The All-America Rose Selections has named a number of rose varieties as regional rose winners. For the Northeast, the Lady Elsie May rose was among the best, while in the Midwest The Fairy rose was among the best picks. Both of these are wonderful cut flowers.


Lady Elsie May-Regional Pick for the Northeast

This is very resistant to disease, and has very healthy, clean, shiny foliage. The plants reach four feet in height with a spread of three feet.

The semi-double to double blooms have just a very light scent. They’re up to four inches across, and have less than 15 petals. The petals are coral pink. A repeat bloomer, the flowers open throughout the summer. These stems are long enough for cutting.

This was introduced in 2005, and received an All-America Rose Selections award. It was hybridized by Werner Noack, a rose hybridizer in Germany. Its parents were Repandia and Gruss an Angelin’. Noark also created the highly popular Flower Carpet ground cover roses.


The Fairy Rose-Regional Pick for the Midwest

Considered the best of the smaller rose plants, this is a very carefree polyantha that requires very little attention. It received a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Excellence in 1993.

A repeat bloomer, this reaches three to four feet in height with a spread of five feet or so. This is a rounded, spreading plant with deep green foliage. The plant is disease resistant, and the leaves remain unblemished. It is considered a very reliable plant. Recommended for zones four through 11, this is an heirloom variety that was introduced in 1932 in England by hybridizer Bentall. Its parentage included Lady Gay and Paul Crampel.

It is a lovely double flowering variety with lovely pale pink to shell pink blooms. The ruffled flowers are less than two inches across, and have a fruity scent. They contain around 25 petals. Beautifully double, they appear throughout the growing season.

It has long stems that are perfect for cutting. However, they don’t last as well when grown in hot weather. The flowers are in the shape of a pinwheel. This plant is available from Witherspoon Roses.