The Perfect Cottage Garden Rose: 'Phyllis Bide'

"It's a traffic stopper!" says landscape designer Lynn Robinson of the spectacular 'Phyllis Bide' rose cloaking the entry arbor of her Santa Cruz cottage. Each spring, clusters of dainty apricot-to-cream blooms open along the canes until the arbor is engulfed in a cloud of roses.

Robinson sought out this rose after seeing it in a local garden. It's colorful, disease-resistant, and blooms all season—even into December in her mild climate. Its casual, blowsy look as flowers age makes it perfect for a cottage garden, though less suited to formal designs. The 10- to 12-foot climber is easy to maintain: Robinson simply shears it to the arbor's shape in winter. Her fertilizer regimen is equally simple—an organic mix (alfalfa meal, compost, epsom salts) in late winter, followed by a water-soluble feed after the first spring flush.

Since planting 'Phyllis Bide' seven years ago, Robinson has made many friends who stop to admire it. "I usually come out and say hi, because I know they want to know its name." 'Phyllis Bide' is available from Michael's Premier Roses.