Imagine: You need a small bouquet, something that will lift spirits and prompt smiles all day. Maybe it’s an apology for being cranky with a girlfriend. Or perhaps it’s for your mom who’s going through a tough time. This small bunch of flowers might simply be a mood-lifter for your desk at the office. Thankfully, you have flowers growing in your yard and among them is a lovely, fragrant, salmon-colored rose.
Adding magic and perfume to any bouquet: At Last Rose. Can you say that about other shrub roses?
Name: Rosa x At Last (aka At Last™ Rosa x ‘HORCOGJIL’ USPPAF, Can PBRAF)
Type of Plant: A Floribunda rose that combines the look of a tea rose flower with the habit and disease resistance of a shrub (landscape) plant. A landscape rose that smells like a rose! Hardy in zones 5-9
Peachy-salmon flowers…some sites call them orange but I beg to differ! Not that orange would be bad, but these are a bit softer of hue…
Why I love this: I have a soft spot for flowers that are salmon, peach or coral…so I was already predisposed to like this shrub rose. These colors blend so well in just about any garden, and they’ll work with a dash of other flowers in orange or red. Flexibility in all things, right? Over the summer, however, I’ve also come to love the way this plant kept producing flower. It is said to do so even if you don’t deadhead it, but I did try and snip off the spent flowers over the summer when I thought of it. And sure enough, this rose is a flower-making machine. And the blossom’s scent is lovely. I predict that because of the color and fragrance, this will be one of the most sought after shrub roses in the future.
A Word to the Wise: Although this shrub rose is, like others, disease resistant, it is a rose after all. So don’t place it where the irrigation hits the foliage frequently. And like other roses, apply fertilizer and organic matter regularly.
This is a closeup of the At Last flower.
The At Last shrub rose grows about three feet high and wide.
I live in Ontario, Canada and I bought this one last year and the blooms on it were gorgeous. I had the fellah to dig me a hole on where to put it but he was so taken up with it he ended up putting it in his garden 😀 So I had to go out to the garden center where I got the first one from and bought another one. I was rewarded with awesome beautiful flowers and when I was attending to the other flowers near it I could smell its beautiful scent. I wasn’t sure whether it would survive the winter but covered it up with burlap. When I went to lift it off in April I did a double take at seeing it greeting me with green leaves and shoots. I cut back on the old stems and both of them have survived our winter here and I am looking forward to more drop dead gorgeous blooms on both of them.
I’m so glad you love this rose as much as I do, Karen. I’m looking forward to mine growing larger and more beautiful! (I’m feeding it Rose-tone and compost.)
Hello Karen, which garden center did you purchase the “At Last Rose’ from?
Thank you,
Carmen
Carmen,
Any garden center that commonly carries Proven Winners shrubs will have this plant. Call your local ICG’s.
Hello
I live in Alberta.. my first time buying a “at last rose”.. does this rose climb? Will it survive in black sandy soil? Which direction is your rose facing?
No – At Last is a smaller shrub rose, not a climber. My plant is in full sun from 10 AM to 4 PM.
We purchased this Rose in the spring, and it is a good performer. It seems to bloom continuously and looks healthy.
Will this At Last ribose grow well in Southern California zone 10b??
M – this rose is labeled as appropriate through Zone 9, it might be dicey for you in a hotter area.
I have fallen in love with this rise!! We live in a former orange grove, and do have problems with roses that are not disease resistant. Some can do well, but will AtLast resist Citrus Rust? White Iceberg and Mutabilis do well here we are also in Southern California Zone 10a. Safe to invest in this wonderful rose?? Thanks
Since I do not live in CA I can’t tell you if this is good for you. Try it and let us know.
I grow this rose in zone 9B in full sun (it hates the shade) and I would say it is the most heat tolerant of all my roses. It’s definitely worth a try. As it happens I do not love peach roses (I would prefer red) but I have three of these roses because they produce the most flowers and smell better than any red rose I can find. I have a Don Juan, Munstead Wood and Tess D’Urberville. None compare. The munstead wood comes closest and is an objectively stronger scent but I am not sure I prefer it (strong myrrh v the at last rose which to me is more of a traditional old rose scent) and it also does not flower as much nor is it as healthy. If anyone knows of a red rose that is similar to the at last rose, please let me know!
I’m sure the breeders are working on a fragrant, disease tolerant shrub rose!