Dark red roses win everyone’s heart, but they are not just for lovers. In the garden they make outstanding specimens, and when we discovered a compact bush, fully hardy in zone 4, with perfect large, classic tea-rose style rich red blossoms, we fell in love. Then we then found out that this plant never stops blooming all summer and fall, while resisting those nasty rose diseases, and we knew this was truly ‘the one’.

The Kashmir Rose is as richly red and exotic looking as its name suggests. Each large 3-inch diameter blossom is tightly packed with up to 50 deep-red petals with a lush, velvety texture. After the bud opens the high, tight center is surrounded by flaring petals, in the classic and very desirable tea-rose form. Each bloom is carried on the end of a long cane that is just perfect for cutting, and the best part of all is that these blooms just keep coming and coming, from early summer right into the fall, without a let-up. You can cut them for vases in your home, and still find more red roses blooming away in your garden.

The Kashmir Rose bush is a very vigorous but compact grower, reaching about 3 feet tall and across, or a little taller. At that size it is perfect for smaller gardens as a focal specimen, or for planting in a container, where you can enjoy it on a terrace or patio. Unlike older, taller roses, the stems are forming buds almost as soon as they shoot out, so you get more blooms sooner. This is also the perfect rose for planting among evergreens around your house, bringing color and interest to that high-profile area. For larger beds it is wonderful planted in groups of three, five, or more, spacing plants 24 inches apart from each other for a continuous ground cover. It can also be planted as an edging, along a driveway or lawn bed, or to line a pathway with romantic color.

Growing Kashmir Roses

For the best continuous flowering, plant in a spot with full sun all day long. Roses grow best in heavier soils, such as clays and loams, and the soil should be moist but well-drained. Plenty of organic material is the secret to successful rose growing, so dig plenty of compost or rotted manure into the ground when preparing your planting bed. Mulch after planting, and each spring thereafter, with more rich material, which will conserve moisture and enrich your soil at the same time. Use blended rose fertilizers in spring, and again in early summer and early fall, unless you use slow-release fertilizer that lasts all season. Keep your plants watered deeply, especially in summer. While moderate drought will not kill the bush, it will usually slow or even stop flower production, so don’t let your bushes dry out. The Kashmir Rose has been bred to reduce its resistance to diseases, so you won’t be out spraying every week for blackspot and mildew, as we used to do in the past. It also grows so vigorously and continuously that it rarely suffers from pests of any consequence.

Roses are often grown by grafting them onto special roots, but this method makes for problems. You must get the planting depth just right, and vigorous stems called suckers can shoot up from the roots and take over your bush, weakening and even killing the main plant. This rose is grown on its own roots, so it can never be produce suckers, and every stem is guaranteed to be the real rose you planted – what could be easier?

If you don’t cut all the blooms for vases in your house, remove them from the garden bushes when the petals are about to fall. Cut back the stem to just above the first full-sized leaf, and new shoots will soon burst out with more blossoms. This rose is winter hardy in zone 4, but for best results you can provide winter protection. In November, cut the branches back to 18 inches tall, and cover the lower 6 to 8 inches with dry sphagnum peat moss – it should be new and dry. Surround it with an open-topped ring, and firm down the peat moss around the stems. Don’t cover the plant completely with a Styrofoam cone, or with plastic sheeting. In spring remove the peat moss and prune. In all the warmer zones pruning is the only annual chore needed. Remove any weak or dead branches, and trim back the remaining sturdy ones to between 3 and 8 inches long. Cutting shorter will give larger blooms, but slightly fewer of them in the first summer blooming. Cutting longer gives more blooms, but they will be slightly smaller.

History and Origins of Kashmir Roses

The Kashmir Rose is part of Bailey Nursery’s Easy Elegance® Rose Collection. These wonderful new roses were created in the early years of this century by Ping Lim, an American born in Laos, and one of the top rose breeders in the country. At that time he was the Rose Research Director for Bailey Nurseries in Yamhill, Oregon, before moving on to his own company. Bailey Nurseries have over 20 growing sites across the country, and all the roses in this series have been tested at almost all of them, so we know they grow well anywhere in this vast country, whatever your local conditions are. The Kashmir rose is a blend of tea-rose and shrub-rose, and it is officially known as ‘BAImir’. These roses are winning hearts everywhere, so our stock is going fast. Order now before they are all gone.