Photos by Dona Martin ‘Fourth of July’— climber Description: Large clusters of semi-double red-and-white-striped ruffled blooms. Best traits: Vigorous climber; excellent repeat bloom; strong sweet-apple scent; hardy; disease-resistant; AARS winner.

“A rose is a rose is a rose,” wrote Gertrude Stein in 1913. While this adage may hold true for many varieties of this garden darling, it doesn’t necessarily apply to every type recommended for the low desert. With our mild winters, dry springs and falls, and scorching summers, some varieties simply do better than others.

We asked Dona Martin, an American Rose Society consulting rosarian and president of the Mesa-East Valley Rose Society, to recommend her favorites for the Valley of the Sun. Several of her choices include All-America Rose Selections (AARS) winners—a designation given to roses that offer the best traits with regard to disease resistance, flower production, color and fragrance. Here are her top 12 picks.

‘St. Patrick’—hybrid tea Description: Large, lightly scented deep- yellow blooms tinged with green. Best traits: Slow-opening flowers; produces perfectly formed double blossoms; its green color comes from chlorophyll in the petals, which gives the blooms an increased ability to withstand high temperatures; AARS winner.

ROSE TYPES
Climbers: Strong plants that produce long, arching canes with blooms of various forms, shapes and colors. They can be trained to grow over or around arbors, fences, trellises and walls.
Floribundas: Characterized by their ability to bear profuse flowers in large clusters, with more than one blossom in bloom at any one time.
Grandifloras: These roses are similar in height and form to hybrid teas but produce more sprays.
Hybrid teas: The most commonly known class of modern roses, they produce large, long-stemmed blooms (usually one per stem).
Miniatures: Smaller versions of modern hybrid teas and floribundas, with blooms up to 1 inch in diameter.
Polyanthas: Continuous bloomers, these roses are characterized by a profusion of flowers, about 1 inch in diameter, that form large sprays.
Shrubs: Noted for their hardiness and sprawling shape, shrub roses produce large quantities of flowers, singly or in clusters. They often resemble old garden roses in shape and form but are recurrent bloomers and usually have a strong fragrance.