CAREFREE WONDER

For the newcomer or experienced rose gardener, Carefree Wonder is a rose that will both delight and amaze.  Last season I bought four of these extremely floriferous bushes which bloomed repeatedly without fail until the first cold snap.  Words that come to mind to describe this Meilland shrub rose would be: dependable, reliable, extremely healthy, vigorous and hard working!  The medium sized flowers of this rose are born in clusters of double blooms with about 25 – 30 petals that have a light fragrance.  In fact, the bush is usually covered with blooms which provides a very rich display of color and makes the bush an excellent landscape plant.  In groups, the pink mass of color from a distance is striking but even a single bush lights up an area with its profusion of large bright pink blooms, which upon closer inspection have a white eye and a paler white-pink reverse.  This is a large plant that can grow anywhere from 4 to 6 feet depending on the climate, but it remains bushy and compact in shape and therefore makes a very good hedging plant. Carefree Wonder has excellent disease resistance with bright green leaves and is very winter hardy, thriving in zones 3-9.  It was introduced in 1990 and has a rating of 8.0 by the ARS.  Another positive aspect of this rose is that it produces colorful hips in the fall.