15 Disease Resistant Roses to Grow This Season

I’m obsessed with roses. But I also have a job, a family, and pets to attend to. If a rose takes a lot of time and care to keep healthy, I give it the boot (or as gardeners like to say, the old “shovel prune”).

I have an organic garden and refuse to plant diva roses that need spraying to look good. Yet, I still get compliments on my garden and bouquets all summer. How? By choosing disease-resistant varieties that thrive in my climate.

If you want roses but prefer not to spend your summer constantly spraying or nursing sickly plants, this list of 15 disease-resistant varieties will get you on your way to a beautiful and low-maintenance garden. Each rose is highly rated for health and, unless otherwise indicated, do great in a variety of climates. Let’s get started!

‘Bliss Parfuma’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORbin
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 2’– 3’
	hardiness zones 5-10

Roses from German breeder Kordes are known for vigorous growth and health. ‘Bliss Parfuma’ is a standout of the group. This is an award-winning variety beloved by rosarians for its old-fashioned cupped blooms and delicious vanilla peach scent.

‘Bliss Parfuma’ is consistently healthy and high-performing, with gorgeous apricot-pink flowers throughout summer. True to the floribunda family, it stays compact and produces bouquet-worthy clusters of flowers.

‘Bliss’ is a good candidate for patio containers where it provides all the decor you need, or try it in a mixed border with blue and purple flowers for a pretty contrast. This rose is just a sure, gorgeous bet for a sweet summer of minimal-effort blooms.

‘Citiscape Bordeaux’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORelamba’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 2’– 3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

‘Bordeaux’ is marketed for small urban gardens, but this scarlet stunner looks good anywhere! While it’s an ideal size for containers, its lush full-petaled blooms and vivid color will also shine in a large garden.

This variety is incredibly winter-hardy, surviving temps down to -40℉ without protection. Whether you’re in a hot climate that struggles with humidity or have a cold Northern garden, ‘Bordeaux’ will perform for you.

‘Bordeaux’ is an international gold medal winner, with velvety red rose blooms and bushy forest green foliage. It has a delicate apple and clove perfume. Plant several of these together for a low show-stopping hedge or spice up your patio with a potted specimen plant!

‘Earth Angel’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORgeowim’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 4’ – 5’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Do you love peonies but wish they bloomed all summer? You can get that peony appearance all season with ‘Earth Angel.’ With large globular blooms, creamy colors, and the delicious scent of sugared lemons, this variety provides all that peony charm but blooms in flushes from spring through frost.

Part of the Kordes Parfuma® series, ‘Earth Angel’ boasts exceptional health along with its intense fragrance. It does well in hot summers, but the ivory petals with deep pink centers look better when planted in a spot with afternoon shade.

‘Earth Angel’ has an upright habit and lots of glossy green leaves. It’s beautiful mixed with other pastel shades. Try it underplanted with sweet alyssum for a sweet and soft look.

‘Westerland’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORwest’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 6’ – 12’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Nothing creates an impact in the garden like a climbing rose. A wall or rustic fence smothered in blooms is irresistible and charming. If you’re looking for a reliably healthy climbing rose, check out warm-hued ‘Westerland.’

‘Westerland’ has masses of large ruffled flowers in shades of apricot, orange, and pink. They have a mild spiced rose scent. Snip the buds just as they’re beginning to open for long-lasting bouquets.

This rose is quite vigorous in warm climates, so be prepared with your trellis or arbor. It’s known for producing a bounty of blooms in its first season! A recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit, ‘Westerland’ will become a workhorse in your garden.

‘Caldwell Pink’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Caldwell Pink’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 4’– 5’
	hardiness zones 5-10

‘Caldwell Pink’ was discovered and introduced to the market by Dr. Bill Welch in the 1980s. It’s prized by gardeners and landscapers alike for its ease of care and profusion of blooms all summer.

This ever-blooming beauty is a polyantha rose, a class known for its tough dispositions. It has received the Earth-KindⓇ designation for its ability to flourish despite drought, hot sun, cold winters, and pest pressure.

