More about the Sweet Drift Rose...

The Sweet Drift produces clusters of old-fashioned looking clear pink double flowers that seem to float atop it's dark green glossy foliage. It is the most double-flowered of all the Drift Roses and fits in very nicely around older home places and in cottage garden settings. Abundant and continuous flowering in addition to exceptional disease resistance makes the Sweet Drift a perfect choice for use along pathways, hillsides or at the front of a border.

The new family of Drift Roses are comparable to the family of Knock Out Roses in disease resistance and low-maintenance, however are much smaller in size. They get their small size from being a cross between full-size groundcover roses and miniature roses. From the former they kept toughness, disease resistance and winter hardiness. From the miniatures, they inherited their well-managed size and repeat-blooming nature.

The first colors introduced in the Drift series were Coral, Pink, Red, and Peach. But, now, Apricot (apricot shades, double blooms), Sweet (light pink, double blooms) and Icy (pure white, double blooms) have joined the family.

We've found that Drift roses have about five flower cycles yearly. The spring bloom in April and the fall bloom in October are the heaviest with sporadic lighter flowering between.

Drift Roses are perfect in small gardens, splashing your landscapes with visual delight. Their smaller habit makes them perfect for use in containers or as a border or in small groups in garden and landscape beds.

Planting & Care Tips...

When it comes to growing and caring for Drift Roses, bed preparation, irrigation and proper fertilization and pruning are the only keys to success. Full sun is best and at least 8 hours of sunlight is recommended. Morning sun is a must to dry dew from the leaves. We've seen powdery mildew appear on roses planted in morning shade.

PLANTING
Plant Drift Roses in well-prepared landscape beds that provide good drainage and a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 (mildly acidic). If your soil is heavy clay amend with a soil conditioner or compost.

We recommend spacing the plants a minimum of 3 feet apart, a distance in which they will eventually grow together to form a patch. If you would rather they be separated over the long term, plant them 5 to 6 feet apart, or more.

FEEDING
Fertilize Drift Roses with a slow- or timed-release fertilizer in spring for season-long feeding or with a mild, natural plant food in early spring, when new growth begins to emerge, and then after every flush of blooms throughout the season. Cease fertilization about two months before the first frost date.

Mulching your Drift roses keeps the feeder roots from drying out and helps to establish the roots more quickly. And you water less. Shredded wood mulch or pine straw are excellent mulches for roses.

PRUNING
Pruning Drift Roses is easy. Simply cut the plants back to about 6 inches above the ground in late winter, before new growth has begun to emerge. If you want, to keep plants tidy, you can remove spent flowers after each bloom cycle during the blooming season.

PROBLEMS
Drift Roses are highly disease-resistant so require no spraying. Blackspot and powdery mildew disease has been very minimal when planted where they will receive the morning sun.

In our gardens here in mid-Georgia these hardy groundcover roses have demonstrated themselves to be true, low-spreading, dwarf shrub roses. They have averaged 2-3 feet tall by 2-3 feet wide, some being a little smaller or larger, and are covered with blooms in spring and fall and sporadically between.