The famous American nurseryman Michael Dirr once wrote that roses will be a part of our gardens for as long as Americans have gardens at all. But when he wrote those words, was he including South Florida in this prediction for the USA?
That’s not a swipe at Dirr. I’ve studied his work for more than 20 years, and I have only the highest respect for him. But overwhelmingly, most discussions of roses in America focus just on what I call the “everyman” USDA Zones of 3 through 9, leaving South Florida’s tropical Zones 10 and 11 in a state of benign neglect. We’re the Jan Brady (albeit with a tan) in a nation full
