Please note:
For most situations, we would not recommend installing this plant in new gardens, landscapes, or plantings in southern California.
Our top recommendations for spreading ground cover shrubs to consider instead of floral carpet roses include Mrs. Beard sage, Theodore Payne buckwheat, Point Sal sage, and Pigeon Point coyote brush.
This plant profile is included in this site as a reference for two primary reasons:
- If you already have this plant in your landscape, this information can be used to know how to care for it.
- If you already have this plant in your landscape, you can use this information to learn which of our recommended plants have the same recommended watering needs, making them potential choices for grouping together if you will be adding new plants to the existing area.
In general, instead of this plant, we recommend planting appropriate California native plants whenever possible.
In addition to their beauty, California native plants offer the most additional benefits beyond just low water use, including habitat for the birds, butterflies, and pollinators who evolved here with them. This adds value and beauty in your landscape beyond just a pretty plant, allowing the landscape to actively contribute to the environment instead of just using less water. You can find our top recommended native plant choices on our Plant Finder by selecting “California Native” and learn more about California native plants here.
To learn what exactly California native plants are and how they are different from other low water plants, visit this link.
For visual interest or other reasons, some people may also want to mix in other non-native low-water demanding plant choices even though they do not have the same ecological value as native plants. For that reason, we feature a number of non-native waterwise selections on this site as well. However, we see native plants as the best “go to” for most landscape or garden choices! We encourage people to consider planting at least 50% of their landscape to native plants. See our Garden Designs section or visit our Waterwise Demonstration Garden in Montclair for plenty of inspiration.
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Floral carpet rose cultivars are low spreading selections of the taller floribunda rose group. These carpet roses commonly grow with semi-evergreen foliage to 2 ft. tall and 4-5 ft. wide. They have arching stems are covered with sharp thorns; their dark glossy green foliage have 5-7 leaflets. Terminal sprays containing numerous flowers occur in spring and almost continuously through summer and into fall. Flower colors include white, pink, coral, red and yellow.
Floribunda ground cover roses are commonly referred to as carpet roses due to their low and spreading growth habit.
Pruning and feeding ground cover roses in the late winter to early spring helps to stimulate new growth and enhance flowering. A second feeding in mid summer will continue to sustain good flowering. They grow best in full sun and on well-drained soils, and are adapted to coastal, inland, valley and desert zones. Many of these roses are registered or patented and vary in flower color and availability among nurseries; some include: Flower Carpet™ ‘Pink’ has double deep pink flowers; Flower Carpet™ ‘Red’ produces single red flowers; Flower Carpet™ ‘White’ has semi-double bright white flowers; and Flower Carpet™ ‘Yellow’ produces double yellow flowers.
