Rose Garden Lookbook: all of my beautiful Red Roses!
Unpopular opinion: Red Roses belong in a garden and not in a vase (and definitely not with baby’s breath…)
I have actually never been a fan of Red Roses until I started growing them in my own rose garden! They always seemed so basic and gave me “grocery store” rose vibes.
However, that all changed for me once I saw a Don Juan climbing rose in person. The velvety red petals against the rich green foliage made me an instant red rose fan! Well, more of a red garden rose fan.
Now, I grow a collection of red roses together in what I like to call, my “Beauty and the Beast” rose garden. They add such a classic, romantic beauty to the garden!
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Rose Garden Lookbook: all of my beautiful Red Roses!
Red roses represent love, passion, victory and pride. I have found that most red roses are very fragrant with strong lasting blooms. I truly believe Roses in general give off such high energy and for me, red roses sit at the top. Rose royalty, maybe?
I will be sharing a series of all of the different colored roses that I grow in my garden, starting with red! Here are the red roses that I currently grow in my Phoenix Rose Garden.
Don Juan – Red Climbing Rose
Don Juan takes my grand prize for the most romantic rose in my garden! This vigorous climber has been one of my fastest growing roses in my Phoenix, Arizona garden. Even while the roses are not blooming, this climber always makes a statement with its large, green foliage.
The BLOOMS though. Don Juan produces tons of large, velvety red roses that smell absolutely heavenly. The rose petals start out as an almost black-red color with a texture that looks, feels and even shines like velvet. As the blooms open and mature, the red slowly fades to a vibrant true red.
Red roses tend to turn more of a fuschia red in hot temps, but Don Juan stays a true bright red during the end of it’s bloom life. Likewise, strong heat can also cause some red rose blooms to wilt and fall prematurely. However, Don Juan’s blooms remain sturdy and fragrant.
Don Juan Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: large velvety deep red blooms, fades to a bright true red.
- Growth Style: Climbing. Long canes, easy to train & clusters of velvety red blooms per cane.
- Height: up to 10 feet
- Width: up to 6 feet
- Fragrance: strong fruity & floral smell
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: one of my best performers in Phoenix, Az!
- Disease Tolerance: mine gets powdery mildew every year
Forever Yours – Red Hybrid Tea Rose
The Forever Yours Hybrid Tea Rose is the quintessential, Valentine’s Day red rose. This red rose has been one of my fastest growing rose plants to date! I planted it March 2023, and it tripled in size by late fall with healthy leaves, multiple new canes and tons of velvety red blooms.
Forever Yours would make a wonderful hedge rose if planted in bulk! The plant fills out beautifully with tons of leaves oppose to most other Hybrid Tea Roses which tend to grow tall, leggy and with sparse leaves towards the bottom.
In cooler weather, the blooms resemble Don Juan as a deep black-red velvety appearance. However, during our warmer months the blooms are a more of a pure red leaning towards a cooler, blue-toned red (not as drastic as Mister Lincoln’s fuschia color though). The fragrance is a moderate true rose scent.
This is another rose that is very disease resistant for me! It is neighbors to Mister Lincoln, which always gets powdery mildew. Despite both roses being so close to one another, Forever Yours never gets sick. I also rarely see any aphids on this rose. I’m “Forever” grateful lol!
Forever Yours Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: large deep velvety red with ruffled petals. Does turn to more of cooler red in warmer weather
- Growth Style: Hybrid Tea, grows tall and full
- Height: 7 feet
- Width: 5 feet
- Fragrance: moderate sweet rose scent
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: does well in Phoenix, Az but the blooms fade to a slightly cool toned red in the heat.
- Disease Tolerance: very disease tolerant!
Ingrid Bergman – Red Hybrid Tea Rose
Named after one of Hollywood’s famous Golden Era Actresses, Ingrid Bergman is a show-stopping, hard working red rose. If you are looking for a smaller red rose shrub, this is it!
Out of all of my Red Roses, Ingrid Bergman tends to be the most showy when it comes to blooms. Even during our early weeks of triple digit heat in June, Ingrid Bergman is still putting out tons of blooms.
Most red roses turn a cool, blue-red (fuschia) shade in warmer weather, but Ingrid Bergman keeps its true red color. The edges do tend to crisp and fade after a few days of hot sun, but that is to be expected.
I have personally not gotten much fragrance, but she is apparently supposed to be a very fragrant rose. My rose was young last spring, so I am hopeful this year!
