The Beautiful & Low-Growing Rose Variety That Makes The Perfect Ground Cover

If you're a rose enthusiast, you probably know that there are countless different types of roses that you could grow in your yard. Some form massive shrubs, while others can climb rampantly over arbors and fences. And then, there are the more diminutive types such as ground cover and miniature roses. These are ideal for smaller spaces, or can effectively cover the ground area of your garden beds to help keep weeds at bay and provide you with a stunning floral display. One such beautiful and low-growing rose variety that makes the best ground cover for flower beds is the Apricot Drift rose (Rosa 'Meimirrote'). This little stunner will blow you away with its eye-catching double blooms in a soft peachy color.

There are quite a few hybrids in the Drift series of ground cover roses, including a pink rose variety to make a blushing garden, but the Apricot Drift is truly spectacular. The pretty blooms are around 1 ½ inches in diameter and will cover the plant from spring right up until the first frost in the fall. It can easily be grown in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 11, and demands very little attention to put on its magnificent display.

Like most rose varieties, Apricot Drift prefers a sunny garden bed so that it can delight you with masses of blooms. Adding some organic matter to the soil before planting is always a good idea when growing roses. As this variety will spread to a general width of around 2 to 3 feet, you'll want to space individual plants around 30 inches apart to get good coverage. Keep your plants well-watered until they've established themselves in your yard.

After that, Apricot Drift is totally drought-tolerant. Apart from its low water needs, this ground cover rose is also resistant to major rose diseases like powdery mildew, rust, and black spot. It will benefit from regular fertilizing during its active growth period, but deadheading is not needed because the flowers are self-cleaning. Ideally, you'll want to prune these roses in late winter or early spring to give them a tidy up and encourage new growth. With such little care needed, you can just sit back and admire the beauty of these blooms, as you watch all the bees and butterflies happily going from flower to flower in search of that sweet nectar. For even more floral diversity, the Peach Drift rose is the perfect shrub to plant if you're short on space but want lots of bright color.