The Perfect Fit:

Roses in the

Vineyard Garden

With so many breathtaking varieties available, how do you choose the right rose for your landscape? Whether you are looking to cover a classic picket fence, fill a sunny border, or plant a low-maintenance native, Vineyard Gardens is here to help you select the perfect match for your property.

Here is a breakdown of the primary rose categories and a sampling of the beautiful varieties we are carrying at the nursery this season.

David Austin Roses photo by keith kurman

CLIMBING ROSES

Climbing roses are spectacular for adding vertical color to fences, arbors, or trellises. You can easily train these vigorous growers to climb in any direction by gently tying the canes as they grow.

New Dawn: One of the most popular climbing roses. Its pale pink blooms offer the iconic look famously seen draping over the white fences of Edgartown.
Zephirine Drouhin: A stunning, thornless climber featuring deep rose-pink flowers and a strong, fruity fragrance. Great for training over high-traffic walkways, arches, seating areas, or doorways where you won't have to worry about anyone getting snagged.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (David Austin): A compact climber producing striking crimson-red blooms with a medium, classic Old Rose fragrance.
Bathsheba (David Austin): An elegant climber sporting apricot-toned flowers and a unique, beautiful scent.

Climbing New Dawn Rose (David Austin Roses)

SHRUB ROSES

Shrub roses are upright, bushy plants that offer incredible versatility. They are perfect for hedges, mixed garden beds, or stand-alone focal points.

Classic & Native Shrub Favorites

Knock Out® Roses: Famous for a reason! These are exceptional, continuous repeat-bloomers that flower much longer than traditional rose bushes. They maintain a tidy, mounded shape when pruned correctly (note: they do not climb).
Rosa palustris (Swamp Rose): A fantastic native, multi-branched shrub boasting intensely fragrant pink blooms and fleshy red rose hips. This plant is a true ecological powerhouse; as a keystone wetland species, it prevents soil erosion while supporting an incredible diversity of wildlife. It serves as a vital larval host for multiple native moths, provides safe, dense nesting sites for songbirds, and offers a critical food source for native bees, butterflies, and birds.
Julia Child: Features warm, pale yellow flowers paired with a delicious licorice and clove scent.
Seafoam: A low, sprawling shrub covered in creamy white blooms with a light, delicate fragrance.
Blanc Double de Coubert: A rugged rugosa hybrid known for its intensely fragrant, pure white double blooms.

David Austin Shrub Roses:

David Austin varieties are world-renowned for combining the romantic, multi-petaled double flowers of Old Roses with the disease resistance and repeat-blooming power of modern varieties.

Vanessa Bell: Soft, pale yellow flowers with a fragrance reminiscent of green tea. Forms a bushy, upright shrub (4’ x 3’).
Desdemona: Beautiful white blooms flushed with a pinkish hue. Features a complex Old Rose fragrance with hints of almond blossom, cucumber, and lemon zest.
Gertrude Jekyll: A large shrub with bright pink blooms and a quintessential, rich Old Rose scent.
Olivia Rose Austin: A well-balanced medium shrub with soft, mid-pink flowers and a delightful, fruity fragrance.
The Fairy: A charming, smaller shrub that stays compact, producing clusters of light pink flowers with a mild scent.

GROUND COVER ROSES

These low-growing, sprawling varieties are ideal for the front of garden borders, slopes, or erosion control. They thrive in full sun and add a vibrant carpet of color.

Rosa rugosa (Beach Rose): Our naturalized beach rose is hands-down the most salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant rose around. Perfect for coastal Island landscapes.

MINIATURE & CONTAINER ROSES

Do you dream of growing roses but have limited garden space? We’ve brought in a few different varieties of dwarf roses to give you the opportunity to grow these great cut flowers right on your patio or deck!

ROSE CARE

To get the absolute most out of your roses, keep these three golden rules in mind: Roses love full sun, well-drained soil, and plenty of organic nutrients!

Feed Them Now: Spring is the perfect time to apply a high-quality fertilizer to kickstart the blooming season. We highly recommend Espoma Plant-tone or Rose-tone for organic, steady feeding.
Mind the Drainage: Whether planting in a garden bed or a large patio container, ensure the roots never sit in waterlogged soil.

