This compact plant typically grows up to 3 feet high and flowers in large clusters of small, 1-inch blooms making them wonderful additions to containers and small gardens. They’re known to be covered in flowers from spring to fall and are hardy, low-maintenance, plants.
Source: Farming Ideas
Do you need a resilient, disease-resistant, low-maintenance rose, but also want the fragrance and beauty?
Polyantha Rose is your solution!
Polyantha is in a rosette derived from the rose species R. multiflora ‘Polyantha’, a climbing species with small single white flowers resembling cluster flowers or strawberries. The class polyantha shares many characteristics of R. multiflora including the production of numerous flowers that grow in clusters at the tops of branches. However, polyantha differs from R. multiflora in several important respects. The most important are its dwarf flowers, small bush form and repeated bloom habit.
They are extremely hardy plants. Exhibiting high disease tolerance, they do not require much water and fertilizer, and most bloom non-stop in clusters throughout the growing season. They have all the features introduced, often deceptively, in roses perhaps easily found in garden centers. They are excellent ornamental roses, potted roses, model roses, hedge roses and a few of them climbing flowers. Non-climbers, many of them, are usually no more than four feet tall, making them incredibly versatile. Another really great property is stiffness. My favorite polyantha, ‘Marie Pavie’, is hard to get to zone 4. ‘Mlle Cecile Brunner’, another favorite, is hard to get to zone 6a. I’ll take note of the difficulty of any of the polyanthas I mention.
The polyantha bush rose is one of the parents of the floribunda bush rose. The creation of the polyantha rose bush dates back to 1873, in France, with a polyantha rose bush called Paquerette, which had beautiful clusters of white flowers.
Polyantha bush roses are usually smaller bush roses than floribunda bush roses but are generally hardy plants. Polyantha roses bloom in large clusters with a diameter of 1 inch in bloom. The polyantha bush rose is one of the parents of the floribunda bush rose. The creation of the climbing polyantha rose dates back to 1875 – France (bred in 1873 – France), a polyantha rose bush called Paquerette, which has very beautiful white flower clusters. Polyantha rose bushes are born from the hybridization of wild roses
The history of polyantha is a mess because there are many conflicting expert opinions. At first they seem to be a cross of the multileaf persimmon (now used as a very hardy rootstock in cold regions) with the Chinese rose, which is quite soft. Sometimes they are hybrids with hybrid musk. Sometimes they have permanent hybrids in their bloodline, like Excellenz von Schubert.
General Quick Planting and Care Guide
General information:
Growing Zone (US/UK Hardiness): 5 to 9/H6.
Life Cycle/Plant Type: Deciduous shrub. Busy habits.
Plant Height: 60 cm to 2 m (2 to 6.5 feet).
Planting: 60 cm to 1.5 m (2 to 5 feet).
Flowering: From late spring to the first frosts of fall.
Flower details:
Fragrant. Continuous double or semi-double bloom. The plant bears many flowers in clusters. Flowers can be white, cream, pink, red, or peach. Rosa Polyantha flowers are typically small to medium sized about 2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) in diameter.
Foliage:
The leaflets have teeth. Shadow. The stem has thorns.
Fruit details:
Hip (haw, hep) / Haw
Conditional development
Best lighting conditions:
Shade and full light
Suitable Soil:
Will grow in most soil types but will grow best in fertile, humus-rich soil.
Proper Soil pH:
The ideal slightly acidic pH is 6.5. Tolerates pH of alkaline and acidic soils, but performance can be hindered.
Soil moisture: Well drained, medium moisture.
Growing and Propagation:
Use semi-ripe cuttings in late summer, or hardwood cuttings in fall. These plants can also be cloned using the T budding (summer) process. If planting roses in a garden/nursery center, do so at the end of the growing season, about a month before or until the last expected frost. First, dig a hole a little wider and deeper than the base. At the bottom of the pit add some compost and mix it into the soil. Mix the compost with the rest of the soil and then fill the hole and make a small mound around the base of the rose plant. Next, provide a deep watering. The clearance is about 60 cm to 1 m (2 to 3 feet).
Care:
Plant maintenance is low to moderate. Deep watering. Do not water from above as this may damage the plant. Water daily during dry times – ideally in the morning. Remove diseased leaves and pick up rotten leaves as soon as you notice them. Requires pruning once a year (late winter/early spring). Provide a balanced fertilizer twice a year: once in late winter and once in early summer. A coating may also be required in cooler climates to help protect the crown. Also consider a summer mulch to help maintain soil moisture in warmer areas.