FLOWER POWER ROSE

By David Marks
Flower Power was bred by Fryers in 1998.After very nearly 100 years, Fryers was taken over by the blue Diamond Group based in Guernsey.This is a patio rose which isideally suited to growing in a container or pot. Eventual height and spreadafter three years is about 40cm / 1ft 4in.

Flower Power produces peachy orange roses which, although small, areproduced freely over July to mid September. It has a mild scent.

It was awarded an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 2012.

The majority of the flowers appear in clusters on a stem but occasionallythey appear on a single stem. Without a doubt they flower continually throughoutthe year, far more so compared to most other rose varieties.

Rose Flower Power

The flowers are lightly scented, often barely noticeable. Leaves are semi-glossy andmid to deep greenand are smaller than average, in keeping with the small size ofthe rose plant.

PESTS AND DISEASE

Flower Power is a strong growing and upright rose bush with excellentdisease resistance. We still suggest however that you followour instructions on controlling black spot which can be found here.

HOW TO PRUNE A FLOWER POWER ROSE

Prune a Flower Power rose as follows:

Remove all stems which show any signs of disease or damage. Cut them back to ground level or back to a main stem.
Remaining stems should then be pruned back to 25cm / 10in to 30cm / 1ft from ground level. This will allow you to get a good view of the structure of the rose bush.
Now prune the rose bush so that it has five or six stems arranged equally apart roughly in a circle from the centre of the plant. These stems should ideally be growing out from the centre of the bush.
Compromise may be required but the idea is to keep the centre of the rose bush open and have the branches growing outwards. This is to allow air circulation to the centre of the plant and avoid infections.
When selecting stems, make sure that you remove stems which are touching or nearly touching another stem. Where stems are touching, they will rub off the outer bark and allow infections to enter.
Green stems are healthier than browner stems so remove the browner stems and leave the green stems.
When selecting the stems to remain, don’t leave spindly stems. You are looking to have five or six stems which are at least the thickness of a pencil, hopefully thicker.

Floribunda rose before pruning

Floribunda / patio rose before pruning

Floribunda rose after pruning

Floribunda / patio rose after pruning

FLOWER POWER CULTIVATION RECORD

PURCHASE
Bought online from Peter Bealeson 24 January 2020 with another rose at a cost of £30.85 including postage andpacking (so £15.42 per rose).

It was delivered with the other rose on 31 January 2020, extremely quick delivery time. The rose was supplied as a bare-rooted plant.

Rose variety Flower Power ready for planting

A bare-rooted Flower Power rose ready for planting

See our page on comparing
online rose suppliers here.

CULTIVATION
This rose was planted in a container on 2nd February 2020. The container was approximately 45cm / 18in square and we used John Innes No 3 compost to fill it. We will update you below throughout the life of this rose.

2020

31st March 2020
Sprayed with Roseclear. Fed with a handful of blood fish andbone. Compared to the roses sown in an open bed, this variety was growing farquicker.

20 May 2020
Flower Power was the second to flower in our trial of 11 roses, only Joie de Vivre produced flowers earlier. Remember, it was planted in a container and this seems to induce earlier growth and flowering compared to roses grown in open ground.

Not only was it the second to flower but masses of buds had also been produced well in advance of most of the other varieties. See the picture below.

Flower Power rose first flower 20 May

22nd June 2020
First flush of blooms finished. Disappointingly, there are no signs of any further buds, at this point in time.

21st July 2020
Further to our post above, we were too pessimistic! The second flush of flowers is now well under way and is even more impressive than the first flush. See the picture below for proof of the sheer flower power of this variety – the ideal container plant. As well as the flowers, the foliage is totally clear of disease and very attractive.

Flower Power second flush of flowers 2020
Click picture to for full size view

20th August 2020
The second, very impressive, flush of flowers has finished.

VERDICT 2020
Performed extremely well in 2020. Lots of flowers throughout the season, excellent disease resistance. We can’t fault this variety in 2020.

2021

For 2021 we will only report on this rose variety where its performance /treatment differs from the previous year, 2020.</p/>

3rd June 2021
The first flowers appear, a couple of weeks later than in 2020. Not a big surprise given the apalling weather in May. </p/>

Masses of flowers and buds. Flower Power produced the earliest of all the blooms in our trials during 2021 beating Joie fe Vivre, the earliest to flower last year.</p/>