This Year’s MVP – Rosa ‘Apricot Candy™’ (Meibedull)

I’m happy to declare the 2018 Garden MVP for the season! I haven’t done this in a while. Remember the snapdragons? I still stand by those as being an exceptional addition to any garden. This year’s choice was a no brainer but it came from out of left field!

It wasn’t at all what I expected: not the Kordes rose ‘South Africa’ (which turned out to be a dud), nor was it any of my new rugosa roses (surprise!), nor was it my “rust resistant” (ha!) fig leaf hollyhocks, the Queen Lime Red Zinnias (yuck, no), my dozens of sunflowers (which the squirrels dug up all but 1), the dozens of sweet pea plants I started in December (the voles took care of those), the ‘Zeolights’ calendula (the rain washed all the seeds away), the dahlias (the rain, again), and on and on and on.

Nope, the biggest surprise of 2018 was that the one flowering plant that just kept going and going and looked so beautiful all summer long was a HYBRID TEA (gasp!) that I bought last minute so I could add a couple filler roses to my daughter’s early May wedding bouquet. So, not at all expected.

Folks, here she is: ‘Apricot Candy™’ or Meibedull, a Hybrid Tea from Meilland introduced in the U.S. by Star Roses.  A descendant of the ever popular ‘Just Joey’, I don’t think mine was ever without a fragrant flower all season long and it didn’t even mind that we had rain pretty much non stop from spring to fall.

It also did remarkably well considering I never got around to planting it properly so it was doing all this from the same size pot it came in. Yup, in the face of an exceptionally adversarial growing season, ‘Apricot Candy™’ just shrugged and got on with things.

As you can see from the photos, the flowers look stunning from tight bud stage all the way to the blown-out end and the petals dropped cleanly. The new foliage was a fresh apple-green and the overall shape more bushy than leggy like so many HT’s. The coloring of each flower ranged from pink in cooler spring to apricot as we headed into warm summer. The golden yellow stamens were revealed as the flower opened to blousy ruffles. While this is my first year with this rose, I’ve heard it does well in colder climates but mine, still being in a container, will be brought into a protected location this winter.

I highly recommend ‘Apricot Candy™’ and if you do end up trying it out, I’d love to hear how it does for you. If you’re in the Asheville area, I purchased mine at BB Barns but to locate nurseries who say they carry it, visit this link.

PS: A very close runner up to ‘Apricot Candy™’ was ‘Ivor’s Rose’ (Beadonald.) That is another rose well worth growing. Never without a flower, fragrant, disease free. The only reason it is second place is because the habit is very rowdy and might present a challenge to new gardeners. Otherwise, it’s also a real keeper.

Do you have an MVP for your garden in 2018? Share your favorite in the comment section!