It can be difficult to find concise, unbiased information about roses, as the emphasis is usually focused on the sale as opposed to your garden needs.
So here are ten varieties that I know quite well which have notable attributes that you might be currently looking to utilize in your landscape. Whether you are searching for good cut flowers, the perfect climber or even a groundcover rose, we’ve got something for everyone at Amsterdam Garden Centre.
Hardiest Climbing Rose / ‘John Cabot’ – I have one of these growing on my rustic driftwood arbor in the backyard, happily tangled and blooming in sync with a ‘Goldflame’ honeysuckle. This Explorer rose is actually hardy to USDA zone 2 and it repeat blooms all summer long with bright double pink flowers that hold up well in our coastal weather.
(John Cabot | 📸 MK Lascelle)
Most Disease Resistant Climbing Rose / ‘Westerland’ - Here’s a coastal climber that has it all, great disease resistance, excellent hardiness (USDA zone 4) and an enticing strong spice fragrance. The semi-double apricot to coppery-orange flowers also repeat bloom all summer long!
(Westerland | 📸 MK Lascelle)
Best Culinary Rose / ‘Hansa’ – While all roses are edible, ‘Hansa’ is exceptional for its hardiness (USDA zone 3), its long season of bloom (all summer) and its highly fragrant purplish-pink flowers. These can be made into a delicate rose petal jelly that tastes as good as the blooms smell, which is at its best when lightly dolloped on some soft goat cheese. If you let some of the flowers mature, you will also get a good crop of red hips, which make a healthy tea.
(Hansa | 📸 MK Lascelle)
Most Unusual Colouring / ‘Honey Dijon’ - It’s hard to define the colour of this rose, although if I had to try, it would be a tan mustard with some caramel undertones and even hints of pink on the petal edge. The unique colour is only one reason it is a popular cut flower, as the moderate fruit fragrance and long-lasting in the vase nature make it a must-have for the home gardener.
(Honey Dijon | 📸 MK Lascelle)
Best Overall David Austin Rose / ‘Eustacia Vye’ – Everyone wants to know which is the best David Austin rose. In my opinion it is ‘Eustacia Vye’ and for several good reasons. These include the traditional quartered flower form, the unique colouring of pink with apricot centres and the most important reason when considering an English rose, the sumptuous rich fruit fragrance.
(Eustacia Vye | 📸 David Austin Roses)
Most Reliable Groundcover Rose / ‘White Meidiland’ – There is a good reason why this groundcover rose continues to dominate civic and commercial landscapes despite being introduced way back in 1987. It is low to the ground (averaging 2’ tall) and very dense so it suppresses weeds well, it literally smothers itself in 3” wide snow-white blooms from late spring to frost, it is cold hardy (USDA zone 4) and quite disease resistant when grown in full sun. What more could you want?
(White Meidiland | 📸 Star Roses)
Best Container Rose / ‘All a Twitter’ – Some gardeners may not have a lot of ideal ground space to grow roses, so they are often restricted to trying them in containers, which can be tricky. I suggest you look at an own-root miniature rose such as ‘All a Twitter’, which won’t overwhelm smaller pots (it only grows 18-24” tall and wide), is quite cold hardy (USDA zone 4) and the deep pumpkin orange blooms although small, are borne in abundance and don’t fade in the sun.
(All a Twitter | 📸 David Austin Roses)
Strongest Fragrance / ‘Ebb Tide’ – There are a lot of different rose fragrances out there including spice, honeysuckle, lemon, tea and old rose. So, I will just suggest one of my favourites, and that’s the intense clove fragrance of ‘Ebb Tide’. Of course, the complimenting dark dusky purple colour is equally appealing, as is the modest shrub size (3-4’ tall) of this unique floribunda.
(Ebb Tide | 📸 Weeks Roses)
Partial Shade Tolerant / ‘Roald Dahl’ – So, let’s start by defining partial shade tolerant, which would be a minimum of 4-5 hours of sun (including early morning or late evening) at the peak of summer. With that you can grow the enticing David Austin rose ‘Roald Dahl’ with its red buds, stunning golden apricot blooms and lovely fruit and tea fragrance.
(Roald Dahl | 📸 David Austin Roses)
Best Cut Flower / ‘Secret’s Out!’ – A fairly new (introduced around 2010) hybrid tea with just about everything you need for a perfect cut flower. This sport of ‘Secret’ is long-stemmed, has well-formed double blooms, is the perfect pristine white colour (with just a wisp of a pink undertone), has a strong spice fragrance and seems to last forever in the vase.
(Secret's Out! | 📸 Stars Roses)
All of these roses are available for presale (while quantities last) in either our rose or vine sections, with the latter featuring our own root climbing roses.
Copyright 2025 MK Lascelle