Looking for something different? We’ve only scratched the surface of the incredible rose varieties we carry. Stop by Vineyard Gardens, and our team will help you find the perfect rose to elevate your home landscape!

PLANT PROFILE: PEONIES

MAY GARDEN TIPS

AUTUMN GARDEN

by Keith Kurman / Updated by Patrick Best

Martha’s Vineyard has long, warm falls that can often linger into December, allowing the ambitious year-round gardener to extend the traditional summer bloom season by months. With insightful planning, you, too, can engineer a full and floriferous garden from early spring straight through the first frost and beyond. Indeed, as the climate continues to warm, the Vineyard gardener need only suffer a few weeks in the dead of winter without something in bloom. However, a garden like this takes careful planning. Some plants don’t begin flowering until September or later, so space must be provisioned such that they may perform to their fullest potential that late in the growing season, when other plants are competing for space. Yielding space in the middle and back of your borders can allow late-blooming perennials to lend texture and substance alongside earlier flowering annuals and bulbs and space to grow into gaps left vacant by the late spring perennial displays. Take this space allocation into consideration when planning your garden beds. Distribute your late flowering plants evenly through the border and stagger height and depth, allowing space for earlier flowers.

Autumn tones in the display gardens at Vineyard Gardens

Challenges With Late-Blooming Plants:

1. STAKING or HEADING BACK: Chrysanthemums (hardy mums), Asters, Phlox paniculata (garden phlox), Nipponanthemum nipponicum (Montauk daisy), and other late-season perennials need pinching back before early July. The extent to which this is done can vary from a conservative tip-out to a more drastic cutting back by one-third to one-half. The Anglophiles among us may know this as the “Chelsea Chop,” in reference to the Chelsea Flower Show, which is held in late spring each year. It’s important to provide support for some of the tall growing perennials early in the season to allow them to grow into your staking system. Bamboo stakes and jute twine are probably the most straightforward approach, but peony hoops and tomato cages can be very effective as well. Staking may seem a little fussy and early in the season, but you’ll be glad you did when the late season storms return.

2. DROUGHT: Irrigation requires constant monitoring, and gardens often require supplemental water during long dry spells, as we had this August. Over the course of the gardening year, any number of things can happen to disturb a basic irrigation system: from root blockage to punctured lines.

3. HERBIVORY: Across the island, it seems that few gardeners are safe from the animals who would make your garden their dinner. From deer to rabbits and chipmunks to avians, there is no shortage of hungry animals as wild habitats are consumed by new development. Regular applications of Bobbex can help dissuade deer from browsing your plants, but I have heard many reports that rabbits are unfazed by the stench and continue munching. For bunny damage, I recommend hot pepper wax (capsaicin), available as a spray and applied regularly to lower growing plants. In areas where repellants fall short, physical barriers such as caging and fencing are the best options. Sorry, up-islanders, I’m talking to you.

4. CATEPILLARS (and other insects): Many native plants play host to the caterpillar larvae of some fantastic moths and butterflies. Considering this, I always recommend doing some research before impulsively reaching for insecticide. If the damage isn’t widespread, I urge you to accept this as a sign that your garden is a part of the wider ecosystem, which is surely something to celebrate! If treatment is necessary, organic options such as Safer Soap, Neem Oil, Pyrethrum, or Bt are best.

Lespedeza thunbergii and Pycnanthemum (Mountain Mint) at Polly Hill Arboretum — Lespedeza thunbergii (bush clover) and Pycnanthemum muticum (mountain mint) at Polly Hill Arboretum

September Border with Crepe Myrtles, Vitex, Rudbeckia and Hibiscus — September border with Crape Myrtles, Vitex, and Rudbeckia

PLANTS THAT ARE LOOKING FANTASTIC IN THE GARDENS RIGHT NOW

PERENNIALS:

