Top Performers

This is a collection of roses that we feel have proven themselves to the most important growers out there: YOU, the home gardener! It was a tough list to narrow down but over the years, Select Roses customers have consistently glowed about these particular roses. They are the ones that people ask for by name and recommend to their neighbours. They show us how easy, versatile and rewarding rose growing can be. I have always said the most important first step in growing nice plants is to choice the right variety for your climate. All of these roses will thrive in your garden with nothing more than common sense gardening. Most will even thrive with severe neglect! Plant them, enjoy them, and remember to let me know what roses grow best for you! It's our best way of doing our research into what works best for the most gardeners.

These are just a sample of the hundreds of varieties we carry at Select Roses. Visit us to see more! Click on the thumbnails to view larger images...

Julia Child

Floribunda • Spicy-sweet licorice rose perfume • 4' wide x 4' tall • Created by T. Carruth

This rose is just as remarkable as the woman it was named for! Julia Child is hands-down the best in her colour class, and she has won awards worldwide for reliable performance. Beautiful golden yellow anise-licorice scented blooms are produced in massive waves all summer long. Everyone who has grown Julia comments on her constant flowering and incredible health. I have noticed that she is much more winter hardy than most modern roses as well. Cut, she makes a wonderful bouquet! Simply an outstanding rose that should be in everyone's collection. Excellent for mass bedding or hedges. Also great in large containers.
Pretty Lady

Floribunda • Mild, sweet fragrance • 3' wide x 3-4' tall • Created by L. Scrivens

Delicate pink roses on a brute of a shrub! High resistance to black-spot makes Pretty Lady a fine rose to grow in our climate. I see it growing to perfection in no-spray city gardens around Vancouver. She is always covered with soft pink roses, blooms with remarkable freedom, and is never bothered by winter frost. The plant habit is tidy, never floppy and grows to about 3 to 4 feet. This is one healthy shrub! Perfect garden rose. Easily as healthy as the popular 'Flower-Carpet' brand of roses, and much more beautiful in bud.
Eliza

Hybrid Tea • Mild fragrance • 2' wide x 5' tall • Created by Kordes

This remarkable new German-bred rose has proven to have outstanding resistance to disease, combined with a classic cutting style rose. She grows well branched with great vigour, stands up beautifully as a cut bloom in a vase, and is even fragrant! Lovely new addition to the no-spray rose line up!
Royal City Rose

Floribunda • Light rose scent • 3' wide x 3' tall • Created by B. Jalbert

I have included one of my own hybrids because it has proven itself in our climate over and over. She is doing us proud in no-spray public parks, and pleases everyone who grows one. Flowers are beautifully formed in a classic tea rose style and are held proudly on a dense-growing, healthy shrub. Royal City Rose has taken every test we have put her through and has come out blooming like a champ. Grows easily as a landscape shrub rose, but produces elegant "real rose" flowers! Colour is soft shades of apricot with warm pink hue.
Sweet Vigorosa

Shrub • Very light fragrance • 3' wide x 2' tall • Created by Kordes • Photo: W. Kordes’ Söhne

A collection of spectacular landscape roses, available in a multitude of colours. Sweet Vigorosa pictured here has shimmering, radiant pink roses in masses all summer long. All Vigorosas have superb, highly polished foliage on plants that spread to about three feet. Rugged, winter hardy and easy to grow in large containers or open ground. These are my favorite carpet and shrub type roses because of their brilliant colours and tidy habits!
Grande Amore

Hybrid Tea • Moderate rose scent • 2' wide x 3' tall • Created by Kordes • Photo W. Kordes Söhne

The perfect red cut rose without all the fuss! Grande Amore has won top awards and has received an ADR designation. There are only a handful of hybrid teas in the world to make it through the tough ADR trials, which evaluate resistance to pest, disease, and natural beauty, by putting them through no-spray testing. Grande Amore is extremely vigorous and well branched, producing dozens of long stem roses all summer, and its blackspot resistance is excellent! The exquisitely formed roses are both rain and sun-proof. This red has a wonderful sheen to its petals.
Livin' Easy (Fellowship)

Floribunda • Light citrus scent • 4' wide x 4' tall • Created by Harkness

This has to be the most reliable, free-blooming floribunda in the world! The color is brilliant shades of orange and yellow, always pure and fresh, and never harsh. The foliage is dark, glossy green and highly resistant to disease. People have told us for years that Livin' Easy is the best rose they have ever planted, and it's well suited for our coastal climate. This is just a superb garden rose. We are thrilled to offer a golden yellow version of this rose, called 'Easy Going' as well. It's identical in every way to Livin' Easy but has a soft, golden yellow flower. 1996 AARS Winner. Also known as 'Fellowship' in Britain, where it was named for the Rotary movement.
Elina

Hybrid Tea • Mild fragrance • 3' wide x 4' tall • Created by P. Dickson

One of the most beautiful roses we grow. The color is a soft, pleasing cream-yellow and changes slightly with the weather. Elina is a proven garden rose that often stands out as the strongest hybrid tea in "no spray" gardens. She is elegant and flawless at all stages. Very strong growing and well branched. The flowers are large and elegant in all stages. Very fast repeat bloom cycle, and easy to grow as well! A true star in the garden.
Roberta Bondar

Climber • Strong rose scent • 6' tall • Created by J. Fleming

Bred by Joyce Fleming, one of Canada's leaders in rose hybridizing, and named for Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada's first female astronaut. And does this rose ever soar! This is the best small yellow climber I've ever grown. A non-fading repeat bloomer.
Westerland

Climber • Spicy rose scent • 6' tall • Created by R. Kordes • Photo by Dale Akerstrom

Grow it as a shrub. Grow it as a climber. Grow it as a large bush–but just grow it! We get more praise and comment on this hardy climber than any other rose in its class. People have often said they gave up growing roses until they planted Westerland. The massive trusses of frilly apricot blooms are filled with a sweet rose perfume that can perfume an entire room. I love its large, highly disease resistant foliage and iron clad constitution. A truly remarkable rose that should be grown in every garden and sold at every nursery. Westerland also comes in two other colour variations: 'Autumn Sunset' is an amber gold blend, and 'Lemon Meringue' is a clear soft yellow.