The American Garden Rose Selections judges have announced the newest roses to be selected in their testing program. This year, there are an unprecedented nine new winners.
The All-America Rose Selections program ran from 1940 until 2013. The AGRS program began in 2016. If you are looking in a garden catalog and see that a rose was the winner of either award, you can be sure it is a good rose.
Since the country has diverse climates, it makes sense that the AGRS judging is done by region. All roses entered into the AGRS are tested for two years in six geographical regions, each containing at least two test gardens. Most of the test gardens are open to the public, so you can see for yourself which roses you like.
The roses are evaluated five times each growing season. Evaluators are looking for the same characteristics you would like in a garden rose. Disease resistance is highly valued since it will give you a rewarding experience with less care required. They also judge each plant on its bloom abundance; bloom form; attractiveness; fragrance; rebloom habit; aging quality of blooms; hardiness in cold and heat; vigor; foliage proportion and attractiveness; and plant habit. For a variety to be granted an award, it must demonstrate superior performance in at least three of the six regions. An award is also given for fragrance, because that is important to many gardeners.
The region codes are NC for north central, NE for northeast, NW for northwest, SC for south central, SE for southeast, and SW for southwest.
Blushing Drift is the latest addition to the drift roses. Drift roses are crosses between full-size groundcover roses and miniature roses, and they are great for containers or large masses of roses on slopes. Blushing Drift grows 18 inches high by 3 feet wide. The double pink flowers last a long time. It won in all six regions.
Brindabella Crimson Knight is the newest addition to the Brindabella roses that have won this award. Brindabellas are tough, low-maintenance shrub roses growing 4 feet tall and wide. The dark red flowers of Brindabella Crimson Knight are very fragrant. This flower won in the NW, SC, and SW regions.
Fiesta Veranda is part of the veranda series of roses. It is a floribunda with yellow and orange flowers on a 4-foot-tall, 3-foot-wide low-maintenance shrub. It won in the NW, SC, and SW regions.
Firefly has a bright yellow flower with lots of petals. There are older varieties of roses that are orange or red that also have the Firefly name. This one is from Altman Plants. It won in the NC, NW, SC and SW regions, and it won a fragrance award.
Grandbaby may only be 2 feet tall, but the fragrant, pale yellow flowers are huge with lots of petals. It is perfect for containers or planting en masse. It won in the NC, NW, and SW regions.
Like No Other lives up to its name. Each fragrance-award-winning dark purple flower has over 100 petals. The 4-foot-tall plant is very disease resistant. It won in the NW, SC, and SW regions.
Ruby Red has a dark red flower and dark green leaves on a 5-foot tall, 3-foot-wide plant. It won in the NC, NW, SC, and SW regions.
Soaring to Glory is a yellow floribunda rose that grows 3 by 3. It won in the NW, SC, and SW regions.
1000 Wishes is a large shrub rose that is so easy to grow you will wish you had 1,000 more. The pink flowers attract pollinators more than the other 2025 winners because they are the original rose shape with just five petals. It won in the NW, SC, SE, and SW regions.
