The Tough ‘Peggy Martin’ Rose Thrives In Southern Gardens

The 'Peggy Martin' rose is tough as nails, surviving two weeks underwater after Hurricane Katrina.

"She's just a good girl," says Texas gardener Ruthie Burrus. "She's a rambler and can be very aggressive, but she has no thorns. She's not a cutting rose, either—but from a distance, she's just stunning."

"She" is the classic old Southern rose 'Peggy Martin,' named for an avid Louisiana gardener whose home and property stood under 20 feet of salt water for two weeks after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The only plants to survive were one crinum and a tough-as-nails beauty of a rose that Martin had acquired through pass-along cuttings from friends in New Orleans.

Before the storm, author and Texas A&M professor Dr. William C. Welch had visited Martin, who gave him some cuttings of the graceful, hardy climber with no name. After Katrina, he and six growers worked together to make the rose—which they named "Peggy Martin"—widely available. For some time after the storm, $1 from the sale of each rose helped fund garden-restoration projects in New Orleans and Beaumont, Texas, as well as a Mississippi Gulf Coast garden.

Burrus gave her beloved 'Peggy Martin' rose a fitting home—draping what she calls her "garden haus." When she and her husband bought their Austin, Texas, property and moved here, they wanted to add some older-looking structures for character and interest. "I found some arched doors at an antiques store, and we used rocks from our property to build the garden haus around those doors," Burrus explains. "Then we found old windows and a tin roof. It looks like Hansel and Gretel should live there, but it's actually filled with rakes, shovels, and gloves."

Get to Know 'Peggy Martin'

Is she difficult? "I just put a lot of compost in the bed and maybe add some organic rose food," Burrus says. "I've never had any issues with any kind of blight or bugs. Peggy's a low-maintenance girl."

Can she be trained? Yes! How do you turn a garden shed into a pink rosebush? "Try to keep the vigorous main canes as horizontal as possible so that the clusters of blooms stemming from them will fill high and low spaces," Burrus advises. "I've trained Peggy so she snakes up the sides of my garden haus walls in kind of an S pattern."

Care for 'Peggy Martin'

The 'Peggy Martin' climbing roses are some of the easiest to care for. They resist disease and bloom in spring and fall. They do not require deadheading to rebloom. These spreading roses grow from 6-15 feet tall and wide, and they are climbers, so they need a support to grow on, like a trellis, fence, or wall. Plant them in well-drained, slightly acidic soil in full sun in USDA Zones 4-9. Add three inches of mulch around the base to keep moisture in. Use a fertilizer in the spring and fall, and prune them in late winter to get rid of dead canes and vines and to shape. Let the soil dry between regular waterings. While drought tolerant, the plant does like supplemental water during extended dry periods.

Grow 'Peggy Martin' From Cuttings

These roses are easy to grow from cuttings. That’s one way they’ve made their way through the South. To take a cutting, look for a 6- to 8-inch piece of new growth and cut it off at an angle. Remove any lower leaves from the stem and plant in moistened potting soil. Keep the soil moist, not soggy, and cover the cutting with a plastic bag to maintain humidity. After 6 to 10 weeks, the cutting should have roots and can be transferred to a larger container or outside.

Buy 'Peggy Martin'

This plant can thrive anywhere in the South. Some of the original growers who were there for Peggy's debut are helping spread the love for this plant. Here's where to buy:

• The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas

• Chamblee's Rose Nursery in Tyler, Texas

• King's Nursery in Tenaha, Texas

• Petals from the Past in Jemison, Alabama

• Calloway's Nursery, multiple locations in Texas

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Read the original article on Southern Living.