All-America Rose Selections named for 2008
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One popular ornamental plant competition is the All-America Rose Selections. AARS Winners for 2008 are Mardi Gras and Dream Come True.
LSU AgCenter horticulture professor Dr. Allen Owings calls Dream Come True a stunning sight of catchy colors.
This rose produces flawlessly formed yellow blossoms, blushed with ruby-red at the tips, all set among abundant matte-green foliage.
The big, bushy vigorous plant yields long-stemmed, long-lived blooms with mild tea fragrance, making it lovely in the landscape and a great choice for bouquets.
Dream Come True was hybridized by Dr. John Pottschmidt of Cincinnati – only the third amateur hybridizer to win the AARS Award in 67 years – and introduced by Weeks Roses of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Owings said Mardi Gras creates a festive atmosphere in any setting with its flamboyant blooms in a novel blend of pink, orange and yellow and its delightful peppery scent. Each high-centered hybrid tea-style bloom begins as an apricot-orange bud that slowly spirals open to reveal a 4-inch bright pink and orange bloom with a yellow base.
Mardi Gras has proven to perform exceptionally well across the country with little to no care. The colorful blooms are perfectly framed with dark green, semi-glossy foliage, and its upright columnar habit makes it an ideal rose to use as a hedge or in a border with mixed perennials.
Mardi Gras was hybridized by Keith Zary and is introduced by Jackson & Perkins Wholesale Inc., Medford, Ore.
AARS roses are evaluated at the LSU AgCenter Burden Center in Baton Rouge prior to and after their release. You can view ongoing rose research at Burden. Landscape studies evaluating rose performance are also being initiated this year at the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station in Hammond.
