Culture
Best grown in medium moisture, slightly acidic, well-drained garden loams in full sun. Tolerates some light shade, but best flowering and disease resistance generally occur in full sun. Water deeply and regularly (mornings are best). Avoid overhead watering. Good air circulation promotes vigorous and healthy growth and helps control foliar diseases. Summer mulch helps retain moisture, keeps roots cool and discourages weeds. Remove spent flowers to encourage rebloom. Crowns may need some winter protection in cold winter climates such as the St. Louis area. Remove and destroy diseased leaves from plants, as practicable, and clean up and destroy dead leaves from the ground around the plants both during the growing season and as part of a thorough cleanup during winter (dormant season). Hybrid tea, floribunda and grandiflora roses in St. Louis are usually pruned back to 12-18” from the ground in late winter.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Rosa is a genus of about 150 species of deciduous (occasionally evergreen) shrubs and climbers noted for their beautiful, often fragrant, single, semidouble or double flowers which are borne singly or in clusters on often prickly stems clad with 5-9 leaflets often having toothed margins.
Hybrid tea, floribunda and grandiflora roses are the classic florist-type roses. Hybrid tea roses have high centers, long stems and usually produce just one terminal flower per shoot. Floribundas produce clusters of flowers and grandifloras produce clusters of high-centered flowers. These roses require regular, severe pruning to maintain size and produce the long-stemmed blooms they are known for.
Genus name comes from the Latin name for rose.
'Peace' is a vigorous, bushy, large-flowered hybrid tea rose that typically grows to 3-4’ tall. Large double flowers (to 6" diameter) in soft shades of pale gold to white with lightly-ruffled, rosy-pink petal edges bloom in late May with good repeat bloom throughout the season. Flowers have a mild, sweet fragrance. Foliage emerges in spring with reddish tints, but matures to dark green. F. Meilland 1945. AARS award winner in 1946. 'Peace' was originally hybridized by Francis Meilland in 1935 in France under the original cultivar name of 'Madame A. Meilland'. Shortly before Germany invaded France in 1939, Francis Meilland sent budwood of this rose to rose growers in several different countries to insure this new rose would not be inadvertently destroyed by the war. In the U. S. , budwood was sent to Conard-Pyle Company who proceeded to propagate the rose. On June 15, 1943, Conard-Pyle obtained U.S. Plant Patent No. 591, and then subsequently introduced the rose into commerce under the cultivar name of 'Peace' on April 29, 1945 (VE Day) which was the same day that Berlin fell to Allied forces. The RHS Horticultural Database currently lists this rose under its original name of 'Madame A. Meilland', but the rose has been known and sold worldwide under the name of 'Peace' since 1945, and this is unlikely to change regardless of what the formal rules of nomenclature say.
Problems
Roses are susceptible to a large number of diseases, the most common of which are black spot, powdery mildew, rust and rose rosette. Although good cultural practices are the first line of defense in disease control, regular preventative fungicide applications throughout the growing season are usually required, particularly in humid climates with regular rainfall such as the St. Louis area. Potential insect problems include aphids, beetles, borers, scale, thrips, rose midges, leafhoppers and spider mites. Local rose associations and extension services are usually able to offer specific recommendations and advice for selecting and growing roses.
Uses
Grow as an accent or in small groups in borders, foundations, cottage gardens or rose gardens.
A good cut rose due to fragrance and large bloom size.