derive from Independence which (it is claimed) introduced red pigment to roses. The bluing problem thus disappears. Among these would be Ingrid Bergman, Olympiad, and Veteran's honor.

It is considered axiomatic by people who do not grow roses that the reds must be fragrant. It is considered axiomatic by rose growers that one can grow healthy red roses or grow fragrant ones; but not both. We are not yet sure what the exact score on this is, but it seems that one must certainly choose carefully.

The good news about reds is that it is a color that has been given a great deal of attention and there are therefore a good number of very good selections. At the low end is Don Juan which is ravaged by fungal disease, but whose flowers are very nicely fragrant. Dublin Bay looks great on the end of an unpainted wood garage or shed. Dortmund, under ideal conditions will grow two stories high and cover iitself with red flowers. Really, there is an embarrasment of riches here: almost every rose on the list is exemplary and unique.

Pictured is Oklahoma photographed in a Texas garden.