Rosa 'Meiswetdom'

Rosa 'Meiswetdom' Sweet Drift® on moderate water in September 2021 at South Coast REC.

Summary

South Coast Research & Extension Center (South Coast REC/SCREC) is located in Irvine California, this site has a sandy loam soil and plants are irrigated with reclaimed water. UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

Sweet Drift is a low-growing, wide-spreading rose for the front of a border or use as a tall groundcover. It began blooming in April and was never without at least a few blooms through the end of data collection in the first half of October. The small, tight pink rosettes were most plentiful in late April/early May, July, and August in Davis and in June, July, and September in Irvine. Blooms began deep pink, became paler during the hotter months, and deepened again later in the season.

There was some edge burn at each location beginning in the hotter months which may be simply a response to extreme heat or the result of boron levels in Davis and reclaimed water in Irvine. In Irvine there were issues with tip and edge burn most likely due to reclaimed water usage, and as with many roses there, “June gloom” fostered black spot and powdery mildew on foliage. Although plants were often non-uniform and sometimes gangly in their growth habit, overall they had acceptably good appearance due in large part to their floriferousness, and we would recommend planting en masse rather than as single specimens, as this would disguise any peculiarities in the growth pattern of individual plants. There were no significant differences in growth or aesthetics at either trial location, we therefore recommend Sweet Drift receive irrigation at the Low Categories of Water Need in Regions 2 and 3.

Basic Info