Beautiful Bonica, my Favorite Rose Bush

Image courtesy of Ruston Roses .comBonica is a beautiful low-maintenance rose and a prolific bloomer. It flowers from June until the first frost, in zones 3 to 9, and grows to a height of 3 feet. When in bloom, this rose bush is covered in masses of cluster sprays of clear pink dainty blooms. It looks like a pink fireworks display, frozen in time.

This is a tough plant with a very subtle scent of apple. It will tolerate cold winters and very hot summers. I grow it in zone 5a without winter protection. By accident I discovered that Bonica flowers quite well on old stems. One season I neglected to trim the branches for winter and the following June it blossomed into a huge arching shrub, exploding with pink mini roses that spanned 4 feet at the top.

Like most hardy easy care shrub roses, this plant demands full sun, moisture, nourishment and dead heading for continuous blooming. I feed it slow release fertilizer and Epsom salts in early spring and early summer. Ironically, it was difficult finding a web photo that did this rose justice. Try growing it and you will understand why it’s so popular with gardeners.