Modern consumers prefer to purchase shrubs and trees for the home garden that can be sustainably grown without using preventative insecticides and fungicides. Roses, which are known to be high-maintenance plants, often requiring these preventative fungicides and insecticides for optimal garden performance. The American Rose Trial for Sustainability (A.R.T.S) program seeks to determine growth data of new rose cultivars that will hopefully require fewer preventative inputs. This trial was one of 13 locations from multiple regions across the country. Seventeen unknown rose cultivars were grown during 2022–2023 and 20 additional cultivars are being grown in 2023-2024, with no additional inputs beyond sufficient irrigation. Plants were installed in production beds amended with ammoniated pine bark and top-dressed with shredded pine bark mulch. A completely randomized block design with one replication per block, with 3 blocks was used. A rating system provided by the A.R.T.S. program was used and based on forty-five percent flowering, forty-five percent foliage health, and ten percent plant form. Plants were evaluated twice monthly from April through November by 2 two-person Master Gardener teams for 2 years. Evaluations are submitted electronically in real-time directly to the national trial site manager. This trial/research opportunity allows Master Gardeners first-hand knowledge of how basic plant research in conducted. The regional and national winning selections from will be released at the conclusion of each two-year trial.
