CABBAGE ROSE

Although technically all rose bushes are shrubs—because, like other shrubs, they have many woody stems originating below or close to the surface of the ground —only some are treated as such. They are ones that are so much more frost resistant than other types of roses and require so much less pampering that they can hold their own in borders with other shrubs, blossoming year after year. Their flowers provide a mass of color in early summer and are followed by fruit called hips, which in some cases become bright red or orange in late summer and fall. Such roses are highly desirable beside a fence or wall, in borders or as individual ornaments.

Among the many excellent roses useful as shrubs—some are described as "shrub roses" by nurserymen—are the five recommended here; all are outstanding for their beauty, vigor and resistance to frost. Great Maiden's Blush rose grows 4 to 8 feet tall and in early summer bears clusters of moderately fragrant 2- to 3-inch lushly petaled, or double, pink flowers; in summer and fall 3/4-inch scarlet hips appear. Cabbage or Provence rose grows 3 to 6 feet tall and in early summer has moderately fragrant 1- to 4-inch double pink flowers, borne singly or in clusters, each flower having up to 100 overlapping petals; the seed hips are inconspicuous. Harison's Yellow rose grows 5 to 8 feet tall and in spring or early summer bears fragrant 1 1/2- to 2-inch semidouble bright yellow flowers; its brownish black seed hips are not very noticeable. Father Hugo's rose is very distinctive; its long arching main stems grow 6 to 8 feet tall and are lined in late spring with nonfragrant 2-inch single yellow flowers, each with one row of petals; the seed hips are inconspicuous, but the small fernlike leaves turn reddish orange in fall. Japanese rose is a handsome 5- to 6-foot species whose clusters of fragrant 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-inch single purplish red flowers bloom in early summer and occasionally in fall; the flowers are set off against crinkly dark green leaves that turn orange in fall, just as the highly decorative orange-red hips, about 1 inch across, appear. The Japanese rose comes in several varieties, with single or double pink, white or red flowers.

HOW TO GROW. Japanese rose grows in Zones 2-10, but Great Maiden's Blush rose and Harison's Yellow rose grow only in Zones 4-10, and cabbage and Father Hugo's roses only in Zones 5-10. All do best in full sun in well-drained soil that has been liberally supplemented with peat moss, leaf mold or compost. Prune as lightly as possible—part of the appeal of these roses is the natural grace of the plants themselves. Remove deadwood in early spring and, after flowering, cut back any branches that have become too tall. New plants can be started in a number of ways: by forcing a branch to grow roots by the method known as ground layering; from softwood cuttings of young growth in late spring or early summer; from semihardwood cuttings of more mature growth in mid- or late summer; from hardwood cuttings of dormant leafless growth in late fall or winter; or in early spring by division of the underground offshoots, or suckers, that spring up around old plants.