“Grandma knows best”, and when it comes to knowing a beautiful rose when she sees one, that is certainly true. With an eye for classic beauty you can be certain she would give her blessing to a rose that has that perfect, classic, hybrid tea look that for many of us is the only way a rose should be. Combined that with a wonderful dusky-rose coloring, topped off with a unique delicate fragrance of apples heading for Grandma’s apple pie. This plant could only be called Grandma’s Blessing Easy Elegance® Rose. Grandma will certainly also remember how much work it was to grow her roses, with regular spraying of nasty chemicals, detailed pruning, and all that for the reward of a brief flowering in early summer and perhaps a few scattered blooms later on sometime. We certainly wouldn’t burden her with all that today – no, this rose is extremely resistant to the major rose diseases, so no spraying, blooms in wave after wave, and it’s vigorous and as easy to grow as any ordinary garden shrub. So, take Grandma’s word for it, this is one rose that will fill your garden with continuous blooms without that old-fashioned effort.

Growing Grandma’s Blessing Easy Elegance® Rose

Size and Appearance

Grandma’s Blessing Rose is an upright, vase-shaped bush growing between 2½ and 5 feet tall, depending on climate and its development over the season. It has a spread of 3 or 4 feet, making a dense bush with attractive glossy, deep green foliage. Because it is highly-resistant to both black spot and powdery mildew – the deadliest and most common of the rose diseases – it keeps that healthy green foliage all season, without the leaves spotting, yellowing or falling. The leaves are about 5 inches long, usually divided into 5 leaflets, with two pairs along the central stem and one leaflet at the end.

Blooming begins in early summer and lasts into fall, with successive waves of blooming following closely on each other. Blooms form at the ends of each branch, in clusters of up to 5 blossoms, not the single bloom of old hybrid tea roses. Each large bud has gorgeous dusky purple-red tones, opening to a full flower with the classic old-rose pink tones that are so sought after. The blooms are large, over 2 inches tall, and packed with as many as 30 full, satiny petals. Flowers hold the classic tall shape for most of their life, opening to a full blossom 4 inches across. Blooms stay attractive for a week, on the bush or cut in a vase. If you have ever been troubled by roses where the blooms turn brown and soft, hanging on the bush in an unsightly way, that won’t happen with this rose. The petals fall away cleanly, so that dead-heading becomes strictly optional. To top it off the flowers have a soft fragrance reminiscent of apples. New stems are produced continuously, keeping this bush flowering in wave after wave of blooms.

Using Grandma’s Blessing Easy Elegance® Rose in Your Garden

If you love to have roses in your home, then this bush is perfect for cutting and giving you a whole season of classic rose blooms. But with its healthy foliage, continuous blooming and bright colors, this is a plant that offers so much as a garden shrub. Grow it alone or in groups among your other flowering shrubs. Plant a row, spacing them 2 feet apart, as a wonderful flowering hedge along a path or beside a patio. It also makes a great container rose, in a large pot, tub or planter box.

Hardiness

Grandma’s Blessing Rose is hardy from zone 5 to zone 9, and in zone 4 with the standard winter protection for rose bushes. With genes from the well-known Iceberg rose, a re-blooming classic that thrives in hotter places, it is especially suitable for warm to hot zones.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Grow this rose in full sun for the best results. Like all roses it thrives and grows best in richer, heavier soils, including clays, as long as they are well-drained. Add plenty of rich organic material when preparing the planting spot. Growth will not be as successful in very sandy soils, but with good preparation it is still possible.

Maintenance and Pruning

Mulch in early spring or late fall with a 4-inch layer of rich organic material over the root-zone. Use rose fertilizer through the season, following the directions for the type you choose. Water deeply during dry spells in summer. Regular spraying is not needed, and any minor pest problems can be quickly controlled with harmless soap sprays. You can dead-head to improve the look of your plant if you want to, cutting back to just above the first full-sized leaf. Prune in spring by removing any dead branches, crowded branches and old ones, leaving an open framework. Cut back the remaining stems by one-third, to just above a healthy bud. That’s it – a simple and enjoyable garden activity.

History and Origin of Grandma’s Blessing Easy Elegance® Rose

Garden roses have generations of complex breeding behind them, and this one is no exception. It was created in a partnership between Peter Ping Lim of Yamhill, Oregon, one of America’s great rose breeders, and Jerry Twomey of Watsonville, California. In 1991 they took pollen from a classic white rose called Iceberg (`KORbin`), developed in Germany in 1958 by the famous breeder Reimer Kordes. They used that pollen on a plant that was part of their breeding program, identified as 3901D. Among the seedlings they raised from this cross was an outstanding plant, which they patented in 2006, after years of testing. It is distributed by Bailey Nurseries, as part of their Easy Elegance® collection, and named Grandma’s Blessing in honor of an important family member, Margaret ‘Grandma’ Bailey.

Buying Grandma’s Blessing Easy Elegance® Rose at The Tree Center

If you are buying this rose for your grandma, if you are one yourself, or you simply want a great garden rose, we know you will love Grandma’s Blessing rose. The trouble is, this rose is very popular with everyone who wants that old-time look on a trouble-free bush, so order now, as our plants will soon be gone.