Rosa "Rote The Fairy", 1.5 l pot

• Type: groundcover polyantha rose, continuous-flowering
• Botanical name: Rosa 'Rote The Fairy' ('Red Fairy', MORedfar)
• Breeder: Ralph S. Moore, USA, 1995
• Height and spread: 60–90 cm / 1–1.4 m
• Flowering: June to frost, continuous; 2–4 cm scarlet pompon flowers in large clusters
• Fragrance: very faint
• Light: sun, partial shade
• Soil: any fertile garden soil, well-drained
• Hardiness: about −25 °C (USDA 5b); mound the base in Estonia
• Disease resistance: good
• Use: groundcover, slopes, edging, low hedges, containers
• Size: potted rose plant

Planting. Choose a sunny, airy spot (at least 6 hours of sun a day) with fertile, loose, loamy soil that never stays waterlogged, pH 6–7. Dig a hole about 50×50 cm and add compost or well-rotted manure at the bottom. Set the graft union 3–5 cm below soil level – in the Estonian climate this protects it in winter. A potted plant can be planted throughout the season, from May to September; space plants 60–80 cm (2–3 plants per m²) apart.

Watering and feeding. Water deeply but not too often – 10–15 l per plant once a week, more often in hot weather, ideally in the morning and at the base without wetting the leaves. In spring give a nitrogen-rich or complete rose fertiliser, again a complete feed when the buds form and after the first flush, and from mid-July only potassium-phosphorus feed without nitrogen so the shoots ripen before winter.

Care. Polyantha roses are easy to prune: in spring remove frost-damaged and dead shoots and cut the bush back by a third into an even shape. Every 3–4 years remove the oldest stems at the base. Spent clusters on 'Rote The Fairy' can be cut off for more continuous flowering. For winter mound the base 15–20 cm high and cover with spruce branches.

Gardener's tip. Combine 'Rote The Fairy' with the pink 'The Fairy' for a bright two-tone groundcover carpet. The red flowers fade far less in the sun than pink ones.