Best Roses for Maryland

Black spot on the lower leaves often appears once Maryland summers turn humid, while a hard winter can leave dead canes. The roses that last here pair leaf-disease resistance for the muggy months with enough hardiness for the cold ones.

Best Roses to Grow in Maryland

Roses that last in Maryland pair resistance to black spot, which thrives in humid summers, with enough hardiness for winters that run from zone 5b to 8a in the USDA system. Where you garden in the state decides whether winter hardiness or disease resistance matters more.

Knock Out Roses

Most landscape roses grown in Maryland are Knock Out cultivars, because they are highly resistant to black spot, a disease that used to be very common here. If you want a rose that shrugs off the leaf disease of a humid summer, start with this group.

Old Garden Roses

Many old garden roses are extremely tolerant of cold, while hybrid teas can suffer considerable damage. They also do without hard pruning, which would ruin their graceful shape and cut their flowering. Once-blooming types flower on last year’s wood, so prune them right after they bloom, never in early spring.

Cold-Hardy Cultivars

A cultivar bred for colder winters generally needs less added protection in a milder garden. That is good news for much of Maryland, where a hardy-bred rose can stand through winter on its own. Check the hardiness rating on the tag against your own zone.

Own-Root Roses

Own-root roses grow from cuttings rather than being grafted onto a different rootstalk. Depending on their hardiness compared with your zone, they may still need winter protection. If the canes die back, new ones will often emerge from the deep roots.

Maryland Native Roses

The most widespread native species are swamp rose (Rosa palustris), Carolina rose (Rosa carolina) and Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana), all non-climbing shrubs. One native climber, Rosa setigera, scrambles into taller plants. Most roses in Maryland carry pink flowers.

Modern Roses

Aside from wild roses and heirlooms, home gardeners usually choose among hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, shrub roses and miniatures. Hundreds of cultivars exist and they vary in susceptibility to disease, so seek out disease-resistant varieties before you buy.

How to Choose a Rose for a Maryland Garden

Start with the problem your yard poses, since winter cold and summer humidity pull the choice in different directions. A rose that handles one can still fail at the other.

Then read the plant tag for a hardiness rating that matches your zone and any mention of disease resistance.

Miniature and shrub roses sit among the modern types gardeners choose, but the same rule applies to them as to any modern rose: pick a disease-resistant variety first.

Which Roses Suit Different Parts of Maryland

Maryland spans mountains, a central corridor and a low coastal plain, and each pushes the choice a different way.

• Garrett and Allegany counties: The mountains run weeks later in spring and colder in winter. Lean on old garden roses and cold-hardy cultivars, and prune repeat bloomers once the buds swell, which comes later than elsewhere.
• Around Baltimore: The last spring freeze arrives between April 3 and April 16, so tender new growth can still be caught. Disease-resistant shrub roses suit the humid summers, and hybrid teas do better with some winter protection.
• The Eastern Shore: Milder winters leave more room for less hardy types, though the damp air still favors varieties with black spot resistance.

Whichever part you garden in, the hardiness rating and disease resistance on the tag matter more than the label on the pot.

Rose Buying Mistakes to Avoid in Maryland

Hybrid Teas in Exposed Spots

Hybrid teas can suffer considerable cold damage, and an open, windy bed makes it worse. The cost is canes that die back and a plant that spends the season rebuilding. Choose an old garden rose or a hardier cultivar for exposed sites, or tuck a hybrid tea into a sheltered corner.

Disease-Prone Varieties

Hundreds of cultivars exist and they vary in their susceptibility to disease, so a pretty bloom can hide a leaf-spotting plant. Black spot in a humid summer means yellowing, dropping leaves and a weaker rose. Seek out disease-resistant varieties, such as the Knock Out cultivars that landscapes in the state rely on.

Buying Without Checking the Roots

Whether a rose is grafted or grown on its own roots changes what happens after a hard winter. Own-root roses often send up new canes from the roots when the old ones die back, though they may still need protection if their hardiness falls short of your zone. Ask which kind you are buying.

Where to Get Rose Advice in Maryland

University of Maryland Extension publishes guides on rose problems and pruning, and its county offices can speak to the conditions where you live.

• The extension website is the place to check a variety’s disease reputation before you shop, ideally in winter when catalogs arrive.
• Your county extension office can help identify a spotted leaf or a failing cane, so bring a sample when symptoms first show.

Common Questions

When Should You Prune Roses in Maryland?

Repeat-blooming roses such as hybrid teas, floribundas and modern shrub roses are pruned in March, and it can also be done in February or April. Watch the buds: when the forsythia blooms and the buds swell, the time has come.

Can You Plant Bare-Root Roses in Maryland in Spring?

Yes. March and April are the months for bare-root roses, and it can also be done in February. Potted roses can go in later.

When Should You Feed Roses in Maryland?

Feeding runs from April through August, and it can start in March once the first leaves appear.