Ten new rose varieties have been created to be as appealing to bees as they are to us
In recent years we’ve come to realise how important bees and other pollinators are to growing fruit, veg and cut flowers on a farm scale – and growing flowers and food in our home gardens.
RHS research has shown that the best way to help bees and other pollinators is to grow a wide range of both native plants and garden flowers to provide them with the pollen, and nectar and caterpillar food they need.
At
Rosa Tantau, a German rose nursey at Uetersen, north west of Hamburg, established over a hundred years ago, Jens Kruger is Plant Breeding Manager.
“Both wild bees and honeybees need single-flowered, insect-friendly varieties providing them with easy access to the stamens where they find the pollen,” says Jens in his online presentation about his roses. “This is exactly what the Bees’ Paradise varieties offer.
“With their single-flowered to semi-double flowers, they make your garden beautiful to the eye. And they are a great food supply for insects from June through to the first frost.
“'Bees Paradise Dark Red' was the one that got everything started. We noticed it a few years back because in our novelties trials field, in the middle of a hundred other test varieties, it was always surrounded by wild bees and honeybees.
“So we came up with the idea of breeding a whole assortment of ground cover roses and miniature roses in different colours and which are particularly robust and disease resistant and have insect-friendly flowers for wildlife gardens.”
The Bee Perfect roses, sometimes offered as Bees’ Paradise or Bijenweelde, are now available in ten colours, with either single or semi-double flowers, including 'Bee Perfect Pink' (top in picture), 'Bee Perfect Peach' and 'Bee Perfect White'. They're generally very resistant to mildew, black spot and rust. These are patio or ground cover roses, reaching about 40-60cm x 40-60cm, their fragrance varies across the varieties from light to medium.
You can
order the Bee Perfect roses from C J Wildlife.
*Please note, the contents of this blog reflect the views of its author and do not constitute an official RHS endorsement.
