Mustard & Ketchup™ Rose
Rosa x `Wekzazette` (PP# 23,289)
Mustard & Ketchup™ Rose
Rosa x `Wekzazette` (PP# 23,289)
How are the heights measured?
All tree, and nothin' but the tree! We measure from the top of the soil to the top of the tree; the height of the container or the root system is never included in our measurements.
What is a gallon container?
Nursery containers come in a variety of different sizes, and old-school nursery slang has stuck. While the industry-standard terminology is to call the sizes "Gallon Containers", that doesn't exactly translate to the traditional liquid "gallon" size we think of. You'll find we carry young 1-gallons, up to more mature 7-gallons ranging anywhere from 6 inches to 6ft.
How does the delivery process work?
All of our orders ship via FedEx Ground! Once your order is placed online, our magic elves get right to work picking, staging, boxing and shipping your trees. Orders typically ship out within 2 business days. You will receive email notifications along the way on the progress of your order, as well as tracking information to track your plants all the way to their new home!
Why are some states excluded from shipping?
The short & sweet answer is: "United States Department of Agriculture Restrictions." Every state has their own unique USDA restrictions on which plants they allow to come into their state. While we wish we could serve everyone, it's for the safety of native species and helps prevent the spread of invasive disease & pests. We've gotta protect good ole' Mother Nature, after all.
About Me
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The Mustard & Ketchup Rose is the perfect rose for today – easy on care, blooming continuously, but with the classic style of individual roses on long stems that are large and pointed like a florist’s rose. The large blooms are fully-double, with a tall bud opening to a full blossom. The petals are velvety and dark-red, with deep yellow undersides, and they even have the original tea-rose fragrance. The perfect dual-purpose garden and cutting rose, it is perfect for planting in beds, by a gate or door, or along a path.
- Large, 4-inch blooms with classic tea rose beauty
- Velvety petals are deep red with golden backs
- Disease resistant for healthy, glossy foliage all season
- Has that original tea rose fragrance
- Blooms continuously from late spring into fall
Full sun will make your Mustard & Ketchup Roses bloom continuously and profusely, and they should be grown in rich, moist, but well-drained soil. It grows well even in heavy clays, but add plenty of organic material to more sandy soils. It is resistant to powdery mildew and other diseases, and so vigorous that pests are rarely problems. Prune in spring and provide winter protection in zone 4.
- Plant Hardiness Zones 4-10
- Mature Width 2-3
- Mature Height 3-5
- Sun Needs Full Sun
Garden roses have changed a lot in the last 30 years, and more and more of them are of the ‘landscape’ type, with more simple, open blooms that don’t have much in common with the classic pointed form of the florists’ rose. If you miss the days of garden roses that look like that, but don’t want the old problems of growing them, and the intermittent flowering, then we have the answer for you. The Mustard & Ketchup Rose has all that timeless classic beauty, combined with all the modern vigor, disease resistance and continuous blooming. It carries huge, 4-inch blooms on foot-long single stems, perfect for cutting, and these are produced in abundance throughout the season. What exciting blooms they are. Every petal is like red velvet, with a golden-yellow back, creating gorgeous bi-color blooms that look as fabulous in the garden as they do in a vase. Enjoy the best of both worlds with this superb rose.
Growing the Mustard & Ketchup Rose Tree
Size and Appearance
The Mustard & Ketchup Rose grows rapidly into an upright bush, reaching each season to a height of as much as 5 feet, and a width of about 3 feet, with many branches growing upright from ground level. The stems are thick and sturdy, with a few large thorns, but the side-branches are generally free of prickles. The glossy, rich-green leaves are up to 5 inches long, but divided into 5 leaflets (sometimes 3 or 7). The slightly leathery leaflets are pointed ovals with tiny serrations along the edges. Good disease-resistance means they stay healthy and on the bush all season.
Blooms are carried on many slender stems that grow from the main branches, with new stems being continuously produced. These strong stems are up to 15 inches long, and end in a large bud. This opens into a huge bloom with velvety petals wrapped around each other in the perfect classic tea-rose form. They even have the timeless tea rose fragrance. Rising to a point in the center the tight petals gradually open into a perfect bloom that is 4 inches across and made of 28 full-sized petals and another 12 smaller central petaloids. Each is rich velvety red on the upper side, and bold mustard yellow on the underside, creating a gorgeous bi-color bloom. Once the bloom is over the petals fall cleanly to the ground, and so hips are almost never formed, the old stems simply disappear among the continuously-expanding foliage and new branches.
Using the Mustard & Ketchup Rose Tree in Your Garden
Grow this beautiful rose as a specimen in a bed, alone or in a group of 3 or more bushes, planted 2 feet apart. Its endless blooming will give terrific garden color, and a continuous supply of flowers for cutting. Plant it by a gate or entrance, or along a path, to enjoy its beauty close up.
Hardiness
The Mustard & Ketchup Rose can be grown (with normal winter protection) in zone 4, and in all other zones, including zone 10, where it will bloom almost all year round, and be semi-evergreen.
Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions
Always grow the Mustard & Ketchup Rose in full sun, as shade reduces flower production. Plant it in rich, moist, but well-drained soil, including the heavier clay soils that roses love. Add plenty of nutritious organic materials to the soil when planting, and use as mulch in late fall or spring. Water regularly, as although the bush is resistant to dry periods, drought reduces blooming.
Maintenance and Pruning
Feed your Mustard & Ketchup Roses with any rose fertilizer, as directed. It is resistant to rose diseases, especially powdery mildew and rust, so it stays clean and beautiful through the hottest and most humid weather. Its vigor makes it naturally resistant to serious pests, and any minor problems can be solved quickly with our Neem Oil Spray. Dead-heading isn’t essential, as hips are not made, but it will keep your bushes a little more tidy.
Prune once a year, in spring, preferably waiting until the buds are swelling. Remove all weak and damaged stems neatly, and cut back the remaining branches by half to two-thirds, to a strong outward-facing bud. After a few years you can remove some of the oldest branches closer to the ground, to encourage vigorous new growth.
History and Origin of the Mustard & Ketchup Rose Tree
“Ollie” Weeks was brought from Texas to California as a baby by his parents during the Great Depression, and when only 23 he started his own rose nursery in the San Joaquin Valley. Today Weeks Wholesale Rose Grower, Inc. is one of the largest rose growers in America, producing about 4 million bushes a year. Every year they grow 200,000 hybrid seedlings, and after 8 to 10 years of work they become just 3 or 4 new varieties. The head breeder today is Christian Bédard, a French Canadian, and he created the variety marketed with the trademark name of Mustard & Ketchup. Officially known as `Wekzazette`, he created it by taking pollen from a yellow rose called SHOCKWAVE™ (`WEKgojolo`) and pollinating a red rose called CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO™ (`WEKsanpoly`). Both of these bushes were the creations of Tom Carruth, the previous head breeder at Weeks. It was patented in 2013.
Buying the Mustard & Ketchup Rose Tree at the Tree Center
For the classic beauty of the tea rose, the Mustard & Ketchup Rose is the perfect choice. For continuous profusion of blooms, disease-resistance and vigor, guess what, the Mustard & Ketchup Rose is also the perfect choice. Win both ways, and enjoy the great beauty of a rose they way there were supposed to be. It’s the perfect bush for an older gardener who loves things the old way, or for a new gardener who simply wants to grow the best, but without a lot of trouble. Whichever you are, order right away, as this kind of beauty leaves our farm all too soon.