Can you all please help me. I am new here and also somewhat of a beginner. I planted this drift rose a couple of years ago and all season long the blooms turn brown but will bloom again. It is very unsightly to me. Half will be brown and week later it may look pretty again. I wish I would have gotten the red one because the neighbors look pretty and vibrant all the time.

Welcome to NGA, @Tru4reele! Your rose just needs dead heading. When a rose turns brown you need to clip it off. Then it will form new roses much faster, and look much nicer. Just do a search on the web or youtube for 'dead heading a rose'.

plantmanager said:Welcome to NGA, @Tru4reele! Your rose just needs dead heading. When a rose turns brown you need to clip it off. Then it will form new roses much faster, and look much nicer. Just do a search on the web or youtube for 'dead heading a rose'.

Thank you so much. I had an idea that may have been the problem but I wanted to make sure.

Welcome Tru4reele.

I've not seen it much recently, but there once was a time when a good rose description would disclose if a rose "dropped its spent flower petals cleanly" one that does so will not look quite so untidy after the petals wither. As Karen said, for most roses deadheading will make the plant look a little cleaner and for many it will improve or speed the re-bloom cycle.

Coming to this forum for the same purpose, help with a drift rose. I came across a white rose yesterday and fell in LOVE with the very heavy damask scent coming from its' cute little white blooms. The store owner said was a drift rose, and that it wouldn't get very tall.

I'm thinking about planting it near a window, about 2.5 feet from the house. The bottom of the window is about 3-3.5 feet from ground level. Is this a good spot where it won't need to be hacked back from getting too big? I can find a bigger spot if it can be expected to mush up against the wall or get tall enough to block the window.

Those who have had one for years, please share, and would love to see any possible pics of older individuals and their "situation."

And what has been the bloom period for your plant(s)? TIA!!

None of my Drift roses have grown taller than about 2.5'. They like to spread out not up.

For how many decades must one put plants in the ground to get over the shock of how short they are compared to when they were in a pot? I'm still doing it. Here it is, outside bedroom window. It faces south, the wind usually comes from that direction when nights are suitable for open-window sleeping. Let the wafting soon begin!! :+)

Tru4reele, curious as to how your rose is sited? Does it face South or West? Looking at the rock mulch, I'm wondering if you have a heat sink going on.

Tru4reele, I agree that the dying blooms are unattractive. Since I'm mostly lazy, I rarely deadhead, but, if I do get around to it, the entire shrub looks happier.

Tiffany, my Coral Drifts (have two) get no more than about 30 inches tall--they spread to about five feet. The Red Drifts get to about 36 inches tall, with about a four foot spread. They aren't very dense and pruning is easy from that perspective. Don't know if the dimension difference is because they are different Roses, or because their locations have different soils and drainage, or what. The Coral pictured is in a mostly flat area with slightly sandy soil. The Reds (two of them) are at the base of a Rose of Sharon Tree with heavy clay soil and a downward slope to the street.

Coral Drift


Red Drift

purpleinopp said:Coming to this forum for the same purpose, help with a drift rose. I came across a white rose yesterday and fell in LOVE with the very heavy damask scent coming from its' cute little white blooms. The store owner said was a drift rose, and that it wouldn't get very tall.

I'm thinking about planting it near a window, about 2.5 feet from the house. The bottom of the window is about 3-3.5 feet from ground level. Is this a good spot where it won't need to be hacked back from getting too big? I can find a bigger spot if it can be expected to mush up against the wall or get tall enough to block the window.


Those who have had one for years, please share, and would love to see any possible pics of older individuals and their "situation."

And what has been the bloom period for your plant(s)? TIA!!

i love the drifts im hoping i can get my new ones at the new house this good. the pic here is of peach drift at my old house. It was maybe 3 -5 years old here the builder planted it then we lived there for 3 years.

Awesomely helpful & gorgeous posts. TY.

Drifty seems to have settled in and is back to blooming heavily. Such a wonderful scent!

I must have jinxed my vagabond rose, it has drifted away from blooming and more toward some new foliage. Are others' drifts still blooming?

The Coral Drifts and Red Drifts here are in bloom, now, but these tend to go in flushes.

Thanks! Flushes rock. Don't want to fall into complacency of appreciation.

Dana, I wanted to thank you for your post on Peach Drift. I saw it on sale at Chamblees round about when you posted, I and ordered it. The plant was already blooming when it arrived two weeks ago and it has hit the ground running. I was blown away by the fragrance. I will order more...

FYI, Tru4reele only posted twice on this site, here in this thread almost 1 year ago.

Steve812 said:Dana, I wanted to thank you for your post on Peach Drift. I saw it on sale at Chamblees round about when you posted, I and ordered it. The plant was already blooming when it arrived two weeks ago and it has hit the ground running. I was blown away by the fragrance. I will order more...

oh cool, yes you can smell them from so far away too. I love the drifts chamblees had an amazing batch this year. peach drift is my favorite. I planted a cluster of 3 right next to where I park my car. Those other bushes I just planted are Annabel hydrangea I pulled out ivy and holly (still working on the ivy luckily the previous owner had super thick landscape cloth down and the ivy was just on top

Drifty is flushing with blooms again, as predicted!

If it looks like the 2 smaller rocks are on rose stems, they are. When roots form there, I'll have 2 more roses, to get a real drift started.

Tiffany, you probably don't have to do that. I planted two Peach Drift roses in my backyard last year that I won in the NARR. Both are on a hill and I was hoping that they would spill down it. Boy did they! They have completely filled in the area and are spilling over it and it's only been 1 year. I'd say they tripled or quadrupled in size!

If you do get the roses to root you will need to move them ASAP. The original plant will overrun them in no time. If they do well in my climate I imagine they will go crazy in yours!

Awesome! TYVM! That's exciting to hear. What a great idea for your hill, well done!

The race continues, to fill the yard with shrubs, bulbs, anything of interest, in place of all of the mowed areas before we are too old to mow & dig holes! Tricky with a garden budget of about $100 per year.