‘Caldwell Pink’ is consistently covered in adorable clusters of fluffy shell pink flowers. It’s sometimes called the “summer carnation” rose for its clove scent. Choose it for a rose that stays small and blooms its head off all summer long.

‘Miranda Lambert’

	botanical name Rosa ‘TEXmirlam’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 3’ – 5’
	hardiness zones 6-9

I usually steer clear of the exposition-favorite hybrid teas. They’re the fussiest family of roses. But I’m thinking of making an exception for the unexpectedly tough and pretty ‘Miranda Lambert,’ whose huge fuschia blooms look good all season.

This rose has an intense sweet fruity scent and repeat-blooms until frost. Named for the famed country singer, ‘Miranda Lambert’ has all the ingredients of a garden favorite: Large, heavily-scented flowers, ease of care, long vase life, and good health.

‘Miranda’ is small enough for a pot but also looks great in a mixed border with deep purple alliums or salvias. While it works in a range of growing zones, it’s not the best choice for high humidity, where it’s somewhat prone to black spot. If you live in a dry climate, this hybrid tea is a must-have!

‘Julia Child’

	botanical name Rosa ‘WEKvossutono’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 2’– 3’
	hardiness zones 5-10

Here we have another must-have namesake rose, this time in decadent buttery yellow. Approved by chef Julia Child herself, this rose has become a best-seller.

‘Julia Child’ is an All-America Rose Selection winner with proven disease resistance and major bloom power. It’s long-lasting in arrangements and entices with an intense anise perfume.

This compact rose stays under 3 feet, making it easy to fit in a variety of spaces. Nothing would be cheerier in twin entryway pots, but ‘Julia’ is just as striking in the garden, especially when planted with nepeta and ‘Blazing Star’ liatris.

‘White Drift’

	botanical name Rosa ‘MEIzorland’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 1’– 2’
	hardiness zones 4-11

While I get a bit snobby about many popular landscape roses, I can’t help but give in to StarⓇ Roses and Plants Drift series. These low-growing groundcover roses perform in any garden, bloom furiously all summer, and demand nothing but a weekly watering in return.

‘White Drift’ is a beautiful creamy white rose with slight tinges of blush. Each bloom is a little treasure, looking like a perfectly formed double hybrid tea. The shrub is consistently healthy, bushy, and stays under 2 feet. Plant them en masse for a gorgeous blanket of white. It also makes a great neutral rose that can be added to any garden as a base plant.

I love gifting tiny bouquets of these accented by light blue forget-me-nots. I love that each shrub spreads a bit in my garden but is never wild or untidy. If you have limited space or just want healthy plants that never succumb to black spot or powdery mildew, ‘White Drift’ is an excellent choice.

‘Plum Perfect’

	botanical name Rosa ‘KORvodacom’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 3’ – 4’
	hardiness zones 5-9

While “perfect” is usually an exaggeration, this traffic-stopping rose in difficult-to-find rich plummy purple lives up to the hype. A best-selling floribunda, ‘Plum Perfect’ has nothing but stellar reviews.

This variety has a sweet scent and big double blooms. Excellent resistance to black spot and mildew make it a winner in humid climates. While it stars in Korde’s Sunbelt collection for hot summer regions, it does equally well in cooler gardens.

‘Plum Perfect’ will produce nice blooms even in its first year. You’ll want to highlight this one’s eye-catching violet shades by placing it in a prominent location for guests to admire!

‘At Last’

	botanical name Rosa ‘HORcogjill’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 3’– 4’
	hardiness zones 5-9

I just planted some ‘At Last’ roses in front of my house, and I can’t wait for their rich apricot flowers to steal the show! This hardy rose keeps blooming through the growing season, with beautiful sunset-hued ruffly flowers and sweet fruity fragrance.

This is a true easy-care rose with outstanding disease resistance and lots of healthy, dark green foliage. The midsize shrubs look great planted in groups, where you’ll maximize their bloom power. I have mine interplanted with deep purple sedums for contrast.

‘At Last’s’ flowers don’t last long in the vase or on the bush, but there are always more blooms to come. Its canes are a bit spindly and tend to flop a bit, which I don’t mind in my cottage-style garden. If you like a neater look, choose a rose with a more upright habit or ones that gently mound, like those in the Drift series.

