US (WI): Hobby breeder launches commercial winter-proof rose

For 22 years, Julie Overom has been on a personal mission to develop the perfect rose for more northern climes — a disease-resistant rose as pretty as a hybrid tea and hardy enough to survive Northern winters without being buried.

What began modestly as a backyard hobby cross-breeding roses grew into full-time research that includes a rose farm in Lake Nebagamon and a 30-by-100-foot, commercial-size greenhouse where she spends long days from mid-April to November plus many hours keeping meticulous records.

In her search for the perfect commercially-released Northern rose, Overom has hybridized tens of thousands of roses over the years, producing more than 10,000 new cultivars she has exposed to disease and harsh winters. Along the way, there's been plenty of heartbreak when promising cultivars succumb to disease, harsh winters or fail to thrive.

Now, Overom has done it. One of her rose cultivars will be introduced nationwide next year. The rose — Cherry Frost — has all the qualities Overom sought and more, from resistance to black spot and powdery mildew, Zone 3 hardiness, good form, attractive foliage and abundant clusters of two-inch, 20-petal blooms from July through October. And to her surprise, it did well in varied climates, including California.

Read more at Inforum (Candace Renalls)