What is its importance?

Why is it better than its predecessor?

Generally people buy Roses for either their fragrance or for their bloom, thus this is a very important category.

In Heritage Roses generally there are only single and semi-double blossoms. Also in Hybrid Tea Roses there are generally have the more desirable full double blossom, but is a weaker plant. Hardy Shrub Roses gives full double blossoms with a stronger plant.

There are a few diseases that effect Roses. One of these diseases is Black Spot. It is distinguished by black spots that form on the leaves of a Rose. Another disease that effects the Rose is Rust. Rust is a disease that is distinguished by red or orange bumps that occur on the leaves of a Rose. Lastly there is Powdery Mildew. Powdery Mildew is commonly seen but rarely will actually kill a Rose bush. It is distinguished by a white powder that forms on the leaves and blossoms of a rose bush.

Much similar to Bloom, the Hardy Shrub Rose is better in this aspect due to the fact that it can produce a full double blossom while still being much better in the defense against disease.

Plant habit refers to the shape that the rose takes. There are many forms that a rose can take: open, dense, groundcover, spreading, suckering, or Rugosa. This is basically determined by how the branches of a Rose tend to grow.

In this aspect the Hardy shrub rose differs form the others little. generally all of the forms of the Hardy shrub Rose are passable in the Hybrid Tea.

Winter hardiness is the ability for a plant to survive a winter at different temperatures. The extent of the damage is what shows how hardy a Rose is. The plants could experience no winter damage, they could experience tip damage, they could die all the way back to the crown, or they could die all together.

In Fargo we live in a zone 3-4 border. This being known Heritage Roses can take these temperatures but do not produce favorable blossoms. Hybrid Tea roses should really be grown in a zone of 5 or better seeing that they experience cane damage at 10 degrees F and die at -11 degrees F. A Hardy Shrub Rose is not like this. Most Hardy shrub rose are approved for zone 3 and all are able to take zone 4 while still producing fully double blossoms.