Roses have always been a popular garden shrub and even more so now that breeders can develop them for bloom size, shape, color, fragrance and sometimes even a lack of thorns. As a rule, roses are subject to disease such as rust and black spot, but Star® Roses (http://www.starroses.com/) supplies California gardeners with beautiful, disease-resistant roses.

California roses can be divided into one of the following 3 main groups; wild roses, old garden roses and modern garden roses.
• Wild roses include Rosa multiflora, Rosa rugosa and many others.
• Some old garden roses include Alba, Gallica and Damask roses.
• Modern garden roses fall into either the hybrid tea or floribunda categories.

The American Rose Society (ARS) http://www.ars.org/ is an educational, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to the cultivation and enjoyment of roses. Many ARS members are home gardeners who enjoy growing roses. Several ARS members have been designated as Consulting Rosarians, http://www.ars.org/Crs/cr_by_area.htm and are available to help California rose growers with their rose questions.

The ARS surveyed thousands of their 20,000 members to determine their favorite rose cultivars and you can view the results of that survey here http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1994/6-24-1994/roses.html.

There are numerous rose varieties that that flourish in the coastal California climate and with careful plant selection gardeners can be rewarded with almost year round blooms on disease free rose plants.

Locate a Rose Vendor in California or click here to browse different Rose varieties.