I once grew Buff Beauty at the top of a little hill that was packed clay. The rose got some supplemental water, but for long periods of time it just sat there and baked in the sun. Yet for all the neglect, it built up slowly ... until some landscapers dug it up and threw it across the garden when they were making a path. But that's a different story.
I'm considering expanding my rose garden outside the fenced area by our house. There's quite a bit of land that is very sandy, has at least six hours of sunshine, and will normally be brutally dry (i.e. not a drop of moisture) through April, May, June, and at least half of July - if I fail to supply supplemental water. So I need DROUGHT TOLERANT plants. My intention is to plant roses in some of this area and to water the roses until they are established, perhaps two years. But my hope is not to have to supply (much) supplemental water after that.
Is there any rule of thumb to use in figuring out which roses are more likely to be drought tolerant? Does anyone have any other lists of roses determined to be
drought tolerant? How many years must a rose be in the ground/how big must it be before it can be considered well established for the purposes of reducing watering?
Part of the project includes covering a sloping 15 ft tall, south-facing stone embankment that retains my neighbor's driveway with a large climber. Another part is just to plant shrubby roses inside an existing boundary of native shrubs. Earlier this year I planted about eighty iris in some of the flatter spaces near the driveway in this area. Somewhere between the iris and the roses there will be a knot of bluebeards - since that's all I've been able to get growing there.
Some candidates I've considered: Buff Beauty(as a shrub), Russelliana, and Lady Banks(as climbers). Carefree Beauty and Cramoisi Superior (climbing) have failed in this area. So have seven apple trees. But I'm willing to try again. And to use more mulch. BTW, it would help if there were something about the roses that made them essentially deer, rabbit, and rodent-proof. I know this is a tall order.
Thanks in advance for the help!
