Red Cascade: A Favorite Low Maintenance Rose
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 5:10PM Sometimes I love a plant in the beginning, but then for one reason or another the plant never reaches its potential in my garden. Other plants flourish and exceed even my most optimistic fantasies. Red Cascade rose is the latter, having stood the test of time, through seasons of drought and flood and frost, and through hot, muggy, bug infested summers thick with mold and mildew spores.
Red Cascade is classified as a miniature rose, because each deep red rose, although it contains many petals, is only about one inch in diameter. 
But the flowers grow in large sprays, and the impact of Red Cascade in full bloom is huge. 
Red Cascade blooms repeatedly from mid spring till frost. Because of its cascading habit, it can be used as a ground cover on a slope, and it also can be trained up a trellis. I love the way it looks on our picket fence. I also think it would be spectacular sprawling across a stone wall. It would be pretty in a hanging basket for a while, but understand: It will outgrow the basket quickly! The long canes, especially the older ones, are fairly thorny. It doesn't require pruning, but one may want to prune it to maintain its size and shape.
Red Cascade grows in zones 6-9, in full sun to afternoon shade. It is tolerant of poor soil but like all roses, it prefers good, well drained garden soil. The small, glossy leaves are pest and disease resistant and require little spraying, only once or twice a season in my humid climate. If some leaves turn yellow and fall off, they quickly re-grow.
Ralph S. Moore introduced Red Cascade in 1976. It is easy to see why it is still a favorite.
Reader Comments (22)
Red Cascade is a fav. I built mine a corral.
Yours is amazing! How beautiful is that! I have one that's fairly new to me. So far, I love it. It looks perfect on your picket fence.
oh my! I guess I need to get me one of those! All my roses are eaten by "worms" and are very sad looking. I love the color of the dog house with the roses! How fun! Thanks Deb!
That is one stunning display. Both the house and rose.
Wow! Deb, this rose never ceases to amaze me! It grows so large and has such bloom power! Such a pretty rose. Hope you can come out to the Birmingham Rose Show May 7 & 8 at the Gardens. Lots of pretty roses on display....
Deb - You've sold it to me... Your dog is lucky to have such a pretty home.
The Red Cascade is beautiful! Love the white picket fence. We are in Zone 5b, I googled it! I never knew what Zone we were in-shame on me :) CH and I just plant it and hope for the best! I could learn a thing or two here you know....
I want some Red Cascade!
Deb, The Red Cascade rose is amazing. We had a rose like that on our fence in my childhood. I might have to get one. I could never bring myself to spray and chemicals though. Are their organic alternatives? Carolyn
Deb, your rose is amazing! Just beautiful! I don't have much sunny space for growing roses, unfortunately.
Hi, everybody! I appreciate your comments! Carolyn, I always use the most eco-friendly products I can find. I spray my roses with a horticultural oil in late winter, then I use either a sulfur or copper based fungicide in April. Both copper and sulfur decompose to minerals that are used by plants and microbes. Nevertheless, I do minimize spraying, which is why my roses must be able to survive without coddling.
Your Red Cascade looks fabulous. I've been meaning to try that one, as it is a miniature rose with a huge impact!
the scale of the out building makes the rose look huge. nice effect.
Now that IS a cascade! It looks wonderful.
P.S. Your dog house is so cute.
This post comes along at a great time for me as I want to place a last minute mail order for some roses. This rose looks stunning on your white picket fence and I am sure it will look just wonderful on my fence too. I think I have the perfect corner!
P.S. I love the dog house too!
Gorgeous! I've wanted this cascading rose for a long time, but I'm not sure it could handle zone 5 winters. I love how yours has developed. What a garden statement!
hello Deb, I've been thinking of you as I hear news from Alabama and hope you are alright, Frances
What an awesome rose! It's really pretty. I have a David Austin William Shakespeare rose that is deep red. I love how your rose decorates the dog house. What a classy dog!
wow! now that is one rose I must have in my garden. It looks amazing!
If that's a dog house, I want to be in it! Your red cascade is truly worth featuring and I like the way all your images show it off to such good effect. I have a Banksia Lutea but am visualing it in red and it would look even better.
Wow! That'snot a rose I know, but I feel I should try and find one, although I'm not sure where I'd put it. It looks perfect where you've planted it. I like easy roses, life's too short for the difficult ones.
That is a huge one! I just posted a photo of it on my blog yesterday. I grow it on a 5 ft. tall post.
Your rose is fabulous Deb. I really love all the colors in your last shot! Great painterly feeling.