The floribunda rose ‘Iceberg’, bred by Kordes in 1958, is considered by many Rosarians to be the finest white floribunda ever introduced- some go so far as to say the finest floribunda, or even the finest rose, period. Winner of numerous gold medals, ‘Iceberg’ is one of those plants that works hard and asks for little.
Hardy to zone 4, ‘Iceberg’ starts blooming a little later than most of the other roses ends up making more flowers over a summer than the others. It is repeat flowering, and is seldom without flowers once it gets going. Like all floribundas, it is cluster flowering; it seems to average five flowers to a cluster but a large shrub can have a dozen or more! The flowers of ‘Iceberg’ are semi-double, moderately fragrant and pure white, although cool nights can bring out lovely pink tints in the petals. Rain can sometimes cause pink spotting on the petals; it’s considered a fault but I don’t consider it unattractive. The buds are high centered like a Hybrid Tea, but the flowers open flat. The remind me of gardenia flowers. The small foliage is a shiny light green, and the plant is not horribly thorny. ‘Iceberg’ has excellent resistance to powdery mildew and rust, and only gets minimal black spot.
While ‘Iceberg’ is listed as being between three and four feet tall, I personally get some winter die back and mine has stayed smaller than average. It’s a shrubby bush, not having a stiff, formal look that Hybrid Teas do. This shape allows it to fit into many styles of gardens; it can work in a formal rose garden or in an English style garden, interplanted with lots of perennials. The clusters make great cut flowers- to get the most from them, allow the center blossom in the cluster to flower on the bush and cut it out of the cluster when done, then cut the cluster to take into the house after the sepals start to drop on the rest of the buds.
The only fault I’ve found with ‘Iceberg’ is it seems to have weak necks. Mine is in part shade, so I assume this is part of the problem, but I’ve heard other people complain about it, too. It’s a good enough rose that David Austin has used it in breeding his English roses, and he’s strived to use only the best in his quest for the perfect rose.
‘Iceberg’ can be pruned like a Hybrid Tea in spring, or, if you prefer a shrubby look, just prune minimally for shape and health- removing any dead or damaged canes and any that are rubbing against each other. It needs no spraying. Remove dead flowers during summer. Feed it in spring around Mother’s Day, and again in mid-July, and that’s really all it needs. This is one of those roses that even people who complain that roses are too much work can love!
Comments