‘Marie Daly Rose’ the latest rose to be named a Texas Superstar
Flowering shrub has successive flushes of bloom from spring to frost
An easy-to-care-for polyantha rose, ‘Marie Daly’ is the latest rose to be named a Texas Superstar.
“Marie Daly is our best dwarf landscape rose, and when fully grown it’s 3 feet high and 3 feet wide and has few thorns,” said Dr. Steve George, Texas Cooperative Extension horticulturist at Texas A&M Dallas. “It has beautiful semi-double pink blossoms with rich green foliage and is very fragrant.”
The flowering shrub, which is very easy to grow, has successive flushes of bloom from spring to frost. It is winter hardy throughout Texas and should be planted in day-long full sun where it can get good air movement over the leaves. Fall is an excellent time to plant roses.
“Even if you are new to gardening, you can be very successful with this rose,” said George. “If you have tried miniature roses and had difficulty with them, then you will be pleased with Marie Daly because it is much less prone to pest problems than are most miniature rose plants. Marie Daly will almost never have to be sprayed with harsh pesticides. We’ve grown this plant for years and we have never sprayed it.”
Marie Daly is a new variety of Marie Pavie, an old garden rose which dates back to 1888. Marie Pavie is a superb polyantha rose with white blossoms, George said. The only difference between the two is Marie Daly’s distinctly pink color.
“I’m really impressed with roses that have been popular for over a century. Marie Daly is genetically very similar to Marie Pavie, but in a wonderful new color,” said George.
“I feel much more comfortable with roses that have been on the market a long time because the odds of a serious new problem cropping up are very remote. I do not have this level of comfort with roses that have only been on the market for a couple of years.”
Marie Daly is an outstanding performer in almost any soil type, both acid and even highly alkaline clays and possesses good disease tolerance and resistance to insects, he said.
“This is our best rose for growing in a large container on a sunny patio,” said George. “Polyanthas produce small flowers in large clusters and are primarily used in containers and for mass plantings or borders.”
Marie Daly is also being designated as EarthKind?. George explained that Extension’s EarthKind designation is given only to thoroughly tested plant materials which help create beautiful, productive landscapes that require minimum maintenance while providing maximum environmental protection.
The Texas Superstar effort is “one of Texas A&M University’s most innovative and successful horticultural research and Extension programs,” said George. Only the best adapted, highest performing and most pest-resistant plant materials are designated Texas Superstars, and should include the Texas Superstar pot label.
For more information on the Texas Superstar program or to find the nearest official Texas Superstar retailer, go to http://TexasSuperstar.com
