Having bought a beautiful pot with a profusely flowering rose bush as a gift for a friend, I read on the label: “patio rose”. What's a patio? Looking through the rose guide, here's what I found.
Patio rose: history of occurrence
The epoch-making procession through gardens and flowerbeds around the world roses of this group began in the 80s of the twentieth century. With their appearance, they should be grateful to the Irish breeder Patrick Dixon, who created a whole series of undersized (from 30 to 55 cm), bushy varieties that bloom profusely with medium-sized flowers (3-5 cm). Their flowers can be simple, medium and strong double. A wide variability in the color of roses is represented by the entire gamut inherent in the Rosaceae family - from pure white to maroon, almost black. There are variegated varieties that combine two cardinal colors, such as white and red, burgundy and yellow.
At one time, Dixon proposed to officially introduce a separate branch into the classification of varietal categories - the patio rose. The name of this group was not chosen by chance. First, when planted in garden pots, these roses are the perfect decoration for small paved patios. Secondly, the name of the group immortalized the memory of its creator - Pat Dixon. HoweverThe International Center for the Registration of Varieties denied Dixon the official registration of this category of roses, highlighting it as one of the subgroups of floribunda (abundantly flowering). It wasn't until several years in a row that the patio group's low-growing, profusely flowering varieties won the prestigious British Royal National Rose Society Rose of the Year award that the patio rose was officially registered as a group in its own right.
Containment conditions
The Dutch-bred patio roses that are widely sold in stores very often do not take root in our city apartments. The fact is that these are garden flowers, they need to be grown on the street. The room climate with its low humidity, lack of wind ventilation, morning or evening dew, difference between day and night temperatures, lack of rain is not suitable for these roses. After purchase, they should be planted in a flower bed as soon as possible or transplanted into a garden pot. If this is not possible, the rose must be transplanted from the transport peat into normal soil (the land sold in stores for indoor plants is suitable), the pot with the plant must be placed in a cool room, after cutting off all the flowers and buds. It is even better to put a rose in a greenhouse - under a jar or a plastic bag. In this state, it will be possible to save it until the moment of landing in the garden. Due to the high humidity created by the greenhouse, it will not be damaged by the spider mite, which often affects these roses indoors.
In the gardenroses of this group begin to bloom in June and bloom profusely until frost. Of course, these flowers are best suited for the conditions of areas not colder than a temperate climate, where winter temperatures do not fall below -20-25 ° C. The patio rose is frost-resistant, and in conditions of mild winters and heavy snowfall, it can not even be covered. Where winters are harsh, with little snow (areas with a sharply continental climate), these roses, however, like all others, must be stored in a basement with atemperature of at least 12-15 ° C.
Rose patio mix and hit: what's the difference?
I did not find specific information about what is meant by the words "hit" and "mix". From some personal experience, I can assume that the position "patio hit rose" represents one of the most popular varieties in industrial breeding. Usually, the specific name of the variety is not indicated with this designation. And "rose patio mix" is just a trade mark. In it, the word "mix" implies that the color of a particular bush is not defined and can be any. Flowers often found on sale are labeled "patio hit mix rose": it is understood that the available variety belongs to industrial selection and the color of this plant is not specifically defined.