This is another disease resistant red rose. It shares a garden bed with Don Juan and Mister Lincoln which both get powdery mildew every spring. Ingrid Bergman remains healthy! I do not notice any aphids either (they seem to all gravitate towards Don Juan for some reason).
Ingrid Bergman Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: large true red, beautifully shaped blooms
- Growth Style: Hybrid Tea, does not get very big but grows in a nice shrub shape.
- Height: 3 feet
- Width: 3 feet
- Fragrance: it is supposed to have a spicy fragrance
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: does very well in Phoenix, Az! Blooms even during our dry triple digit heat. Blooms will crisp after a few days.
- Disease Tolerance: very disease tolerant!
Mister Lincoln – infamous Red Hybrid Tea Rose
If you are looking for a VERY fragrant red rose, Mister Lincoln is it! This red hybrid tea rose is one of the most popular roses of all time, and for a good reason.
Out of all of my roses, Mister Lincoln gives me the largest most fragrant blooms. I mean, the size of these blooms are so impressive! The fragrance is a very powerful damask scent (think fancy perfume). I personally prefer a more fruity/floral scent in a rose, but I still love the way these smell.
Mister Lincoln is definitely one of those red roses that turn more of a fuschia-red in warmer climates. I usually only see my Mister Lincoln roses as their “true red form during the cooler temps in fall and winter. Regardless of the cooler toned red, these blooms are extraordinary!
Mister Lincoln Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: HUGE blooms. true red in cooler temps, cool toned/fuschia-red in warmer temps
- Growth Style: Hybrid Tea, tall and leggy. super tall stems with 1-2 blooms per stem.
- Height: 6+ feet
- Width: 3 feet
- Fragrance: strong damask rose scent
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: does well in Phoenix, Az but the blooms turn fuschia (blue red) in the heat.
- Disease Tolerance: mine gets powdery mildew every spring
True Passion – Red Hybrid Tea Rose/Shrub
If you are looking for a super low maintenance, disease resistant and vibrant red rose for landscaping purposes… True Passion is it! This rose was practically bred to make gardeners’ lives easier.
True Passion grows in a nice shrub form, with healthy leaves year round (in zone 9b at least) and tons of bright orange-red blooms from spring to early winter. As perfect as this Hybrid Tea Shrub Rose is, I have never really gotten much fragrance out of them.
Every early spring I treat my roses for aphids and powdery mildew. Like clockwork pretty much. True Passion is one of the few roses that I do not even have to touch! This rose never gets diseases and aphids seem to ignore it completely. For that, I am “forever “truly” grateful haha
True Passion Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: medium large orange-red blooms
- Growth Style: Hybrid Tea Shrub, grows in a round full shrub form
- Height: 5 feet
- Width: 3 feet
- Fragrance: it is supposed to have a spicy fragrance
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: does well in Phoenix, Az but the blooms fade to a very muted red shade in full sun
- Disease Tolerance: very disease tolerant!
Hot Cocoa – Red Floribunda Rose
Hot Cocoa easily takes the prize for being my favorite red rose! Just as the name describes, this rose has a chocolatey red color that resembles red velvet cake batter when it first blooms. The blooms are just so intricate with large billowy petals. The more mature this floribunda rose gets, the more blooms per cane. The photo above shows about eight blooms on one cane!
I purchased this rose from HeirloomRoses.com along with a few other varieties. They were all planted spring 2023, however Hot Cocoa has grown so vigorously! It has even surpassed some of my older roses. Mine is currently in a large resin terracotta pot on my patio and it is thriving.
I find these blooms to be very sturdy. The petals do not wilt in our late spring intense sun and the color remains vibrant throughout it’s bloom life. The fragrance is a moderate spicy rose scent. The leaves are huge in comparison to some of my other rose plants! This would make a great small hedge rose if planted in bulk. Imagine all those chocolatey-red roses in mass!
This is another disease resistant red rose. This rose probably looks the healthiest out of most of my roses with it’s huge and vibrant leaves. My only woe is that the aphids seemed to favor this rose over some of the neighboring plants.
Hot Cocoa Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: large, chocolatey-red blooms. seriously stunning!
- Growth Style: Floribunda, grows in a nice shrub form with clusters of blooms per stem.
- Height: 4 feet
- Width: 4 feet
- Fragrance: Moderate, spicy rose fragrance
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: does very well in Phoenix, Az! Leaves always look healthy and blooms do not lose their color.
- Disease Tolerance: very disease tolerant!
