Easy Elegance Roses are low maintenance, disease and insect resistant shrub roses that bloom all season long. They are own root roses, adding to their hardy nature. An excellent choice for beginning gardeners, these roses are as close to plant it and forget as possible.
The Easy Elegance Series of roses are as easy to care for as flowering shrubs. Follow standard planting practices for shrub roses and feed once a year in very early spring with a slow release fertilizer. There is no need for a chemical regimen to control pests and disease. The collection was bred by Bailey Nurseries and is a perfect northern rose with blooms that rival grafted tea roses.
‘All the Rage’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 3-4’
- Spread: 3-4’
- Growth Habit: Compact, rounded
- Bloom Color: Apricot blend
- Flower Form: Semi double
- Flower Size: Large, 3-4”
- Petal Count: 10-12
- Bloom Season: Everblooming
- Fragrance: None
- Stem:
- Foliage: Medium green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 4-9
Coral buds open to apricot blooms blended with yellow and yellow centers. The blooms mature to pink. The shrub is self cleaning, spent blooms drop cleanly. Since new blooms are constantly opening, there is always a lovely range of color. The shrub itself has a neat rounded form, making it an excellent specimen plant. Make sure ‘All the Rage’ recieves an inch of water a week. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Golden Eye’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-3’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit: Compact
- Bloom Color: Reddish Orange
- Flower Form: Single
- Flower Size: 2”
- Petal Count: 7-10
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage: Deep Green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 4-9
‘Golden Eye’s’ vivid blooms are a bright reddish orange with a brilliant goldent eye. Blooms are born in numerous clusters. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Grandma’s Blessing’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-3’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit: Vase shaped
- Bloom Color: Medium Pink
- Flower Form: Classic tea form
- Flower Size: 2”
- Petal Count: 32
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage: Deep Green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
‘Grandma’s Blessing’ blooms resemble classic tea rose blooms with full blossoms. This stunning rose is Grandma Bailey’s rose! The petal color stays rich all summer. Creates an elegant blooming hedge. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Kashmir’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 3-4’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit:
- Bloom Color: Dark red
- Flower Form: Classic tea
- Flower Size: 3”
- Petal Count: 50
- Bloom Season: Everblooming
- Fragrance: Fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage:
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 4-9
‘Kashmir’s’ buds are a very dark red that open to a rich red with a classic hybrid tea bloom form. New growth shows touches of red and the shrub retains an even compact shape. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Kiss Me’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-3’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit:
- Bloom Color: Pink blend
- Flower Form: Double
- Flower Size: Large, 4”
- Petal Count: 20-25
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage:
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
‘Kiss Me’ blooms retain a rich color and blooms all season long. The large blooms are born in clusters. It resembles the look of old English roses. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Last Tango’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-4’
- Spread: 3-4’
- Growth Habit: Compact
- Bloom Color: Medium red
- Flower Form: Double
- Flower Size: Medium, 2 1/2” - 3”
- Petal Count: 20-30
- Bloom Season: Everblooming
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage: Deep Green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
Hybrid tea like blooms with ruffled petals appear all season long. The very full blooms make excellent cut flowers. Excellent as an accent plant and for borders. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Protect from wind in winter. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Little Mischief’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-3’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit: Compact
- Bloom Color: Deep Pink
- Flower Form: Doulbe
- Flower Size: 1”
- Petal Count: 10
- Bloom Season: Everblooming
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage: Glossy medium green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 4-9
‘Little Mischief’ is covered with tiny deep pink blooms with white eyes. As the blooms mature they fade to a lighter pink. This little shrub rose will remind you of ‘The Fairy’ but with deep pink blooms. This is an ideal container plant, but also is an excellent choice for borders or hedge plants. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Tahitian Moon’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full Sun
- Height: 2-8’
- Spread:
- Growth Habit:
- Bloom Color: Light yellow
- Flower Form: Very full double
- Flower Size: Medium 2”
- Petal Count: 95-115
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage: Dark glossy green
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
Soft yellow blooms are born in clusters all season long. The blooms open fully revealing a very large number of petals. In warmer climates, ‘Tahitian Moon’ will grow tall and perform as a climbing rose or a large shrub. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Yellow Brick Road’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-3’
- Spread: 3-4’
- Growth Habit: Compact, rounded
- Bloom Color: Deep yellow
- Flower Form:
- Flower Size: 2-3”
- Petal Count: 38
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage:
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
Clusters of old fashioned rose blooms in lemon yellow cover ‘Yellow Brick Road’ all season. The outer petals tend to be a shade lighter and blooms mature to a creamy butter color. The full blooms are excellent for cut flowers. The nicely rounded shrub makes a nice specimen or border plant, as well as a lovely low hedge. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. ‘Yellow Brick Road’ will benefit from winter protection with straw or mulch. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
‘Yellow Submarine’ Easy Elegance
- Class: Shrub rose
- Sun: Full sun
- Height: 2-4’
- Spread: 2-3
- Growth Habit: Narrow, upright
- Bloom Color: Medium yellow
- Flower Form: Full double
- Flower Size: Medium 2”
- Petal Count: 32
- Bloom Season: Recurrent
- Fragrance: Very fragrant
- Stem:
- Foliage:
- Disease Resistance: Excellent pest and disease resistance
- Soil: Prefers enriched well drained, adapts quite readily to poorer soils
- Hardiness: zones 5-9
‘Yellow Submarine’ blooms in clusters of bright lemony yellow. As the blooms mature the soften to a light yellow, and finish white. The continuous blooming displays blooms in a range of colors all season. The upright habit makes it a great plant in a shrub border or at the back of a perennial border. Adapts readily to most conditions. Feed once in early spring with a slow release fertilizer. Will not sucker. Protect from wind in winter. If mulched heavily for winter ‘Yellow Submarine’ should be crown hardy in zone 4. Stop deadheading mid season to produce bright orange hips.
