A garden rose has won the annual plant bracket competition Shrub Madness from Proven Winners.
Shrub Madness 2020 is won by Oso Easy Italian Ice (’CHEwnicebell’). This rose has been bred in England by Chris Warner in 2004. Since 2015 the rose is branded by Proven Winners for the American market.
Proven Winners set up Shrub Madness seven years ago, like the American basketball playoffs. Every year, the competition has 64 contenders. It narrows to the Floral Four. This year were those four shrubs: Oso Easy Italian Ice (rose), Scentara Pura Lilac (Syringa x hyacinthiflora), Double Take Scarlet (Chaenomeles speciosa), Suñorita (rose). Consumers vote their favorite. This year the competition gained 384,535 votes, nearly 100,000 more than last year when Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha (Hydrangea serrata) won Shrub Madness.
According to Spring Meadow Nursery who is leading the Proven Winners shrub program, the competition is ’the perfect vehicle to find out first-hand which shrubs are most interesting to gardeners this year’.
Photo by Spring Meadow Nursery
