Flower Carpet Next Generation Roses fare well in survey

In this past summer’s weather extremes, roughly three out of every four gardeners surveyed nationwide said Flower Carpet Next  Generation roses performed better than other rose varieties.
 
“I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the plants in my yard, but everyone asks me about my Flower Carpet roses,” said Vincent Johns of West Virginia, one of 45 members of the National Home Gardening Club taking part in the survey (the group is known for its independent and objective home testing of gardening products).
 
“Flower Carpet roses are the most visually appealing, easy-to-care-for roses I’ve ever had,” added Johns. “I continually recommend them to my friends, which has left local nurseries unable to keep up with the demand. If I had to choose one plant in my yard to retain, it would be your roses.”
 
Johns experienced a very wet summer this year – and he wasn’t the only one noticing the wacky weather. All respondents in the Northeast reported excess rain and coolness, with half to all of respondents in six other zones reporting extremes at both ends of the spectrum (excess rain/coolness and extreme dryness/heat).
 
In fact, it was this past summer’s unusually high and/or low extremes – or a combination of both – that prompted the survey by Tesselaar Plants. The Australia-based plant commercializer, known for its innovative, high-drama, low-maintenance plants like Volcano Phlox and Tropicann Canna, pioneered the concept of easy-care shrub roses when it introduced the Flower Carpet brand in 1990.
 
“Ever since then, we’d been saying that Flower Carpet roses could stand up to anything – drought, pests, disease, neglect – even extreme weather,” said company founder and world-renowned plantsman Anthony Tesselaar. “But then, after introducing the advanced Next Generation line in 2007 – with even better heat, humidity and disease resistance – we were looking for a wonderful chance like this to prove it.”
 
And prove it they did, with the National Home Gardening Club members putting all three colors in the Next Generation line – Pink Supreme, Scarlet and Amber (pictured) – through their rigorous paces in 37 states and seven USDA hardiness zones (4 through 11).

In addition to the overwhelming majority of respondents reporting Flower Carpet roses’ better performance compared with other roses, two out of three testers surveyed said the brand out-performed all their other shrubs and perennials. Eighty-two percent reported no pest problems with the brand. And 80 percent said they would recommend all three colors in Flower Carpet’s Next Generation series to their friends.
 
“They're easy to take care of, they look great and they establish themselves very fast for the most part,” said tester Jackie Wilcox of South Dakota.  “As for a favorite color, I'm partial to the Scarlet. I love the color against the dark, shiny, green leaves.”