Many rosarians are aware that the availability of chemical products for disease and insect control by home gardeners is gradually decreasing, and with more and more environmental and government pressures, those roses dependent upon chemical sprays for such controls may not be as attractive as they have been. In addition some people are suggesting that the Queen of Show may someday be some other type of rose than HT,s and Grandifloras.  Also many people are too busy to spend a lot of time caring for their gardens, but still would like beauty in their yards.  Rose hybridizers have been aware of these changes and have been busy over the past several years trying to develop roses that are at least disease resistant and fairly easy to grow.
   Among those that claim to be easy to grow and are virtually "disease free" include the Knockout series of Roses, the OSO EASY™ Roses, and the Flower Carpet Roses.  As I have not grown either the Knockout or OSO EASY™ Roses, the rest of this article will be devoted to the Flower Carpet Roses that I have either observed or have grown.  If you are looking for something in roses to help fill your gardening landscape needs that is virtually disease free and does not seem to appeal to too many insects, then you might want to take a look at some of the roses in the Flower Carpet series. They come in various colors and growing habits. Foliage size is similar to the larger miniature and mini-flora roses but some of their other characteristics are more like their climber, shrub, and floribunda cousins but smaller in size.
   Although the Carpet Rose website indicates that these roses grow best in Zones 5 to 11, from our observations at least the pink version survived in Zone 4B without winter protection and the ones we have all survived in Zone 5A as long as reasonable winter protection was provided.  The only disease we observed were a couple yellow leaves in the late summer on the pink and white plants.  Insect damage was limited to holes that looked like the work of the leafcutting bee on one plant and a mild case of Japanese beetles attacking the bush with the yellow flowers.

Flower Carpet (Pink) (1989, 7.6 rating) It is compact, more like a miniature than a Shrub with deep green, glossy foliage.  About 25" high and wide with occasional spikes (canes) up to 30" or so with long lasting pink blooms.

White Flower Carpet (1991).  Also, compact.  About 25" tall with about 2" in diameter, heavy petaled blooms mostly in clusters of 3-5 blooms on each stem.  Will drop its petals if not deadheaded every few days. Frequent repeat blooms throughout the season. 

Yellow Flower Carpet (1997).  Also, goes by the name of Celina.  In its second year for us, this one is more like a climber with canes from 2-4 or more feet in height and several nice medium yellow blooms on each cane.  Its color and height make for a nice showing, especially from the distance.  Its only drawback, like most yellow roses, Japanese Beetles are attracted to its yellow blooms.

Red Flower Carpet (2001).   This one tends to have a mix of 20-25" canes - some upright and some spreading. Has tiny, one inch wide, 8-10 petals per bloom with several clusters of blooms per stem.   Has exceptionally deep green, glossy foliage. With its deep red color and its inclination to be more like a landscape rose, it does not make as much of a showing as other roses in this series. 

Coral Flower Carpet (2002). Also, goes by the name of Alfabia. This is the most compact of all of these that we have, only about 15-20" in height and width with an occasional 25" cane.  Has two inch wide, mostly single blooms per stem with just 5 petals per bloom.  I would call the color a very attractive shade of pink.  This one is the least hardy of any of these.