Wildfire Patio Shrub Roses

About Wildfire

Wildfire is a lovely erect, strong patio rose bred from a North African species. It produces prolific quantities of glorious bright orange flowers that smother the bush with a blaze of colour all summer. It should be dead-headed regularly to encourage new blooms.

The foliage is dark green and healthy and the rose forms a compact, upright, bushy shrub reaching between 1.2m and 1.8m. It is fully hardy and will thrive in exposed or sheltered sites.

Great for your garden

Although called a 'patio' rose, Wildfire is also suitable for planting in borders, either rose borders or mixed with herbaceous plants. It looks particularly good with purple flowered varieties when the two colours accentuate each other providing a delightful combination.

It would look spectacular planted in groups with drifts of purple flowered spiky salvias interwoven giving a contrast of colour and form. It is also perfect for planting in large pots for formal planting on terraces providing a continuous show all summer. Patio roses can also be used to form low hedges because of their erect and neat growth.

Wildfire characteristics

• Colour: Brilliant flame orange with touches of yellow
• Flower shape: Double neat flowers
• Fragrance: Light
• Final height and spread: 1.2m - 1.8m (4' x 6'
• Flowering season: Continuous flowering all summer
• Disease resistance: Good

How to Plant your Rose

Roses love two things:

Air Circulation: Roses benefit from good air flow, which helps to reduce fungal diseases such as mildew, black spot and rust. Having said which, many roses do not like over exposed sites. Shelter is necessary for bush roses especially hybrid teas and floribundas if you live in a very windy area.

Sunshine: Good light helps make your roses healthy & floriferous. You can grow climbing roses through a shady area to get to the sun (e.g. up & over a shady wall or through a tree). Ideally your roses should get at least half a day of sun in the summer to perform at their best.

Similarly all roses enjoy the same soil. So prepare the planting area early; don't leave it until the plants arrive!

Good Drainage: Roses like a moisture retentive soil, but drainage should be good. They do not grow in bogs..... (A simple way to test the drainage is to dig a hole about 12" deep in winter and watch it after a period of heavy rain: if there is still water in it 24 hours after the rain stops, then drainage is poor.

Nice Deep, Rich Topsoil: When preparing a rose bed, if the soil is not good already, it is well worth while covering it in a layer 3-4" deep of well rotted compost or horse manure (also well rotted) and digging it over thoroughly to the depth of a spade. Your roses will be in position and flowering hard for the next 20-30 years and this initial preparation will pay dividends all through their lives.

Soil pH: In an ideal world, roses prefer slightly acid soil but they do have a tolerance to mildly alkaline soils. Neutral soil is pH 7 and most roses are happy in the pH 6-7.5 range (i.e. slightly acid to very slightly alkaline.) Browse all of our Rose Plants for Sale