‘Distant Drums’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Distant Drums’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 3’– 4’
	hardiness zones 5-10

‘Distant Drums’ is a truly unique wedding bouquet favorite, with unusual tones of pink, copper, lavender, and beige. It has double blooms with elegantly-waved petals and a beautifully sculptured appearance.

One of the famous “Buck Roses,” ‘Drums’ was bred by Griffith Bucks to be a disease-resistant everbloomer that performs beautifully in cold climates. It stands up to heat too, and the blooms fade to an interesting pale lavender under the sun.

‘Distant Drums’ is often spied in high-end florist bouquets where its pretty form, eye-catching color, and anise-myrrh scent take the spotlight. This is a distinctive, tough, and hardy rose deserving of a special spot in the garden.

‘Bolero’

	botanical name Rosa ‘MEIdelweiss’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 3’– 4’
	hardiness zones 5-9

‘Bolero’ is one of the most beloved white roses. Healthy and constantly in bloom, it’s become a top seller for stellar garden performance and dreamy fragrance.

‘Bolero’ has a lavish honey and tropical fruit perfume you’ll want to bring inside! The blooms have rich, creamy centers, light pink stamens, and outer petals in snowy white. The buds begin large and globular and slowly unfurl to reveal flat, frilly flowers.

‘Bolero’ glows in part shade, still producing flowers like a champ. It would look breathtaking in a moon garden. Plant this rose anywhere you can appreciate its scent as it wafts in the breeze.

‘Rosa Mundi’

	botanical name Rosa Gallica ‘Variegata’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 3’– 4’
	hardiness zones 4-8

I know I talk about this rose too much, but it hasn’t persisted for centuries without good reason! One of the earliest known cultivated roses, ‘Rosa Mundi’ is a beautiful gallica variety in the Old Rose Hall of Fame.

This rose bursts into a luscious display of pale pink and magenta-striped blooms for about 6 weeks every spring. Surrounded by intriguing legends, it was named for King Henry II’s mistress Rosamund and had a special spot in Jefferson’s Monticello gardens.

‘Rosa Mundi’ exudes decadent old-world rose perfume. A bouquet of these would make anyone swoon. Best of all, it’s healthy and carefree, laughing at diseases and pests that plague more modern roses. Plant this antique stunner where you have quite a bit of space. It tends to spread into its own thicket via suckers over time.

‘Climbing Prairie Rose’

	botanical name Rosa ‘Setigera’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun-Part Shade
	height 10’– 15’
	hardiness zones 3-9

If you truly want a fuss-free, drought-tolerant, disease-free garden, native plants are the way to go. Perfectly adapted to their climate and conditions, they are naturally unbothered by disease and essential for local fauna. ‘Climbing Prairie Rose’ is a graceful wild rose native to the Central and Eastern United States (Western gardeners should check out the native ‘Nootka’ rose).

When trained vertically, this rose grows up to 15 feet tall, making you feel nestled in the woodlands. It has single open blooms cherished by pollinators. The flowers are bubble gum pink fading to blush, and the foliage has lovely red tones in the fall.

‘Prairie Rose’ blooms for a long period in early to midsummer and does best in full sun. Always prune (if you’d like to maintain a smaller stature) after it flowers to prevent cutting off the current season’s blooms.

‘Fire Meidiland’

	botanical name Rosa ‘MEIupside’
	plant type Perennial
	sun requirements Full Sun
	height 1’ – 2’
	hardiness zones 5-10

If you don’t shy away from color, a garden bed full of bloom-machine ‘Fire Meidiland’ might be for you. This rose is often planted by landscapers for its reliable all-summer-long bloom season and groundcover habit.

‘Fire’ turns any bare area into a jaw-dropping sea of cherry red flowers on low-growing, hardy bushes. The bountiful blooms are small and faintly scalloped.

‘Fire Meidiland’ is tough as nails- gardeners report it springing back to life after being mowed over! If you want to plant your rose and forget it, you can’t go wrong here. Give it room to spread out to 4-5 feet wide, and spend the season admiring this rose that just won’t quit. Perfect for gardens with hot, punishing afternoon sun!