Asters, Eupatorium/Eutrochium (Boneset/Joe Pie Weed, both lovely natives), Vernonia (Ironweed), Chrysanthemum/Dendranthema (Hardy Mum), Agastashe (Anise Hyssop), Phlox, Anemone, Tricyrtis (Toad Lilies), Late-Blooming Hostas, Helianthus (Perennial Sunflowers), Hibiscus moscheutos (Rose Mallow), Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan and relatives), Kirengeshoma palmata (Yellow Wax Bells), Aconitum (Monkshood), Chelone (Turtlehead), Patrinia scabiosifolia, Pycnanthemum (Mountain Mint), Physostegia (not-so Obedient Plant), Solidago (Goldenrod), Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Hardy Plumbago), Garden Sage (Salvia glabrescens, Salvia koyamae, Salvia uliginosa), Hardy Plectranthus/Rabdosia species, Dicentra ‘White Diamonds’ and ‘Bacchanal’ (Everblooming Bleeding Hearts), Geranium (Cranesbill), Eucomis (Pineapple Lily), Nipponanthemum (Montauk Daisy), Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia), Persicaria, Colchicum (Fall Crocus), some Sedum, Caryopteris divaricata

Autumn Crocus, Colchicum ‘Waterlily’

Rudbeckia hirta, self-seeding annual

Hardy Mum, Chrysanthemum ‘Clara Curtis’

Kirengeshoma palmata, Dryopteris marginalis

New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)

Patrinia scabiosifolia

Ginger Lily (Hedychium gardinerianum)

Japanese Anemone and Impatiens balfourii

ANNUALS:

Tropical Salvias (Salvia guaranitaca, Salvia leucantha, etc), Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Cosmos, Marigolds, Rudbeckia hirta, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), Arctotis, Petunias, Celosia, Browallia, Ricinus, Coleus, Hedychium (Ginger Lilies)… and oh so many more!

Coleus and Tithonia "Torch" — Coleus and Tithonia ‘Torch’

Dahlias and Salvia gaurinitica "Black and Blue" — Dahlias with Salvia guaranitaca ‘Black and Blue’

FLOWERING SHRUBS:

Hydrangea paniculata (Panicle Hydrangea), Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) and Spirea (if dead- headed throughout the season), Caryopteris x clandonensis (Bluebeard), Lespedeza thunbergii (Bush Clover), Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtle), Vitex (Chastetree), Abelia x grandiflora, Fall-Blooming Camellias (like ‘Winter’s Snowman’), some Illicium (a highly deer-resistant evergreen for shade, look for ‘Orion’), Mahonia x media (‘Winter Sun’, ‘Charity’, and ‘Arthur Menzies’ are common), some Daphne (Daphne x transatlantica blooms through November), Hibiscus syriaca (Rose of Sharon), Hamamelis virginiana (native witch hazel blooms fragrant yellow flowers)

A yellow-leafed selection of Bluebeard or Caryopteris x clandonensis "Aurea" — A yellow-leafed selection of Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Aurea’)

late season spent flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla — The fading flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla add moodiness to the garden

Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora "Tardiva" and (front) Hydrangea "Annabelle" — Hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’ with Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ in the foreground

PLANTS for FOLIAGE:

Fothergilla (bottlebrush), Itea virginica (sweetspire), Clethra (sweet pepperbush) Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper), Rhus sp. (sumac), Hamamelis/Parrotia (witch hazel family), Grasses (Hakonechloa, Panicum, Schizachryium, Andropogon, Carex, Calamagrostis, Pennisetum, etc.), Ferns (Dryopteris, Athyrium, Osmunda, Onoclea, Polystichum, Dennstaedtia, etc.), Nyssa (tupelo), Acer (maples), Lindera benzoin (spicebush)

Viburnum dilatatum "Michael Dodge" and Virginia Creeper — Viburnum dilatatum ‘Michael Dodge’ and Virginia Creeper

Quaking Oat Grass Chasmanthium latifolium — Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

PLANTS for FRUIT:

Viburnum, Ilex (winterberry and hollies), Callicarpa (beautyberry), Roses, Crabapples

miniature Roses will continue flowering well past first frost — Tea roses will continue flowering well past first frost

Beauty Berry (Callicarpa dichotoma) — Japanese Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma)

These lists are just a starting point and there are so many more wonderful plants to choose from. Fall is a great time to plant and many of the plants listed above are available for sale at the nursery, including many specialty plants. Come explore the late bloomers and extend your garden’s bloom season today!