Caring for and Pruning Easy Elegance Roses
The care and pruning of many of the hardy shrub roses is virtually the same, but Easy Elegance roses are perhaps the easiest. Like a flowering shrub, they are about as close to plant it and forget it as you can get. The key is in the planting.
First, select a planting site that will give your roses plenty of sun. Six hours is minimum, and as much as all day sun is important in cold climates. Protect your roses from wind if possible, but still allow for good air circulation. Do not plant closer than 2 feet from a foundation or closer than 2 feet apart; crowded roses may not get enough light and air.
Easy Elegance roses have an expansive root system. If you allow plenty of space in well tilled and amended soil, the roots will be strong and healthy to maintain a hearty rose bush. Adding organic matter to soil that is clay OR sandy improves its structure, allowing root expansion in clay and water and nutrient retention in sand, and provides needed nutrients. Amend your soil with leaf compost, peat moss, composted manure or homemade compost. See Soil Amendments for complete information about improving your soil.
To plant your Easy Elegance rose, dig a hole at least one and a half times as wide as the root ball and at least as deep. You cannot dig a hole too big if your soil is clay or needs amending. Do not take shortcuts when planting roses; see complete information for planting a rose. Adjust the bottom of the hole by adding back amended soil until the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding soil. Fill around the roots with the amended soil and tamp firmly with your hands (do not “step” the soil down or it will get too compacted). Water thoroughly, add soil if it settles, and water again. Mulch generously, about 2 or 3 inches deep, at least 2 feet all the way around, but not immediately around the stem of the rose.
In the first couple of years your Easy Elegance rose will need plenty of water to produce abundant large blooms, flower all season and retain excellent color and fragrance. Well amended soil will retain sufficient water and allow the excess to drain; if your hole was not deep enough in clay soil, the roots will sit in water that cannot drain away and will “drown”. Water thoroughly and deeply once a week. Less frequent soakings are much more beneficial than frequent light sprinklings. Water in the morning so the leaves have the day to dry out, helping to prevent disease, or use a soaker hose or trickle from the garden hose directly into the ground so the leaves don’t get wet at all. As autumn approaches your plant will begin to prepare for dormancy and will need less water. Once established, Easy Elegance becomes quite drought tolerant.
Easy Elegance roses do not need frequent feeding. At planting, soil amendments such as organic compost or composted manure will provide enough nutrients for the first season. Then each spring when buds are produced, apply an all purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer to the soil around the plant. An additional feeding in late June may be applied if you feel you must, but do not overfeed! More is NOT better.
Pruning your Easy Elegance couldn’t be easier. In the first year you should not need to prune at all, other than removing damaged or dead wood as soon as you notice it. Once the rose is established, prune in very early spring. Remove any dead or damaged canes, and any canes that are crossed or growing inward, to keep the center of the plant open for good air circulation. If you like, cut the oldest canes down by about one third to encourage new growth and more blooming. Deadhead spent blooms with a pruner to encourage reblooming; if you stop deadheading by about midsummer, the rose will produce colorful orange hips for winter interest.
Each year, refresh the mulch around your rose. In the coldest climates, mulch added in late autumn about the time the ground is freezing keeps the soil temperature more constant. Repeated freezing and thawing may not bother this hardy rose, but it can heave a root ball up out of the ground. In more moderate climates remove the mulch in late autumn to prevent disease, and replace it in May when the ground begins to warm up. Fresh mulch keeps the soil cool and moist in summer, prevents soil splash when watering, and inhibits weeds. Use an organic mulch of shredded leaves, bark, wood chips or cocoa bean hulls. Rocks tend to heat up in summer and transfer the heat to roots, and excessive heat can stunt growth.
Enjoy your roses! Easy Elegance makes an excellent cut flower that will brighten your home with wonderful fragrance. The blooms last longest if you cut them when the buds are just beginning to open. Cut early in the morning to cause the least stress to the blooms, or get them into water as quickly as you can. Fully opened blossoms can be cut to “sprinkle” petals for a luncheon table or centerpiece, or collected for potpourri. If you have allowed hips to form at the end of the season, cut them for fall arrangements.