Here’s a good article by Andrea Beck on color-changing roses for Better Homes & Gardens.
The blooms open yellow, then take on a pink blush over time.
When it comes to roses, you can find varieties that bloom in just about every color of the rainbow (even super cool toffee-colored roses). Now imagine a rose that can have more than one color of flower at once. ‘Peach Lemonade,’ a new shrub rose variety introduced a few years ago, is just such a plant. At first, its flowers are a vibrant yellow, then they shift to a gorgeous blush pink. This color change is gradual, so you’ll likely see some yellow, some pink, and a few multicolored flowers all at the same time as the plant continues blooming from early summer through late fall. Even the unopened buds have the same color as a glass of lemonade streaked with deep pink.
Luckily, ‘Peach Lemonade’ doesn’t need any special care or conditions to grow in your garden. These roses are recommended for USDA Hardiness Zones 4-9, and grow best in an area with full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day) and well-drained soil. ‘Peach Lemonade’ also stays compact as it grows, only reaching about 3 feet tall and wide, so it shouldn’t need as much pruning as other shrub rose varieties that can stretch up to 6 feet tall.
‘Peach Lemonade’ is a self-cleaning variety, so while you’ll probably get more blooms during the year if you take the time to deadhead spent flowers, it’s not a must because they’ll eventually drop off on their own. Once they’re established, this variety can also tolerate some drought and is resistant to common rose diseases.
The best time to plant shrub roses is in the spring, after the last frost in your area. Most of the sellers that stock ‘Peach Lemonade’ ($29, White Flower Farm) ship the plant in a two-quart container, making it easy to transfer it into your garden. Just dig a hole with the same depth as the pot, and about twice as wide, then take the plant out of the pot and loosen the roots. Place the roots in the hole and fill in with soil, then water deeply.
To help hold in moisture and prevent weeds, you can also spread a layer of mulch around the shrub once you’ve planted it. Most growers will start shipping ‘Peach Lemonade’ orders in mid-March, and once planted, they should start flowering in June and continue through September.
