BLACK FOREST ROSE® – red bedding floribunda rose - Kordes
Step outside to a soft Irish drizzle and find BLACK FOREST ROSE® lighting up your garden with cheerful, glowing clusters of vivid red blooms that barely fade, even in unsettled weather. This reliable floribunda shrugs off rain and wind, and copes well with our heavier soils when you give it decent drainage, making it a steady companion through changeable summers and mild winters. Its semi‑double flowers open wide for bees, the bushy plant filling out steadily as its own roots strengthen, so ornamental value and flowering improve year after year with very little extra work from you. Ideal for a “girly” cottage border or a small Dublin front garden, it offers long seasonal colour, neat structure, good health and built‑in resilience, all in an easy‑care, compact shape that fits beautifully into everyday family life and rewards relaxed, low‑effort gardening.
Usage options
| Target area |
Reasoning |
| Front-of-border cottage strip |
Low, bushy growth and naturally glossy foliage create a tidy front edge that keeps its shape with minimal clipping, while the long season of red clusters gives that “always in flower” feel from early summer onwards; well suited to a relaxed gardener who prefers easy success for the family. |
| Small Dublin terraced front garden |
The compact, upright habit fits narrow beds by railings or paths without overwhelming them, and the excellent colour retention means blooms look fresh between weekend visits, so you can enjoy dependable impact with only light deadheading, ideal for a busy homeowner. |
| Informal flowering hedge |
Planted at about 50 cm intervals, plants knit into a low, floriferous hedge, the dense foliage giving privacy while self‑cleaning flowers reduce tidy‑up time, a practical way to define boundaries for a low‑maintenance garden. |
| Bee‑friendly family bed |
Semi‑double blooms with readily accessible stamens provide a modest but welcome pollen source, and the long, repeating season keeps interest for children watching visiting insects, a gentle choice for nature‑curious families. |
| Season-long colour block in heavy soil |
When planted into improved clay with good drainage, this variety roots strongly and flowers in successive flushes, giving months of saturated red even in cool, damp summers with fungal pressure, a reassuring option for cautious beginners. |
| Ground-cover style planting on a gentle slope |
Bushy, spreading plants at 60 cm centres quickly blanket the soil surface, suppressing weeds and stabilising light banks, while own-root vigour helps them recover if trimmed back after flowering, suiting low‑input gardeners. |
| Large container by the front door (40–50 L) |
In a roomy 40–50 litre pot with free‑draining compost, the upright form and glossy leaves frame the entrance, and own-root durability means you can enjoy the same plant for years with basic feeding and watering, perfect for time‑pressed urbanites. |
| Mixed rose and perennial bed |
Clustered, medium-sized flowers thread bright red highlights through asters, thyme and clematis, and disease resistance to black spot keeps foliage presentable, so over three seasons it matures from settling roots to a full, reliable feature for style‑conscious owners. |
Styling ideas
- Cottage-Ribbon – Line a narrow path with repeating groups of BLACK FOREST ROSE® and pink foxgloves for a soft, storybook edge – ideal for romantic cottage‑garden lovers.
- Urban-Glow – Pair one rose in a 50 L charcoal pot with white nemesia for pavements or steps – great for city homeowners wanting instant, tidy colour.
- Bumble-Border – Mix with Aster dumosus 'Apollo', lavender and thyme to create a bee‑tempting strip that flowers for months – suited to wildlife‑minded families.
- Ruby-Carpet – Mass‑plant on a low bank at 60 cm spacing so red clusters spill together like a living rug – perfect for those seeking impact with little fuss.
- Storybook-Hedge – Form a low hedge along fences, weaving in Clematis 'Little Artist' for playful purple accents – appealing to gardeners who enjoy whimsical structure.
Technical cultivar profile
| Property |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Black Forest Rose® (KORschwill), floribunda rose in the RigoRosen® collection; registered exhibition name Black Forest Rose, commercial floribunda flower‑bed type, group Rósra bhláthchlóis. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred by Tim‑Hermann Kordes at W. Kordes’ Söhne, Germany, from unnamed seedling parents; introduced and registered in 2010, distributed initially by W. Kordes’ Söhne. |
| Awards and recognition |
ADR Germany 2010; Baden bei Wien Rose Competition 1st prize 2010; Kortrijk/Courtrai gold medals 2011 and 2012; RNRS Trial Ground Certificate UK 2011; honoured at La Tacita trials. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Bushy, upright shrub reaching around 65–95 cm high and 55–85 cm wide, with dense, dark green, glossy foliage and moderate prickliness; good natural self‑cleaning of spent blooms. |
| Flower morphology |
Medium 4–7 cm semi‑double, cup‑shaped blooms with 13–25 petals, carried in clusters; remontant, producing an abundant second flush and further waves of flowers with regular deadheading. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Bright, saturated medium red (ARS MR; RHS 46A–46B) from bud to fall; little fading, only a slight maroon deepening before petals drop; colour remains uniform and stable across the season. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
No noticeable fragrance; selected primarily for colour effect, flower production and garden performance rather than scent, making it best combined with aromatic perennials if fragrance is desired. |
| Hip characteristics |
Produces occasional small spherical hips about 6–10 mm across, orange‑red RHS 40A; numbers remain low because flowers self‑clean well and are often removed before full hip development. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Hardy to about −26 to −23 °C (RHS H7, USDA 5b, Sweden zone 4); good heat tolerance with watering in long dry spells; disease profile: moderate powdery mildew, resistant to black spot and rust. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Best in full sun with well‑drained soil; spacing 60 cm for drifts, 50 cm for hedges, 100 cm as specimen; 2.8–3.2 plants/m² for mass planting; suit flowerbeds, parks, ground cover and edging. |
BLACK FOREST ROSE® offers long-season red colour, reliable cluster flowering and durable own-root growth for years of easy enjoyment, making it a thoughtful choice for a relaxed Irish family garden.
