I dream of roses in January. Even though the bushes in the garden are bare, the mailbox is stuffed with rose catalogs filled with colorful photographs and words of enticement.

Rose enthusiasts like me can hardly wait to try the newest varieties. But since moving to Natchez, I have become fussier in what I plant. I want roses with lots of attractive blossoms, good growth habit and interesting colors. But most importantly now are those varieties with built-in resistance to blackspot. And fortunately, among the new rose introductions for 2007 are some excellent garden worthy varieties.

4Strike it rich — this is one of the best roses that’s come along, for my taste. I love exotic colors and spicy fragrance and this gorgeous grandiflora has both. Deep golden yellow spun with orange-pink and rich and opulent flowers. Even better, they exude heady sweet spice and fruit fragrance. Tall and upright growing, the stems are large enough to enjoy as cut flowers. Blackspot resistance is very good, although by the middle of last year’s very humid and hot summer, blackspot did affect the plant, but not enough to harm it.

4Rainbow knock out — the latest in this very blackspot resistance family of shrub roses offers the same reliable disease resistance as previous versions. This 2007 AARS winner has clusters of small, mostly single flowers in colors that are shades of coral, pink and yellow. In fall, orange hips form. Very compact and bushy in its growth, it’s best used in mass plantings in a landscape, rather than as a single specimen.

4Greetings — from Jackson and Perkins comes an upright shrub with unusual colors. Clusters of single flowers are purplish with white overlay and white centers, or eyes. As flowers age, they change to lavender. This is a novel addition to landscapes.

4Good ‘n’ plenty — a well-behaved shrub that mounds two or so feet tall and wide, this disease resistant shrub from Jackson and Perkins produces clusters of small flowers that are raspberry pink with white eyes. This will work in a landscape or in a container.

4Showtime — at last, a climbing rose for Southern gardens. This new arrival is from Bailey Nurseries, a respected wholesale nursery in Minnesota. Hybridizer Ping Lim is known for his dedication to creating easy care roses with strong disease resistance, lovely flowers and good growth habits. Showtime is a vigorous climbing rose that produces single flowers showy because vivid gold stamens highlight the clear red petals.

4Yellow Brick Road — another remarkable new rose, also from Bailey Nurseries, this compact shrub covers itself with clusters of old-fashioned looking lemon-yellow blooms. Plant in front of borders or in containers.

4Sweet Fragrance — this noteworthy grandiflora is another creation of Ping Lim at Bailey Nurseries. Buds are coral and orange with white and deep yellow at their base. Blossoms open to apricot, and then mature to salmon-pink adding interest with the range of color on the plant at one time. This lovely rose has sweet fragrance, too. It’s a vigorous upright grower so produces stems that are long enough for cutting.

Contact the following for information about local retailers or mail order sources: www.weeksroses.com, www.jacksonandperkins.com.

Roses from Bailey Nurseries can be purchased through White Flower Farm, 1-800-503-9624, or www.whiteflowerfarm.com or Spring Valley Roses, 1-715-778-4481 or www.springvalleyroses.com.

Karen Dardick writes a monthly rose column for The Natchez Democrat.